The application works only in Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me and XP. In most cases, if an application has compatibility and support for Windows XP, then Windows 8 could run it with a few bugs, but there are cases like this one where it simply does not work.
You can take this trick to try and see if it works for you. Try to install the application in Windows XP using its default installation folder. Go to Start > Run > type "regedit" and press Enter and nagivate to HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE, locate the product and export it, then transfer the folder where it is installed in the same location on Windows 8 and run the exported file. If done correctly, Windows 8 will start the application because most problems in Windows 8 are related to installer although the application may still work.