Upgrading to Windows7 64-bit

[arthuryeo]

<p>I just completed a fresh install of Windows7 64-bit and the 3 pieces of Nikon software worked beautifully so far:</p>

<ol>

<li>Nikon Transfer</li>

<li>Nikon ViewNx</li>

<li>Nikon CaptureNx</li>

</ol>

<p>I downloaded the latest versions from NikonUSA.</p>

<p>My PS/CS4 64-bit and Lightroom 2.6 64-bit also worked well without any identifiable glitches.</p>

<p>Just reporting to you guys in case you are contemplating to use the new OS.</p>

<p>--<br>

Arthur</p>

 

[pcassity]

<p>Arthur, What differences are you noticing using Capture NX with windows 7 compared to Vista or XP?</p>

[wade_roth]

<p>Thank for the info Arthur. I'm on the cusp of taking the plunge myself and this makes me feel better about it.<br>

--Wade</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>I run ViewNX (1.5) and Capture NX2 on XP, Server 2003, and now Windows 7 (64-bit) machines. As Arthur mentions, everything behaves just fine.<br /><br />Note that NX2 is still a 32-bit application. So it's not really benefititing, directly, from the 64-bit architecture. BUT, the 64-bit operating system is taking care of a lot of other things very quickly, thus giving NX2 a little more breating room. I'm quite pleased with how stable it is so far.</p>

[arthuryeo]

<p>The 64-bit OS is, in general, faster because it is taking advantage of the 64-bit CPU, which you should check before you take the plunge.<br>

In a 64-bit world, your memory addresses are now 64-bit long, which opens up a world that's a lot larger than then 32-bit world.<br>

Furthermore, Windows7 is supposedly less thirsty in terms of computing resources. That should leave more room for the applications to use.<br>

Backup tool is back to normal, where it allows you to choose specifically what you want to backup unlike the stupified backup tool in Vista.</p>

<p> </p>

[arthuryeo]

<p>BTW, a fresh installation of Windows7 is significantly faster than the a comparable Vista version. It took, like less than 15 mins on one of my machines.</p>

 

[bill_stice1]

<p>Arthur, glad to hear of your success. I've upgraded to new hardware and Windows 7. Everything went smooth until I tried to load Nikon Scan for my Coolscan 9000. I couldn't get it to see the scanner in any compatibility mode including running a virtual XP machine. The software would load but I'd get an error saying there was no scanner available. I finally uninstalled it and am using Vuescan instead which sees the scanner and works fine. I looked it up on Nikon USA's web site and the only thing there is that they are testing compatibility for Windows 7. I hope their test goes better than mine.</p>

[arthuryeo]

<p>Yes, if you install software that are not certified for Windows7, that's the risk you have to bear. The 3 I listed in the original post above, only the CaptureNx2 is certified for Windows7.</p>

<p>From what I read, Nikon promise to either certify the rest of the major software early next year; or at least, within the first half of 2010.</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>I'm not using Nikon software, but CS4 64-bit sure likes the memory that's available to it under Windows 7 Professional 64-bit - around 60% of the 6GB that I have in the system. Similarly, DxO Optics Pro 5.3.5 and 6, Photomatix 3.2, and Dynamic Photo HDR are happy. Considering that I upgraded recently from a Windows XP IBM T42 notebook, the differences are night and day. </p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Arthur,</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The 64-bit OS is, in general, faster because it is taking advantage of the 64-bit CPU, which you should check before you take the plunge.<br />In a 64-bit world, your memory addresses are now 64-bit long, which opens up a world that's a lot larger than then 32-bit world.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Technically, you are right, but in the real world the differences are not that outspoken. 64-bits OS is hardly faster, since the current available normal 64-bits CPUs (x64) are extremely fast at emulating 32-bits. The main advantage of a 64-bits OS is being able to address more than 4GB of memory in total.<br>

About the memory addressing, again true, but for 32-bits processes the maximum memory <em>per process</em> remains 2GB. The advantage is again that a 64-bits OS can handle way more memory in total, so running multiple processes with heavy memory requirements will be handled better.<br>

That all said: if you machine allows, I would definitely upgrade to 4GB RAM or more to have maximum benefit of 64-bits Windows 7. If you're on 2 GB (or less) and not willing or able to upgrade, you're better off with the 32-bits version (also according to Microsoft themselves, by the way).</p>

<p>By the way, if you're CPU is not 64-bits capable, the Windows 7 x64 will simply not start at all. But not having a 64-bist capable CPU is only an issues on older budget machines (>2 yrs) and netbooks.</p>

[mark liddell]

<p>Make sure your motherboard can do dynamic memory allocation otherwise windows can't use more than 3.2GB which negates perhaps the biggest advantage of upgreading to a 64bit OS.<br>

This is not well publicised and I only found out when I got "3.2GB usable" after upgrading. Luckily I had not bought any additional RAM.</p>

[ian_white2]

<p >Arthur, my congratulations – 15 minutes is impressive. Mine took 7 days of hell.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >However now it is running fine. I did a clean install of Win7-64 converting from Vista Ultimate 32. The machine now runs fast and without hang-ups. It took a new motherboard, new CPU, new RAM, and a new CD drive so basically a new machine.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Bill, regarding Nikon Scan, I had the same problems until I followed “Steel Chn” in this forum. He found a way to fix the scanner file and it works well on Win7-64.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >A couple of suggestions:</p>

<p > a. Backup everything first.</p>

<p > b. Write down all your serial numbers. Key codes etc, since you will be re-installing everything.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >c. Be VERY careful in specifying your boot drive. In my installation, it did not matter what I selected in the Win7 setup screen, it reformatted and installed Win7 on the first IDE drive in the box. I had one IDE as a slave and two SATAs. I wanted one of the SATA drives to be the boot drive, but Win7 insisted on putting it on the IDE drive.</p>

<p >I blew the contents of two IDE drives before I discovered this, hence my suggestion to have everything backed up. As an aside, I proved to myself that Windows Home Server is an excellent back-up system.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >CS4 installs with two versions, a 32 bit and a 64 bit. Some plug-ins are still 32 bit so I end up switching between the two, which is a pain. NX2 2.2.4 works OK, possibly a bit faster than previously but I have not given it a rigorous test.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >The best part about Win7 (which is really a cleaned-up Vista) is that you can configure it to look like something adult , eg NT4, rather than the childish XP or Vista appearance. YMMV.</p>

[walterh]

<p>Win7 64 : the first windows OS that runs smooth and that I like .-)<br>

Second only to XP 32 (within the Windows family of course ;-)</p>