Nikon NX2 in virtual machine XP under VMware Workstation

[walterh]

<p>Hello - I use Vista64 and Nikon software does not support Vista64.<br>

As a workaround for Nikon NX2 I installed a virtual XP machine in Vista64. Everything runs smooth :-)<br>

However, Nikon NX2 does not accept the license key. Is there any workaround?</p>

<p>Nikon answers they do not support Vista64 :-( The program works fine in demo mode. So I got a limited time to find a solution. Of course I could just install a separate PC just for Nikon software :-P</p>

<p>Nikon software is among the very few programs that I need to run in XP and the only trouble maker here.<br>

I am afraid I will run into the same problem when I try to install "Camera Control Pro2".<br>

Thanks for your time.<br>

Walter</p>

[don_cooper]

<p>There's a discussion regarding this here, don't know if it might help - http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=197462&highlight=vista+64</p>

[walterh]

<p>Don thanks for that link and the quick response.<br>

The thread seems to reflect the situation before SP1 and pre-installed versions of Vista.</p>

<p>Unfortunately NX2 does not install on my Vista64. And Nikon Germany says it will not run on Vista64.</p>

<p>It may be that it would run before the SP1. The problem seems to be in the license handling of Vista and that was changed in SP1. Ironically the SP1 and the nice performance of Vista64 after the SP1 made me migrate from XP. (Besides the 64bit part.)</p>

 

[garrison_k.]

<p>I haven't had a chance, or an interest, in trying Nikon software on my Vista 64 box. But I am so pleased how older (like real old) applications and third party plugins that were coded for XP32 and wouldn't even run on XP64, will now run great under emualtion in Vista 64.</p>

<p>I love Vista64. Finally, an OS that can claim "It just works".</p>

<p>Don's link shows others are having no problems. Going with VMware seems like a huge hasle for something that might be a simple Vista64 fix?</p>

<p>Good luck, let us know if you solve it.</p>

<p> </p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>Walter, do you mean before SP2? SP1 was out long before thse Nov 19th posts were made? Or, am i missing something?</p>

[walterh]

<p>Garrison for some reason I thought is was posted Nov 2007 but as you noted these are recent posts. So it is a mystery that it runs on several machines and not here. I talked to a Nikon software person and he told me it depends on the Vista management of license keys and it would not run on Vista64 or XP64. Sounds strange to me that a company dealing with image processing is not at all interested (or helping) to install their software in Vista64.<br>

I wonder if the problem is some "region" or language problem. The NX2 is bought in Germany but I use an english language version (as well as for CCP2) because I set up a similar system for international users on a microscope camera. So I got the updates from Nikon UK. Will check that.</p>

<p>BTW: I share your view on the current status of Vista64. I was a fan of XP and when Vista first came out I gave it a try and disliked it. Now I needed it to run some 3D reconstructions of 32bit image stacks of 2048 slices of 2048x2048 pixels. Works better on a 8GByte or 16GByte machine than on XP64 giving only 3GByte for a single application :-).<br>

Once I saw the state of art after SP1 and once PSCS4 came out I decided to change completely to Vista. If I can ommit the Vmware client machine I would certainly prefer to run NX2 in Vista directly.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>

Hi Walter,

<br />

 

<br />

I've never been impressed with Nikon software. Even when i first started using it with XP, it felt like a clunky 16 bit application. The first time I loaded Control, it locked up my laptop and gave me the blue screen of death. Re-booting never got me past cmos screens. Internet search found another on sportshooter.com with the same problem and posted his fix. If it wasn't for a highly qualified techie going deep into the windows registry and removing the scattered Nikon fragments, I would have had to re-install and do a lot of work getting back to how my laptop was in before attempting to install Control. Now they want $160 for Control when I'm buying two of their top end dslr's every 18 months? And the Canon equiv is free? NX is a joke for a speedy workflow. Can't beleive they put their name behind those apps let alone charge for it.

<br />

<br />

Best of luck, Walter.

<br />

<br />

G

 

</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>"I've never been impressed with Nikon software. Even when i first started using it with XP, it felt like a clunky 16 bit application."<br>

Capture NX 2 is written by Nik Software, not by Nikon.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>

 

 

<blockquote>

Capture NX 2 is written by Nik Software. You should do your homework.

</blockquote>

 

<br />

 

 

Thanks Robert, I'm aware. No need to get nasty and assume I'm ignorant. Nit picking over semantics doesn't help threads here. NX2 is endorsed by Nikon, sold by Nikon, has their logo stamped all over it, and is bundled with their cameras, sometimes. It therefore adheres to their standards with their name behind it, correct? It's theirs and always addressed as Nikon's. When was the last time it was referred to "Niksoftware's NX2"?

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<br />

</p>

[walterh]

<p>Hmm yes it does not help a lot to be in the know that NX2 is written by Nik Software. Unless of course I can get them to help me solve my problems :-)</p>

<p>Robert do you think I should contact them for help? NX2 does not show up on their web page under "products". And if I go to the support menu I have to first select one product but NX2 is not one of these.</p>

<p>Anyway good to know these folks are behind this NX software so I will not be tempted to buy one of their other programs :-)</p>

<p> </p>

[marcor]

<p>Have you tried the VMware support? Other than the peripherals installed on the VM machine, it should run exactly as being running on XP on a native machine. I have been using VMware for about 4-5 years (not photography related) and I still to find something that runs on a native machine, but does not on a VM machine, and it does include running 16-bit applications on 64-bit machines.</p>

[marcor]

<p>Correcting a typo on the above post: ... running 32-bit applications on 64-bit machines.</p>