Question

Filemaker Windows 7 64 bit compatibility

Asked by: afbaer

Hi,

Does anyone have experience running Filemaker with Windows 7 64 bit?

We run Filemaker Pro 8.5 on several laptops through a simple LAN, accessing Filemaker from a PC. We are looking at upgrading our computers and making the leap into 64 bit. Filemaker Australia says V10 is supported for Windows 7 32 bit, but that 64 bit is not only "not supported" but probably won't work. This info came form someone who didn''t seem very confident and I see postings on the web that suggest otherwise. The Windows compatibility site says V10 is compatible with 64 bit.

We have no problem upgrading to V10, but there is no point if it still won't work.

Any guidance much appreciated.

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Asked On
2009-10-26 at 21:05:06ID24846073
Tags

Windows 7

,

Filemaker Pro

Topics

FileMaker Pro Database

,

Windows 64-bit

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: lesouefPosted on 2009-10-27 at 01:45:13ID: 25670176

not tested myself, but there is still the compatibility mode in windows 7 like in vista 64bit.
so, if it would not be automatically detected, you can always switch to an older version compatibility mode.
easiest way is probably to try with a 30day version.

 

by: afbaerPosted on 2009-10-28 at 16:18:57ID: 25689274

Thanks my friend and while I would love 64 bit from a purist point of view, unless FM works seamlessly in our office environment it is a worse situation that just going with 32 bit. 30 day trial noted but we don't want to be the pioneers here, which is why I was hoping someone had some experience that we could use.

 

by: Lieven_EmbrechtsPosted on 2009-11-06 at 01:45:44ID: 25757812

i currently run filemaker pro 10v3 on windows 7 64-bit and noted a number of problems:

- windows 7 often shows a warning that the filemaker application crashed when closing filemaker.  this doesn't block using filemaker, it's just an annoying message.  this message is a known problem on any 64-bit platform.
- database connectivity doesn't work any more, i cannot connect to a SQL-2000 server bcause i cannot see the odbc defined database any more from in filemaker.  this is a blocking problem, that i cannot solve yet.

filemaker server is repported as running quite good on a 64-bit server (though as a 32 bit service)
but for the client filemaker states in several knowledgebase entries it is not supported on any 64-bit platform (xp / vista / 7).  see http://filemaker.custhelp.com

so i think filemaker 10 is not ready for production use in 64-bit clients; a major upgrade is needed.
experimental and development use is possible with known problems.
 

 

by: Lieven_EmbrechtsPosted on 2009-11-06 at 02:14:23ID: 25757903

i just tried compatibility mode to xp (thanks lesouef for the interesting suggestion),
and was surprised that filemaker 10 doesn't run at all, it immediatly crashes on my machine.
also database connectivity  (odbc drivers) is embedded in the OS, switching an application to compatibility mode doesn't solve related driver 64-bit issues.
64-bit problems in windows will be annoying for the next years to come, especially for external devices (document scanners, cameras, etc), special hardware (audio, video), when software is related with drivers, libraries, embedded software, etc. this is due to the old windows architecture.  it seems like mac os x has not many problems in this area: filemaker 10 runs fine on a mac with more then 4gb.

 

by: christinesephtonPosted on 2009-11-07 at 13:40:55ID: 25768181

FileMaker, Inc. has some important information on compatibility of its products with Windows 7:


http://thefmkb.com/7453

http://thefmkb.com/7454



At this time the only FileMaker Pro version we expect to run correctly on Windows 7 will be FileMaker Pro 10.0v3. There are a few minor issues, but we expect it to run.

No previous version of FileMaker Pro is compatible with Windows 7. If you plan to run FileMaker Pro on Windows 7, you should be running version 10.0v3.

 

by: Lieven_EmbrechtsPosted on 2009-11-07 at 14:43:44ID: 25768430

christinesephton: the info you mention is for filemaker running on a 32-bit system.
but these 2 additional minor interface issues on 32-bit will also be valid for 64-bit:
- List control may get garbled when scrolling
- Opened file names are not added to the Recent list

I just read that new 64-bit odbc drivers will be neccesary (previously the source for filemaker odbc drivers was datadirect sequelink).  I hope filemaker is working hard on a major 64-bit rewrite since memory usage is pushing harder now in windows 7; the issue was known since xp 64-bit and vista 64-bit but probably requires a rewrite in many filemaker components.

i find it amazing that microsoft publishes filemaker 10 as 64-bit compatible.  looks like the info at microsoft is not so good.  well microsoft tells me windows 7 boots much faster as xp or vista, for me that's not true either: it's the same as xp: a cold boot takes almost a minute.

 

by: christinesephtonPosted on 2009-11-07 at 18:02:35ID: 25769072

Lieven,

I am successfully running Filemaker and FIlemaker Advanced on Windows 7 64 bit machines, as well as Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop.  I did nothing special.

Christine

 

by: christinesephtonPosted on 2009-11-07 at 18:04:15ID: 25769084

I do recommend disabling DEP for the FileMaker Application, as it will successfully help Filemaker run clearer.  

I did this for a client, and it has cleared any further problems with FileMaker.

Christine

 

by: afbaerPosted on 2009-11-07 at 19:01:42ID: 31646280

Thanks guys! Obviously different people are having different experiences and I guess this may depend on exact setup, configuration and usage. The bottom line for me is that it's not worth the risk of disrupting our business for the ideal of 64 bit when FM10 should work on 32 bit, albeit with a couple of glitches. I hope/assume FM will remove whatever glitches there are in future updates, since they do claim to support Windows 7 32 bit.

 

by: Lieven_EmbrechtsPosted on 2010-03-10 at 11:31:44ID: 27620722

i found some important info on odbc connectivity in 64 bit environments like windows 7 (64-bit).

see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942976 :

"
The 32-bit version of the Odbcad32.exe file is located in the %systemdrive%\Windows\SysWoW64 folder. The 32-bit version of the ODBC Administrator tool displays 32-bit system DSNs, 32-bit user DSNs, and 64-bit user DSNs.

The 64-bit version of the Odbcad32.exe file is located in the %systemdrive%\Windows\System32 folder. The 64-bit version of the ODBC Administrator tool displays 64-bit system DSNs, 32-bit user DSNs, and 64-bit user DSNs.
"

If you're used to select the system-DSN tab, you get intotroubles.  If you want to access 32-bit drivers in a 64-bit os, you use the user dns or the 32-bit odbc admin tool (Windows\SysWoW64\Odbcad32.exe).

I hope this helps if you get into troubles trying to select an odbc driver.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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