subject: 64-bit Windows needs 64-bit drivers posted: Wed, 31 May 2006 14:06:33 +0100
...or so it seems from my research so far. A customer has installed
Windows Server 2003 R2, 64-bit edition. It's the nicest server
platform from Microsoft I've used. However, it seems to have a big
catch, unless 64-bit drivers are available for a given item of
hardware, that hardware cannot be installed. This includes printers.
Which means if you are migrating, say, an NT4 server to 2003 64-bit,
you need to make sure you can get 64-bit drivers for each printer
hanging off the old NT box. The 64-bit edition of 2K3 does not
permit 32-bit printer drivers to be installed.
If you can't get 64-bit drivers for one or more of the printers, so
far the only option available is to keep the NT box alive, purely as
a printserver. Hardly an optimal solution but it seems to work.
Here's some of the research I've done regarding the requirement for
64-bit drivers. - Stu
"iain mcdonald [ms] (Expert):
Q: Beta testing has shown that a majority of the 32-bit drivers
shipped in W2K3ES is no longer available in the 64-bit counterpart.
Deployment and certification of production systems had been done in
preparation for rapid migration as soon as it ships.
A: you'll see a big wave of driver updates for server in sp1. i don't
expect the drivers to be 100% the same - it depends on ihvs business
palns. persoanally i think they'd be crazy not to be looking at the
coming x64 wave as a good new business pop for them
[...]
Mark Aggar [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will 64 bits release(s) eventually supersede all others and be
focus for future OS's
A: 64-bit hardware will be the default for new server hardware very
soon (its pretty much happened already). However, many apps (and
drivers) will continue to be 32-bit for some time, so it will be a
while before a complete transition is made. The good news is that
many 32-bit apps will work on WS03 x64 without performance penalty -
the biggest issue is having 64-bit drivers available. The WS03 x64
editions will kick start the IHV/ISV industry into making 64-bit
server apps and drivers. I believe that when we ship LHS that the
majority of new server applications will support 64-bit OS natively."
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 and later versions of Windows do
not install driver packages with undecorated INF sections on x64-
based systems.
For compatibility with Intel Itanium systems, Windows Server 2003 SP1
will install driver packages with undecorated INF sections. However,
INF decorations are required by the "Designed for Windows" Logo
Program for Hardware, so a driver package with undecorated INF
sections cannot qualify for the logo.
[Manufacturer] section entries and [Models] section names of INFs
must be decorated for driver packages to install on x64-based
systems, and they should be decorated for Intel Itanium-based
systems. These decorations are supported on all versions of Windows
later than the original release of Windows XP; therefore, an INF
decorated in this way works on all released NT-based Windows
operating systems for the respective non-x86-based platforms.
The goal is to prevent the installation of incorrect driver binaries
because customers do not understand the difference in platforms.
Windows Server 2003 R2 and Longhorn will come in 32-bit and 64-bit
versions, but executives said that by the time Longhorn comes along,
64-bit PCs will be mainstream. For now, buyers have to weigh the
performance benefits against the fact you need 64-bit drivers for
everything, and Microsoft used the show to encourage developers to
write them. Only three quarters of the drivers that come with Windows
XP are in the 64-bit version. The 64-bit Windows also comes with a 32-
bit version of Internet Explorer, because there aren't 64-bit
versions of many plug-ins.
