Build on XP 32, install on Vista 64?

[AutoMeasure]

If I build a Labview application and installer with Labview 8.5 running on Windows XP 32-bit OS, and the installer includes the Run-Time Engine, will it install and run correctly on a Windows Vista 64-bit machine? Thanks.

[TobyD]

QUOTE (AutoMeasure @ Mar 25 2008, 01:34 PM)

If I build a Labview application and installer with Labview 8.5 running on Windows XP 32-bit OS, and the installer includes the Run-Time Engine, will it install and run correctly on a Windows Vista 64-bit machine? Thanks.

Your program could work on a 64-bit machine, but there are a lot of things to consider. Take a look at http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5709' target="_blank">this article. Basically, Microsoft implements a 32-bit emulation layer that enables 32-bit programs to run as though on a 32-bit version of Windows by translating instructions passing in and out of the applications into 64-bit instructions. These programs will not take advantage of the added memory addressing capabilities of a 64-bit OS.

Other things that could cause problems are your hardware drivers and any call to system dlls. System32.dll or User32.dll are now Sytem64 and User64. I assume the emulation layer handles this and these calls will still work, but I don't have enough experience with it to say for sure.

Toby

[Travis Pape]

QUOTE (AutoMeasure @ Mar 25 2008, 03:34 PM)

If I build a Labview application and installer with Labview 8.5 running on Windows XP 32-bit OS, and the installer includes the Run-Time Engine, will it install and run correctly on a Windows Vista 64-bit machine? Thanks.

I have the same question. The only NI driver my application installs is NI-VISA runtime for accessing a USB UART bridge and I am building on XP 32-bit.

Would my app install and run on Vista 64-bit?

Would it run better on Vista 64-bit if I built it using a Vista 64-bit machine?

Thanks

[Jeff B]

Just thought I'd add a couple of comments... Some of it is new info, some is just a different way of saying what TobyD said...

An application built with LabVIEW 8.5 will be a 32-bit executable. It will run in the 8.5 run-time engine (also 32-bit) regardless of the bitness of Windows (runs in the WoW layer on Vista x64). The same installer should get built regardless of whether the machine building it is running 32-bit or 64-bit Vista, and it will install on either one as well.

Saying that a 32-bit application will not be able to take advantage of the larger amounts of memory available to a 64-bit OS is not entirely true. On a 32-bit OS, LabVIEW 8.5 can access only up to 3 GB RAM, and even then, only if you have the /3GB boot option. On Vista x64, LabVIEW 8.5 (and therefore a LabVIEW 8.5-built executable) can access up to a full 4 GB RAM. However, as it is still a 32-bit application, it cannot go beyond this, which I believe was TobyD's point.

Also, contrary to what TobyD mentioned, USER32.DLL and KERNEL32.DLL have not changed name. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of these DLLs exist on Vista64, but they are BOTH still named USER32.DLL and KERNEL32.DLL. Further, as counter-intuitive as it might seem, the 64-bit versions of these live C:\WINDOWS\System32, and the 32-bit versions live in C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64. No, I didn't mix those up, maybe Microsoft did, but the product's released now, so oh well. At any rate, you shouldn't have to worry about this too much, as 32-bit applications know to look for these things in the 32-bit location, and 64-bit applications know to look for them in the 64-bit location. That's not to say that any application written on 32-bit Vista or XP will work on 64-bit Vista. The article TobyD referenced is good to make sure your application is both Vista and 64-bit ready. But as far as the NI components, you should be fine.

Finally, I had to look up the details on VISA support. It looks like VISA 4.1 was the first version to support 64-bit OSs. As long as you have VISA 4.1 or later installed on the machine where you're building the installer, it shouldn't matter whether the machine is running a 32-bit or 64-bit OS.

Hope this helps!

Jeff

[Travis Pape]

Thanks Jeff,

I have a user on Vista 64-bit who is reporting that the installer for my app gives a "No software will be installed or removed" message, but I suspect that it might be because they have already installed it and don't realize it. (Yes, I've supported customers who have had that problem.)

Travis

[TobyD]

QUOTE (Jeff B @ May 23 2008, 11:34 AM)

Just thought I'd add a couple of comments...

Thanks for the added info Jeff! I'm sure this article will get a lot more hits as more and more people start making the switch to 64bit. Good Stuff :thumbup: