I can't use emule plus because of hardware issues which I am looking into.However I love VLC. Is there any way that I can use vlc with an older version of emule for previewing movies?

As far as i'm aware I don't think there's a way.

Technically, copying your part file and renaming for preview in VLC will work as long as you have the first and last parts of the movie, but i can't say i've ever got the program to work for me.