I need to deploy a 64 bit workstation

qwertyiop

I need to deploy a 64 bit Vista workstation and I need to know if it will run 32 bit software without any trouble.

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vCole

qwertyiop wrote: »

I need to deploy a 64 bit Vista workstation and I need to know if it will run 32 bit software without any trouble.

Usually yes. But it depends on the software. I would check with the software vendor to see if it runs on x64.

tiersten

In most cases 32 bit software will run fine. You'll encounter problems if it requires drivers or if it does anything unusual though.

undomiel

For the most part yes, but you may have certain applications that won't appreciate it. Best thing to do is test all your major applications just to make sure they install and run. For my part I haven't had any issues with any 32-bit software that I have been running, albeit this is under Windows 7 64-bit. But that should be comparable to Vista.

qwertyiop

FadeToBright wrote: »

Usually yes. But it depends on the software. I would check with the software vendor to see if it runs on x64.

I already know that. The major programs that will be used all have a 64 bit software, the only real reason why we ask is because we use a few engineering programs that most do calculations and wanted to know if it will run.

tiersten

qwertyiop wrote: »

I already know that. The major programs that will be used all have a 64 bit software, the only real reason why we ask is because we use a few engineering programs that most do calculations and wanted to know if it will run.

If you knew that already, why did you just ask us? Go talk to your software vendors to see if they've tested their applications on a 64 bit platform. We can't tell you if some unspecified software will or won't work.

qwertyiop

tiersten wrote: »

If you knew that already, why did you just ask us? Go talk to your software vendors to see if they've tested their applications on a 64 bit platform. We can't tell you if some unspecified software will or won't work.

That I already know, I just wanted to know what peoples experiences have been with installing 32 but programs on a 64 bit OS.

tiersten

qwertyiop wrote: »

That I already know, I just wanted to know what peoples experiences have been with installing 32 but programs on a 64 bit OS.

As we've said above, it generally works. If your software doesn't do anything unusual and doesn't rely on any drivers then it should work. Anything fairly recent has a high probability of working. If however you've dug out a Windows 95 app or its some specialised app which needs to talk to a piece of unusual hardware directly then all bets are off.

I've switched all my own machines to 64 bit versions of Windows 7 and I've not noticed any problems. Games, applications and other software that I used under Vista 32 bit have all worked under Windows 7 64 bit.

Hyper-Me

The only way to know is to install it on a test machine and put it through the rigors. Which is a best-practice of the deployment strategy microsoft outlines anyway.