OK so you CAN play BF2142 in a sized window instead of fullscreen. Heres how:

-Right click your shortcut
-Change ‘Target’ from:
“C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142\BF2142Launcher.exe” +menu 1 +fullscreen 1
to:
“C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142\BF2142Launcher.exe”+menu 1 +fullscreen 0
You can also specify the size, by adding this:
“C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142\BF2142Launcher.exe” +menu 1 +fullscreen 0+szx 1280 +szy 1024
…for 1280 x 1024.

You can move the screen by right clicking the blue bar and selecting move (havent had to do that since win 3.1 lol).

 Enjoy!