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I need to use AcuODBC drivers which are 16bit. They currently run on Windows XP but it is an old pc with little processing speed and 2gb ram. I wish to upgrade to a faster pc with 16gb ram.

These drivers wont install on windows 8 etc because they are 64bit and any 32bit Windows does not allow more than 4gb ram.

What is my work-around this?

Kashif
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  • Are you sure you really have 16bit ODBC drivers? I have never heard of such a thing. Are these windows 3.1 drivers or something? Your work around may need to be that you have to run this software in a VM. – Zoredache Dec 05 '15 at 01:30
  • BTW, if it isn't actually a 16bit driver, and is a 32bit driver it should install just fine. You simply have to use the correct method to setup your DSNs. Oh, and you can only access the DSN via 32bit apps (32 bit MsAccess can access 32bit ODBC). See http://superuser.com/questions/419832/how-can-i-open-the-32-bit-odbc-data-source-administrator-in-windows-7-64-bit/419833#419833 – Zoredache Dec 05 '15 at 01:33
  • This is AcuODBC 5.1 and it is my deduction that it is 16bit because it installs fine on windows xp but not on windows 7 or 8 – Kashif Dec 05 '15 at 01:41
  • @Zoewdache: So what do you think? – Kashif Dec 07 '15 at 16:10
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    I am 98% certain you don't have a '16 bit' driver. It is almost certainly 32 bit. That doesn't help you though if the installer, may refuse to install on Windows 10. I am not sure there is anything you can do about that. – Zoredache Dec 07 '15 at 17:38

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Your only choice here is to either run a 32-bit OS or a 32-bit VM on a 64-bit host (via VirtualBox, VMware, Hyper-v, etc.).

You can, however, have more than 4GB of RAM on 32-bit Windows IF you run a server version of the OS (i.e. Windows Server 2012, 2008 R2, or 2008). These OSes allow you to use up to 128GB of RAM.

Microsoft has not made PAE available on their 32-bit desktop OSes (Windows 7/8/10), so you will only see 4GB of RAM with those no matter how much is actually installed.

It should be noted, however, that even though PAE allows you to use more than 4GB of RAM, individual applications will still be limited to 4GB each, and you still cannot run 64-bit code. You won't even be able to run 64-bit VMs, but you will be able to use your 16-bit program.

Wes Sayeed
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  • Actually, no, applications are not limited to 4GB each. They're limited to 2GB of address space, but there are no limits to how much physical memory they can use. [AWE](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366527%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) is just one way they can use more. There are others. – David Schwartz Dec 04 '15 at 22:43
  • @WesSayeed - [PAE was made available to Windows XP, still available I believe in all those versions ( 7 and Vista ) you were still limited to 4GB, with addressable memory to 3GB](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366796%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) so to say its not available isn't correct. – Ramhound Dec 04 '15 at 23:27
  • @Ramhound; XP allowed PAE but disabled it in SP2. Workstation editions of Windows use PAE (because NX support requires it) but physical RAM is software limited to 4GB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension#Operating_system_support). Memory above 4GB is not available for use on those OSes. – Wes Sayeed Dec 04 '15 at 23:37
  • @WesSayeed - Article does not indicate that though. – Ramhound Dec 04 '15 at 23:42
  • @DavidSchwartz; You're right... the 2GB Kernel/2GB Process split still exists. I was just trying to simplify my answer. Also AWE is a software thing and only works if applications specifically use those APIs. I'm sure his 16-bit ODBC driver certainly doesn't. – Wes Sayeed Dec 04 '15 at 23:55
  • @WesSayeed As I said in my answer, AWE is just one way, there are others. Also, he probably doesn't care whether his driver can use more than 2GB or not, he probably cares whether the applications using the driver can. And the answer is -- if they're designed to be able to, then they will be able to. If not, then presumably they don't need it or they're badly designed. – David Schwartz Dec 05 '15 at 08:36
  • My application is MS Access which is using the AcuODBC driver. I need to speed up Access with more RAM so my queries will run faster. If I understand correctly from above discussion, I can buy a fast modern PC with say Win8 on it. Then install Oracle VM and run Xp inside VM so my odbc drivers will install there. Now (1) Will I be able to run that XP with 16GB ram? OR (2) Will it be possible to just install odbc drivers in VM XP and then have Access installed on Win8 and use the odbc connection created in XP VM? – Kashif Dec 06 '15 at 14:33
  • @WesSayeed, Guys you had quite a technical debate but my question remains unanswered. Please see my previous comment and advice.. – Kashif Dec 07 '15 at 16:10