Good Morning ,
Since I’m loading a new laptop , what are you doing for the 32 bit FactoryTalk View projects that you run into ? Are you using a VM package , with a earlier version of FactoryTalk View ? I heard that FactoryTalk View 10 , 11 , etc. have the ability to open and create runtimes of these 32 bit HMI applications . Is that true ? Is it really an issue now ?
I know nothing about VM , and I would rather not use it . Can you have a number of VM’s on one computer ? Since you can only have one version of FactoryTalk View , do you need to have a few VM’s being used ? If so , how do you open several VM’s on a laptop ?
Thanks so much .
So yes, the newer versions convert the old applications now without us having to do anything extra. So, the 32-bit v 64-bit issue is behind us. To an extent anyway. But as mentioned, the newer versions cut off support for some older versions. That can be an issue that requires you to keep those older versions available in some form. For most of us, that is where VMs come in.
A VM is just a software tool. Nothing to shy away from. For controls, it really is a very good thing to use them. Think of each VM as a standalone PC. In reality, it is just files in a folder on your PC. Your PC can have many VMs. It is only limited by hard drive space. You usually hear your PC referred to as the "Host" and each VM is called a "guest".
My computer boots up Windows 10. Then I launch VMware Workstation (my personal preference for a VM tool). In that software, I have multiple VMs available. Mine range from Windows XP up through Windows 10. Each VM has specific software. Our company uses a lot of Rockwell, so we have VMs that contain different versions of FT View along with other RA software. I can then boot up the VM with XP, do what I need to do and then close it down. Then I can boot up my Windows 7 VM and do what I need there.
VMs take a lot of hard drive space and they need RAM. If your PC has 16GB of RAM and your VM is setup to use 4GB then that VM will take 4GB when it powers on and then release that RAM when it powers off. If you have enough RAM, you could run multiple VMs at the same time.
There are of course stumbling blocks to use VMs. Two primarily. First you need the VM software. There are two favorites out there. VMware and VirtualBox. Each have their benefits (and fan base). Secondly, each VM is considered a standalone PC as far as Microsoft is concerned. So, each VM requires its own copy of Windows. For a bigger company with site licensing, this isn't an issue. For smaller companies, this could get expensive.
I would recommend getting familiar with VMs. They really make things easier.
OG