Windows 7 upgrade?

[peter_4059]

I was recently having some issues with Pixinsight hanging which turned out to be a memory problem however the PI team advise they are no longer supporting Windows XP and that I really should consider upgrading to Windows 7 64 bit.

I've been putting off changing to Windows 7 to avoid all the hassles of getting all the astro software to work again and I'm wondering if others have made this leap and whether there is any astro software that refuses to work with Windows 7 64 bit.

The main things I'm using are:
Nebulosity 3
PHD
Astroplanner V2
Photoshop CS3
Pixinsight
EQMOD
Ascom 6
Gemini.net
Pempro
CCDStack 2
Deepskystacker

[Tandum]

Peter, I don't think you'll have an issue with any software, it's drivers that may be a problem in that some manufacturers aren't supplying them. I know there is a problem with older canon scanners for example and early on, the meade DSI cameras had no 64bit drivers, but that may have changed by now. Everything in your list should go ok.

You better hurry up Windows 8 release preview (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download?SignedIn=1) is up for download :)

[allan gould]

Peter
I'm running windows 7 Pro but in 32 bit format not 64 bit. I find that all of the software you are running goes fine including the DSI with PhDguiding etc.
I know the 64 bit is faster but the 32 bit is more stable with things like Maxdome etc and I won't be upgrading this to the latest version as its running fine ATM
Allan

[Marke]

i have or have used alll that software except the Gemini and it all works fine on Win 7 x64 ..You should have no issue with any of it.

[scagman]

I use Gemini II on win7 64 with no problems.

[peter_4059]

This could be a problem for me as I'm using the DSI II pro for guiding. Has anyone got their DSI II pro working with Win 7 64 bit now?

Also interested to hear if Gemini.net V1.0.18.0 works with Win 7 64 bit as I'm using Gemini 1 L4 and I believe V1.0.18 is the last update they made for Gemini 1.

[Tandum]

Peter, the latest envisage (http://www.meade.com/support/downloads.html)for the meade dsi cameras says it's win7-64 compatible. It does say the meade LPI is not 64bit compatible.

[scagman]

Hi Peter, I have had Gemini.net v1.0.18 working on my 64bit win7 and DSI II also working with no problems. I now run Gemini.net v1.0.29.0 and GII and and moved on from the DSI II after blowing it up. But before that I and it working with Maxim DL and win 7 64.

Regards

[AdrianF]

Don't bother with Win8 at the moment. I am running the Release Preview and personally I don't like it.
It can be run as Win7 desktop or Win8 but is very "untidy" in my opinion


Adrian

[supernova1965]

Adrian I will add my thumbs down for Windows 8 I don't like that the taskbar is not enabled by default for a start and it is tricky to delve down into the workings of the OS I don't see any killer improvement to encourage me to move on from Win7 again I think that Microsoft are rushing out a new version when the current one is fine they need to take an evolution view to Windows instead of just creating a new one every 3 years I can't see any reason to change for years to come.

I did have win 8 installed and very quickly formated it into oblivion:P:D

[RobF]

Another option if you want to be amish and anti-techno is stay with XP and setup an Ubuntu install. I did this on my desktop, and after a bit of fooling use it now for any serious processing sessions. Runs 30% faster and laughs at any memory issues for mosaics etc (even with only 4GB total memory).

I really want to keep same OS on my work laptop, imaging laptop, home desktop as long as I can. My other motivation was always wanting to have had some experience with Linux, and prefering to spend my dollars on more astro-toys versus Micro$oft :)

PI still runs happily on the desktop and imaging laptop under XP as long as I don't expect miracles (e.g. work on OSC images or mosaic work)

[JohnH]

Gemini.Net is probably going to be ok but you many have issues with the USB to serial device you are using or other older usb devices (eg printers/scanners)....as for 64 bit being faster, no it isn't unless you have programs that are 64 bit need and can take advantage of the larger address space (8gb vs 2gb) the execution speed will be defined by your processor and disk speed not the o/s, 32 bit code can even end up being slower on WoW64 than native 32 bit windows...

[AdrianF]

This Win8 install will be gone on the weekend. Dislike the OS.

Adrian

[h0ughy]

yeah that works fine Peter - thats driving the titan in the observatory on the win 7 64bit

[peter_4059]

Thanks for all the advice and feedback. Sounds like a "post Astrofest" job to get Win 7 installed.

[Barrykgerdes]

I personnally think Windows 7 64 bit is the most user unfriendly version of Windows yet. All the tools I use to keep my computer running have different names and take time to find. Familiar icons have been changed. Permission are a terrible bugbear. All this of course to improve the security of a system that has more virus entry holes than ever.

However we are stuck with it and will need to adapt as software is now being written exclusive for this system. (the monopoly power of Microsoft)

If you intend to upgrade the first thing to do is to repartition the HDD to shrink your existing XP boot drive and make a new partition for the Win 7 system. Then install Win 7 as a dual boot system on the second partition. Then you can learn to operate it in bits like I am. I have been using Win 7 for 2 years now and still pefer XP. Particularly as much of my own utilities written for 16bit don't work. These include my accounting and address book programs.

Installing XP to computer that already has Win 7 on is possible but not a job for beginners. In this case virtualisation is the way to go.

The computer I am using at the moment Acer laptop AMD dual core with ATI graphics came with Win 7 64 bit installed. I managed to remove this and install XP before I reinstalled the original Win 7. However there are no XP drivers for the graphics so my XP is only good for running programs that don't work on Win 7.

I will say this for it. I have a two video editing programs that I did use in XP but they took upto three minutes to load and ran slowly. On the new laptop under Win 7 they load in 5 secs. and run at greatly increased speed.

Barry

[peter_4059]

Thanks for the advice Barry. Luckily I have two XP machines - one that came with XP, Vista and Win 7, so I will leave the other one on XP and upgrade the newer one to Win 7. That way I can continue to use XP while I get everything working in Win 7.

[Colin_Fraser]

Hello Peter

People have been asking that very question for 18 years.
Users complained that some 16bit programs that worked under Windows 3.11 failed to run when they upgraded to Windows95 which was a hybrid 16/32bit OS
When Microsoft released Windows XP, users complained older Windows95 era software failed to work.
Same again when Windows Vista was released. XP users had to run some software in XP compatibility mode.
Generally speaking, programs that worked on Vista also worked on Windows 7. You may get exceptions like device drivers that needed upgrading.
Now the 32bit v 64bit questions are being raised.
Windows 7 users have a choice of installing either 32bit or 64bit or dual boot and have both.
If you have doubts just install 32 bit version. Most users will not even notice a difference. In fact some users don't even know what version they are running.
Times change and you either move with the times or be left behind.
Windows 7 is a fine piece of software, you just need to know how to set it up and operate it.