Is there any way to run a Vista 32 bit application on a Vista Ultimate 64 bit computer?

Vista 64 should be able to run a Vista 32 without a problem. In my experience, most 32-bit programs run in 64-bit. Drivers being an exception.

64-bit operating systems can run 32-bit applications.

But I called the company and they told me it would not work on 64 bit. I also know of a blood pressure monitor where the software for IT is for 32 bit and it won’t work on 64 bit. And it didn’t work.

“COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

# 256 MB RAM; 600 MB of available hard drive space Windows 2000, XP, XP Professional or Vista 32 bit.”

Vista 64-bit is “backwards compatible” with 32-bit programs. If there is any kind of device that you need to connect to the computer, that will require 64-bit drivers which would have to be released by the company. However, if it’s just an application it will likely work. You can also “trick” the program using Program Compatibility settings so that Vista 64-bit will report itself as Windows XP, 98, etc. This might get by any checks that the installer or application does and allow you to run the program. You could also post the name of this particular program, somebody may have already tried it with a 64-bit OS and would know the results.

Great idea to post the name of the software! It’s:

“ACCU-CHECK 360 Diabetes Management Software”

It includes a cable to interface the glucometer with the pc. Maybe what would not work is the download of data since you mention drivers but the application software itself WOULD?!! That’s another possibility I should and will investigate.

That sounds likely. A driver probably facilitates communication between the operating system (Vista) and the glucometer, in which case the 32-bit driver won’t work and the company hasn’t created a 64-bit driver. It’s possible you’d be able to install the software, but the computer wouldn’t detect the glucometer when connected.

If the software includes a driver then it’s a good bet that it won’t work. You can try running a virtual machine with the 32-bit version installed on that. I’m not sure how well it’ll work, but if you’re desperate it might be worth a try.

I rather like the virtual machine idea, if nothing else—you can go to http://www.microsoft.com/virtualpc and get the Virtual PC application. You can create a Windows Vista 32-bit virtual machine which should, in theory, recognize the hardware.

Not that it would do a lot of good right this second, but Windows 7 ships with a “Virtual XP mode” which will let you run XP applications and, as far as I know, 32-bit hardware, in a sandbox. Applications installed in this mode actually appear as applications in Windows 7, like, off the start menu and everything.

I have the software. It installs as prerequisite MS SQL 2005 and Borland BDE. The USB reader installs without problems, Vista x64 finds a driver for it automatically. All appears OK, both SQL and BDE are running but when you try to start the software it can not connect with the data base. I tried a few times without luck. So it’s not the driver for USB (that works) but something related to the database access they are using.

I installed the software inside a VMware XP (32 bit) virtual image and it works. The device connects and you can download the data, and the software connects with the data base, so the is a solution for this , even if slightly inconvenient. I did not try but I suppose it will work with any other virtualization software which supports USB devices as long as you use an XP or Vista 32 bit image.