This happens with everyone who was running 32-bit of Windows-based Operating System with few older softwares and suddenly upgrade it with 64-bit. Most of softwares becomes useless just because they doesn't support 64-bit framework. This problem specially occurs with Antivirus Softwares, Sound Drivers,Graphics Drivers, PC Suits, etc. The easiest solution of this would be; get 64-bit version of those softwares and most of windows user do same. But this does not seem to be an ideal solution because some softwares doesn't has 64-bit support. In that situation you can use a simple trick and your 32-bit software will also work on 64-bit of windows.
Trick to Run 32-bit Software on 64-bit of Windows
Some 64-bit OS like Windows 7 provides a 32-bit compatibility mode called WOW32 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit), by using this feature you can run most of 32 bit Softwares on 64-bit OS.
Steps Involved:
- Right click on that Software file (setup).
- Click on Compatibility Tab.
- Now select 'Run this Program in compatibility mode for:'.
- Select your Older Operating System from Drop down Menu (just below check box).
- Done!
Screenshots:
If you want to run from the Command Prompt then you need to use the WOW64 version of cmd.exe. At the Start Menu select Run and enter the following command. Note that the %systemroot% variable points to your Windows folder so this will work even if Windows is not installed on C: drive:
%systemroot%SysWOW64cmd.exe
If your application won't run under Windows 64-bit then try XP Mode, Windows ME, or other virtualization solution. Please remember that XP Mode reduces your system security and so it should be used as a last resort.
Note: Although this trick works with most of the softwares but it's still possible that this will not be work with few softwares.
