A relative of mine has bought a new laptop this year on which windows 7 (64 bit) is installed. Aside some standard programs he uses on that laptop, he also has some software for his bike that needs to run. The developers of that program still don't support 64-bit systems and therefor I thought about making it dual boot, so he can still use the power of the 64-bit, and just for the bike program, he can initiate the 32-bit version.
My questions now are:
- What are the risks involved in this operation?
- What steps need to be taken to make this dual boot succesful?
- Any other ideas besides dual booting?
Thanks in advance.
Edit
I might have forgotten/misphrased something. The software does run on 64-bit, but it cannot find the bike connected to the computer. So I think it's a matter drivers which aren't compatible with the 64-bit system. That's why I wanted to install the 32-bit windows so the drivers would work.
Edit
I've used virtualization, but couldn't get the bike to work. i suspect outdated software/drivers from the manufacturers side.
Answer
There should be no need to reboot.
If the device on the bike uses a USB to connect, then my suggestion would be to use VirtualBox or Virtual PC to install a 32 bit version of Windows.
After installing the OS inside the VM, install the drivers. Next plug in the device. You might need to surpress Windows Update from looking for a driver. Under either VirtualBox or VirtualPC, there is an option to attach USB device. Your bike's device should show up.
BTW, this is the same method I use for my old scanner, which does not have 64 bit driver support.
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