Is there a way to install 32-bit programs on this without dual booting from an XP partition? Can this other solution then interface with 32-bit peripherals like printers?
Please try to remember that I’m operating at the edge of my ability/knowledge here, and be more explanatory than terse, please.
As I understand it, Windows 7-64 should be backward compatible.
You can check here.
I do a lot of Windows application and device driver development, so hopefully I can help…
For most win32 application programs that were not too badly written, yes, they should just work out of the box on Windows 7.
In case you do have an older application that is not compatible, running a virtual machine may be a much more convenient solution than dual-booting. vmware player can be downloaded free-of-charge for non-commercial use. Microsoft also has their own virtual machine solution, although I don’t think that is included in home premium edition. In any event, you basically run a virtual computer on top of your computer, and you then install XP and run your legacy application within that virtual machine.
For peripherals, it depends on whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows 7. Chances are you will have 64-bit Windows 7. In that case, if the peripheral does not have an in-box driver, your old 32-bit driver most certainly will not work and you will need to find 64-bit driver for it. You’re SOL if you have an old piece of hardware and the vendor no longer supports it on 64-bit platforms. In the off chance that you have 32-bit Windows 7, your old 32-bit driver may or may not work properly. It depends on what type of device it is, how well was the driver written, etc.
If you install something on a 64-bit version that isn’t 64-bit software it will install it to the ‘Program Files (x86)’ folder and should work completely normally.
If you have any issues with legacy software you can try installing and running the software in compatibility mode.
The majority of Windows 32-bit programs should install no problem on Windows Home Premium, even the 64-bit version (which is what I presume you are running, since you’re concerned specifically about 32-bit software). Unless your device is fairly exotic or very outdated, there are almost certainly updated drivers for it.
You can run a virtual box (such as VirtualPC or VMWare) with an earlier version of Windows if you have 16-bit software, since 64-bit Windows does not support WOW16. Unfortunately, XP Mode is not available for Home Premium, because it supports running applictions installed in the XP virtual box on the desktop. I know some of the other virtualization software does allow this mode, so if it’s important to you, you might want to do some research.
64-bit versions of windows include a 32-bit runtime environment for compatibility with 32-bit applications. As others have said, 32-bit programs will install into the “Program Files (x86)” directory, but launching them via the Start menu will be transparent. 32-bit version of core DLLs are included for this compatibility.
As far as drivers go, it depends on the device. Many devices are actually based on standards such as the USB HID (Human Interface Device) standard, used for keyboards, mice, joysticks, etc. With many of these devices, the “driver” you download isn’t actually a driver, but software to interact with the device on a level the standard OS does not. For example, I have a Steelseries Fang gaming controller. This is a USB HID device, and the “driver” software from the manufacturer is actually just software to map keys on the controller to various keystrokes for gaming. Because the actual hardware driver is a standard HID driver, the 32-bit installer from the manufacturer work. Windows sees the device via its stock, 64-bit HID driver, and the 32-bit software is used to map keystrokes, macros, etc. I use this instead of the 64-bit release as I find it more stable.
Printers are another case where you may be able to get away with 32-bit “drivers”. The majority of printer drivers are not actually drivers, but are files that tell Windows how to format data being sent to the printer. The actual hardware interface is generally done via the driver included with Windows. Many all-in-one printers will also function with Windows 64bit even if drivers are not available, as the scanner component will use standardized drivers also included with windows.
Things like video cards are not going to work correctly if a 64-bit driver is unavailable. They will default to the standard windows video driver which provides no hardware acceleration.
When I purchased Windows 7 it came with both 32-bit and 64-bit install discs. So if all your hardware doesn’t work then you could switch to 32-bit.
You are correct, sir.
When my trusty Windows XP machine died last fall and I purchased a Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium machine I ran into this problem - Windows 7 refused to install my old (no longer being upgraded, you can’t purchase it anymore, but I absolutely needed to run it for work purposes) 32-bit FORTRAN compiler. That 64-bit version of Windows 7 also refused to install my old copy of Visual Studio 6.1, which I also needed for work purposes.
What worked for me was to upgrade my copy of Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional (you can do that online for about $90), then download and install Microsoft’s free Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode options (which essentially gives you a virtual 32-bit Windows XP machine inside your Windows 7 machine, but only installs under Windows 7 Professional) and install my old 32-bit compilers inside that virtual XP mode machine.
Works fine for my purposes.
Sorry, I thought I put Win 7 64-bit in the title. I’ll try to wade through this. Unfortunately, it’s for my 70-year old dad, who even though he’s an ex-engineer, has even less experience with this.
The best thing you can do, Cardinal, is have a go at installing the peripherals, if you run into any issues post back and they can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. There are lots of ways to make it work but rather than getting technical from the start just try things normally, you will probably find it works out ok.