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You can run the setup by calling "fry.exe --setup" form the command line.
In there you can switch to windowed mode/up the resolution.

I could get it to run on XP, 960x600, windowed.
Edit: the mouse won't work though.

I was able to get the setup screen and up the rez and selected windowed mode, but my system hangs when I run the executable.  I just get a black screen.  Anyway, I got it to run flawlessly in the XP environment on my laptop, without any jury rigging, and that'll work.  It's not worth the trouble trying to run it on my PC anymore, though it would be nice if these older games could be recoded for newer Windows environments.  I suspect a lot of people could be missing out due to these compatibility issues.

Yes, looks like it.
Try DosBox, that should do the trick for fullscreen.
You should still be able to play it windowed, just reduce the windows resolution to 640x480 beforehand.

DOSBox won't run it without CWSDPMI.exe, then once I drop that in, it gives me the same error message about 320x200 not being supported.  The lowest resolution my graphics card supports is 800x600.  I'm not sure how else I can run the game windowed.  Would the "ac2game.dat" trick work with an older version of AGS perhaps? 

Your problem is the first step.
It says right there in the error message you got that acwin.exe can't find ac2game.dat.

The reason is usually that Windows hides known extensions i.e. you renamed the file to "ac2game.dat.exe".
Go to folder settings, uncheck "hide known extensions", then rename the file properly.

Pro Tip: use an actual file manager instead of the Explorer.

Just tried that, deleted the ".exe" from the ac2game.dat, now I get the following error message:

Invalid file format.  The file may be corrupt, or from a different version of AGS. 
This engine can only run games made with AGS v2.5 or later.

For the record, the game I'm trying to run is Pirate Fry 1.  Too old for this workaround apparently?

1. rename the game.exe to "ac2game.dat"
2. copy 2.72's acwin.exe into the game folder
3. from the command line, run "acwin.exe --setup"
4. select the x2 filter, then click "Save and run"

This is the thread I've been looking for.  I tried the above to the letter to run a 320x200 game, but get the following error message:


You must create and save a game first in the AGS Editor before you can use this engine.

If you have just downloaded AGS, you are probably running the wrong executable.  Run AGSEDIT.EXE to launch the editor.

(Unable to find 'ac2game.dat' in [game directory])


Thanks in advance...