Meade LPI & Windows 7 Home Premium

[Dealy]

Has anyone found a solution to the no-driver dilemma for this set-up? I am running the 64 bit version of Win7 Home Premium.

I've read that people have bought Win7 Pro, others have used Win XP, but I was wondering if anyone's found another solution without buying new software.

Kev

[BeanerSA]

If it were me, I would run WinXP in a virtual machine. You wouldn't need to buy new software?!

[Dealy]

Don't I need a copy of Windows XP to do that, or can it be downloaded for free?

[BeanerSA]

Erm, I have a Windows XP SP3 ISO that I downloaded ages ago, and I use that when I need a VM. I don't think MS are going to worry too much about that one.

[akjudge]

Windows XP will not run in Windows 7 Home versions. It is possible to run Windows XP in a virtual window, but you still need a valid license number to install it in the virtual machine.

Windows 7 professional will allow you to download and install Windows XP in a virtual mode for free. The only issue is that your hardware must be able to handle a virtual mode. (Most new machine BIOS have a setting to enable Virtualization, but it is usually set as Off by default.

Hope this helps...

[Dealy]

Thanks Paul and Jim.

Looks like I need to upgrade to Win7 Pro or Win8.

Next question you may know the answer to is how good is the Meade camera compared to a DLSR? Is it worth the effort trying to sort out software for it?

Thanks, Kev

[BeanerSA]

If you have a valid key for Win 7 Home Premium, you can get a disc with 32 bit on it and install that using the key. I have done this many times.

I have given you 2 options that aren't going to cost you anything, but hey, do what you gotta do. :shrug:

[Dealy]

Thanks Paul, that 2nd option looks like a good one :thumbsup:

[5ash]

Hi Kevin,
They are chalk and cheese, low resolution web cam compared to high resolution DSLR. I started out using a Meade LPI way back in 2005 and got nice pics of Jupiter, Saturn , mars and the moon. Also used long exposure mode and darks to take pics of some bright deep sky objects. It's an easy to use starter for planetary work but you may be better off getting a Philips webcam with a ccd chip . If your serious about solar system imaging look at the ZWO cameras.
Regards philip
Ps if you really want to play with it get a second hand laptop running XP . I picked up a notebook running win 7 for$50 . So one running XP would be really cheap or free?

[Dealy]

Thanks Phil

Another 2 good options.

I'll check gumtree and ebay to see what's around.

Cheers, Kev