Where to start? Thinking of converting my mills and lathes to CNC.

Any programs that I will have to download onto the lap top will have to be keep just as the file, use a jump drive and move it to the other machine and install it there. Something I have never done.
 
i have all my programs set to save and look at the ubs drive first, that way i have the newest file with me always. all my computers have the same softwares there are 3 in the shop and 2 in my bedroom i use all the time so having it save on the usb makes it easy. that is untill i lock up and go in the house only to find i left the drive in the shop lol. having two pc's together makes it easier for me to learn things fast one has the directions running the other i'm trying it on... I dont get lost flipping back and forth.
steve
 
Well that makes certain sense. When it comes time, I will try that program that you gave me the link to.. hopefully that will fix it, for Windows 7 that is.

Doc
 
The need for 64 bit compatability doesn't really have to do with the CNC side so much. The only PCs I have are 64bit because I have more than 3gb of memory in both of them. A Windows (XP, Vista or 7) 32bit OS can't recognize anything over 3gb of memory so anything above that goes to waste. In my desktop I have 8gb of memory, and the laptop I run AutoCAD 2013 on has 16gb in it. Once the OS is installed as a 64bit system it is not downgradable to the 32bit version without a complete wipe and reinstall. That's not really an option unless I have some kind of terminal HDD failure down the road.
 
jumps4 said:
I havent tried this yet but it was given to me by a friend and may work for windows7 sooner or later everyone using windows will need a fix.
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
it is supposed to make the xp softwares work
steve
Click to expand...

Using the programs in that link will allow you to run a full version of XP within any version of Win7, just select your Win7 version from the dropdown box.

It works just like a dual boot except without the hassle. You run Win7 as normal, then when you want XP to run a legacy program you go to the 'Start' button (bottom left of the screen) and select 'all programs', then choose 'Virtual XP'.

The XP startup screen will appear just as it would if you were booting an XP machine, then XP runs; it's as simple as that.


As someone mentioned, Win7 64bit can't be downgraded to 32bit, but if you have the OS disc you can reload it as 32 bit; you get to choose 32 or 64 during the install process.

IMO, unless you're doing memory intensive work like video processing, Photoshop, of major spreadsheets and need to use more than 4GB of RAM I really don't see the need to run in 64bit mode.


M
 
GoMopar440 said:
The need for 64 bit compatability doesn't really have to do with the CNC side so much. The only PCs I have are 64bit because I have more than 3gb of memory in both of them. A Windows (XP, Vista or 7) 32bit OS can't recognize anything over 3gb of memory so anything above that goes to waste. In my desktop I have 8gb of memory, and the laptop I run AutoCAD 2013 on has 16gb in it. Once the OS is installed as a 64bit system it is not downgradable to the 32bit version without a complete wipe and reinstall. That's not really an option unless I have some kind of terminal HDD failure down the road.
Click to expand...

the 64bit makes sense in your case so i'd buy a used xp pc and wipe the drive clean, reinstall xp and us it for the machine only. as long as it has 2.0 usb you will have all the speed you need for the machine at probably under $100 dollars. the low cost usb controlers like my uc100 run at 100000hz and that is 4 times the parallel port speeds. I do that now, my pc in the house i draw on in the evening is 64bit and wont run my g-code programs so i take the dxf to the machine pc and convert to g-code from within mach3 with d2nc. it works well and is really fast for most small parts i dont even draw everything.
steve
 
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The Laptop that I am using to access the net is is a Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OS machine. Microsoft will not even let me download the program to save so that I can transfer it to the other computer. Which I believe is a Windows 7 32 bit OS machine. But what I did find, to which I thought that I had accidentally thrown away was my Windows XP Pro CD. I could try to do a dual OS set up with the other machine and leave it in XP Pro mode.. Or I could wipe out the hard drive and then recapture the disc, which I can due to I have the XP discs for that and just make it a XP machine. But I would rather see if I can do the dual OS option instead.
 
Just make sure you back up anything you care about before trying a dual boot ;)
 
DMS,

Did some research about doing that before going to bed last night. With Windows 7, in order to make it work it appears that you have to do the following. First, you two drives, then XP "should be" on a IDE drive, Windows 7 "should be" on a Sata drive. But I think it is more that new machines have gone away from IDE drives. Ok, XP needs to be installed first, with the DVD/CD-ROM drive as first boot drive, the drive that would have XP would be the second boot drive and then you install Windows 7. It appears that this is the only way to get a dual boot to work. From what I have read last night, if you try to do it the other way around. The machine will have constant issues and Windows 7 will always try to take primary control and not allow you to bring up the XP.

That said, the link that Steve provided to me, which 7HC also made light of, is an Virtual XP Mode for Windows 7. But my laptop is a Windows Home Premium 64bit OS. When I tried to save it to transfer it to the other machine, Microsoft said that I could not download the Virtual XP Mode unless I upgraded the machine to Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.

Doc
 
OakRidgeGuy said:
DMS,

Did some research about doing that before going to bed last night. With Windows 7, in order to make it work it appears that you have to do the following. First, you two drives, then XP "should be" on a IDE drive, Windows 7 "should be" on a Sata drive. But I think it is more that new machines have gone away from IDE drives. Ok, XP needs to be installed first, with the DVD/CD-ROM drive as first boot drive, the drive that would have XP would be the second boot drive and then you install Windows 7. It appears that this is the only way to get a dual boot to work. From what I have read last night, if you try to do it the other way around. The machine will have constant issues and Windows 7 will always try to take primary control and not allow you to bring up the XP.

That said, the link that Steve provided to me, which 7HC also made light of, is an Virtual XP Mode for Windows 7. But my laptop is a Windows Home Premium 64bit OS. When I tried to save it to transfer it to the other machine, Microsoft said that I could not download the Virtual XP Mode unless I upgraded the machine to Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.

Doc
Click to expand...

Dual booting can be done using two drives, although there's no need for one to be a IDE and the other SATA, but it's most usually done on a single 'C' drive using a separate partition.
It would take too long to explain here, but basically each OS is on a separate partition and when you boot up the POST screen gives you the option to select one or the other.

Re the MS link, I suspect that the reason it's telling you to go to higher edition of W7 for Virtual XP is because you're running in 64bit.
IMO 64bit is great in a business enviroment, but for domestic use not so much. There are many, many programs consumer programs that 64bit won't play nicely with.

Finally, to echo the advice of a previous poster, backup any thing you don't want to lose. Do it on a regular basis whether you're going to be messing with your OS or not. You can back things up to an external drive, a thumb drive, a CD , a DVD, or use a Cloud.

The two most important computer operations you can do is to backup everything you can't afford to lose, and to run a well recognised anti-virus software and keep it up to date! :))



M
 
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