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Home » Knowledge Base » PowerSDR » Operating System Information » Windows XP » Tips and Hints for Running PowerSDR 1.X Under Vista

Tips and Hints for Running PowerSDR 1.X Under Vista

Tips and Hints for Running PowerSDR 1.X Under Vista

Tips and Hints for Running PowerSDR 1.X Under Vista

System Dependencies
Minimum PowerSDR Version:	1.8.0
Applicable Hardware:	All transceivers

Content provided by: FlexRadio Systems Engineering

PowerSDR was 1.x originally developed for the Windows 2000 and XP operating systems using the VS 2003 .NET development environment. Since PowerSDR 1.x is not a Vista specific application, there are several factors that need to be considered when running PowerSDR 1.x under Vista to ensure it functions appropriately.

1.) Run PowerSDR 1.x in the Administrator security context.
Some applications don't run properly on Windows Vista because they were designed for earlier versions of Windows. There are some features of PowerSDR that fall into this category. Most of the time, the problem is caused by UAC (User Account Control). You have three choices to work around this:

Disable UAC.
Run the application as an administrator each time you open it.
Mark the application to always run as an administrator (preferred).

To mark an application so that UAC automatically prompts you to elevate privileges, follow these steps (after the jump):

Right-click the application, and then click Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Select the Run this program as an administrator checkbox, and then click OK.

2.) Using the Vista Compatibility Mode
Windows Vista, like any new Windows operating system, will have problems running some older versions of applications. This is especially true in Vista. If you are having major problems with PowerSDR, try running the application in the Windows XP compatibility mode.

To configure the compatibility mode for an application, just locate the installation directory and right click on the .exe (powersdr.exe), selecting Properties from the menu.

Select the Compatibility tab:

Select to run the PowerSDR 1.x in Windows XP (Service Pack 2) compatibility mode.

You should disable the visual themes and desktop composition, if you can't get things working. You'll have to play around with it, but most likely you can get your application working this way.

3.) Turn off unnecessary Services
Use the information on this web page to determine if certain Vista features can be turned off.

http://www.speedyvista.com/services.html

4.) Turn off unnecessary features
Vista ships with other features that are listed separately in the operating system from the startup services.

You can view and disable these features following these instructions:

Clicking Start, Control Panel and Select Program Features. On the left panel, select Turn Windows Features on or off. You can safely deselect:

Indexing Service. Remote Differential Compression - Remote Differential Compression (RDC) allows applications to synchronize data between two computers in an efficient manner. The synchronization efficiency is made possible by using compression techniques to minimize the amount of data sent across the network.

Windows DFS Replication Service. According to Microsoft "The DFS Replication Service (DFSR) Management Pack for MOM monitors the DFS Replication service running on Windows Server 2003 R2 DFS Folder targets. This management pack monitors the events collected from the service that indicate the health of the service, replicated volumes, replication groups, and replicated folders. It also has consolidation rules that monitor frequent occurrences of certain conditions such as sharing violation, conflicts generated etc." Again, Your UMPC is most of the time not connected to a network so you can live without this feature.

Windows Fax & Scan. Unless you use a modem for faxing and this feature can be turned off.

Windows Meeting Space. You can turn off this feature unless you use the Live Meeting Service)

5.) Sound Card Drivers for using the SDR-1000
One of the greatest impediments for using PowerSDR 1.x running under Vista with a SDR-1000 is sound card support (drivers). Currently only the Edirol FA-66 offers Vista drivers on their web page. Other sound cards may be able to load default drivers that are packaged with Vista. Only sound cards with Vista specific device and ASIO drivers have a high probability of working correctly. You may want to inquire on the FlexRadio Reflector on other people's successes using different sound cards with the SDR-1000 before switching from XP to Vista.

6.) Using the USB to Parallel Control cable with the SDR-1000
Currently there are no drivers for the USB to Parallel Control cable. The USB to Parallel support is not controled by FlexRadio SYstems, therefore at this time there are no plans to upgrade the driver. To run under Vista, you must use a standard 25-pin Parallel cable. There are no exceptions.

7.) Running the FLEX-5000 Firewire Device Driver under Vista
There have been no issues reported running PowerSDR 1.x with the FLEX-5000 Firewire Device driver under Vista.

8.) Installing .NET 1.1 under Vista
Vista does not come installed with the .NET 1.1 Framework that is required for PowerSDR 1.x and will have to be installed manually. Please refer to the following KC articles Microsoft .Net 1.1 Framework Installation and Microsoft .Net 1.1 Service Pack 1 for information regarding its installation.

This KB article may reference additional files that are available on the FlexRadio Systems web site Downloads page. Please use the URL(s) below to download the referenced materials.

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