All I run any more is Dell computers from laptops to XPS machines for a total of 6 computers 4 that are use3d for ham radio 3 of them 100% of the time and 1 about 60% of the time, Every one of these machines are running Win7 64 in all flavors 2 Ultimate and the rest Home Premium 64. All run flawlessly with every ham application I have at total of about 75 programs all together and not one single problem. The only problem you might have is trying to run very old programs and if you have those it's time to upgrade. It sounds like your computers could use a "Tune up" for sure hidden problems for sure.
73' Fred/N0AZZ -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Ragle Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 6:13 AM To: Richard Fjeld; elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Question please Hi, Richard... I started my most recent cycle of ham activity with an early XP machine...for what it's worth, XP Pro is an outstanding OS...but I seem to allow myself to be dragged along with OS development, and went through VISTA and into WIN 7. I have 3 machines currently in use, 2 of which run WIN 7 Home Premium, and 1 that runs WIN 7 Ultimate. The WIN 7 machines are all 32 bit machines. In the household, we also have a WIN 7 Home Premium that is a 64 bit machine. It happens that these machines get swapped around from time to time, along with an old Lenovo Thinkpad, still running VISTA. Currently, my ham radio gear is limping (quite literally!) along on the WIN 7 Ultimate 32-bit machine, which no longer boots properly. Fortunately, when it has gathered itself together, it runs fine. We leave it running (after much travail trying to get it "fixed"). It has, apparently, several serious problems. Thus the nexus I mentioned in my earlier post...I had to confront the reality of replacing the DELL XPS-420, and thus faced a number of choices...what OS?, what style MoBo?, what style chassis, and particularly how many and what kind of expansion slots the replacement was to have. Our household has been using DELL machines for a long time, and with pretty good success. I recently went outside this boundary and bought an ACER laptop, 64-bit machine, which did not work properly from the get-go, and which I exchanged for a DELL laptop of similar design. The salient point is that when one commits to a laptop, one more or less gives up any possibility of expansion slots, etc. and so this machine will never see ham radio use. This brings this long-winded discussion back to the 32-bit WIN 7 Ultimate machine, which has a number of PCI and PCIe slots, several of which I use for the radios. I won't bother you with the details, since your laptop is doubtless, like most, non-expandable. The machine is a dual-core, 3 GHz machine, and it has never faltered in running the radios. Normally when running the K3/P3, I run a video frame-grabber to expand the tiny P3 screen_into a __window_. I also have used a PMSDR with a Quartet dual-channel 192-kHz A/D sound card. So my conclusion would be that using the 32 bit version of WIN 7 does not impose any obvious restrictions. It is getting hard to find expandable machines that are vended with a 32-bit OS, and so I was pleasantly surprised to find that digging around in DELL's shambles of a web site found one. It is due to arrive today, so I can finally bury the XPS-420 and give it a try. If I have any problem, I will let you know. In the meantime, good luck and enjoy our magnificent hobby. BTW I condemn in strongest terms the prevailing idea that the consumer does not need a set of OS disks...but many vendors will sell them to you for a buck or two. John Ragle -- W1ZI ========== On 9/28/2012 1:23 AM, Richard Fjeld wrote: > John, > > I saw your post and I'm curious about Win7 in 32bit. I recently > bought a HP Compaq laptop that had Win7 loaded in 64bit. I am > disappointed to find that several of my old software programs no > longer will install to it. I really need these programs, and the > companies have been bought out and are no longer available for upgrades. > > I bought the computer from Walmart and was disappointed to find no OS > disks with it. I made the backup CD's. > > Any advice? Would I lose much by going to 32 bit? > > Rich, noce > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Ragle" <tpcj1...@crocker.com> > To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 11:40 PM > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 firmware upgrade - Win7 > > >> Your post will probably produce a humungous volume of responses...I >> am getting in early (12:33 AM 9/28). I have been using several >> machines running WIN 7 both 32 and 64 bit with my K3 and have never >> had a problem making firmware upgrades to the K3, the P3, and to the >> XG3. Normally I use my 32 bit machine, a DELL XPS-420. I am replacing >> that machine with a DELL Precision T3500 and anticipate no problems >> with it. As a first suggestion, I would have your friend check his >> cables and the assignment of his COM port(s) in Device Manager. >> Things like this are very frustrating/annoying, but often turn out to have a simple source. >> >> John Ragle -- W1ZI >> >> > > > -- Sent from my lovely old Dell XPS 420 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
