games on vista x64

please, can you explain to me how can any other game be used on pc with 64bit os?

i have installed vista x64 on my machine previosly only to discover that the installation would not launch.
recieved message saying that only 32bit soft exist on the cd so it wont go any further.

just that i am puzzled as how do other programs not 64bit work then?

if someone can spare some time and explain it to me i will be most greatful

crysis and fear and witcher

have you patched up vista? crysis had some installation issues early on but on a patched up PC its as easy to install as under any other operating system... I seem to remember there was a specific patch that crysis needed during installation. But those issues are long gone.

no didnt apply any patches to vista

mind telling wot sort of patch and does it work for all of them?

Go to start-allprograms-windows update, and start applying patch all the essential updates, probably including service pack 1...

Lots of games have major issues with the first release of vista. Once its patched up with everything upto an including service pack 1 you shouldnt have major issues, apart from with software designed for xp with nasty DRM on it, which can normally be bypassed with a fixed exe...

I have installed Crysis and no problems here. As for Fear and Witcher, I dont' think they have 64-bit versions but it doesn't matter, the emulator in Windows Vista will read 32-bit applications fine. It looks like some part of your OS might be corrupted...or virus maybe? Exit background programs such as emulators and other programs that might be conflicting your OS into reading your disk.

Like others said, install all windows updates. Then, uninstall these games (if you haven't done so already) and reinstall them. If the problem persists, run a full virus scan. Hopefully, your OS can be repaired, otherwise, you're looking at reinstalling Windows again.

Good luck

Vista 64 itself is pretty solid by all accounts theres plenty of us using it with no issues since the early teething problems , many of us find vista 64 more stable than xp32bit.

Its hard to diagnose faults over a forum Theres small things in boot sequences noises of drives odd cpu useages, ram use drive activity lights task manager process lists etc etc etc, that all provide great clues when working hands on with a system, theres far too many variables to ever cover via questions and answers so we tend to go for the most likely solutions to a given problem and then revert to wipe it and start again. Even when working on a system hands on trying to diagnose a problem often the best approach is to strip a system to the bare bones and start from there with a fresh install.

(In advance - I am grossly over simplifying things for the sake of explaining the concepts. And ask that those more technical than I withhold the flames and instead add their kind wisdom)


Not technically accurate, but I find it easiest to think of it like a sandwich - The CPU on one side, and the operating system on the other.


On the processor side:

The CPU reads the actual binary code, which is presented in the form of instructions. These instructions are the "x86" and "x64" that you read/hear about. Understand that the X64 instruction set includes everything in the x86 - So any x64 processor can and will fully handle anything that's x86.

Therefore, as long as the game was compiled to the x86 (32bit) standard, the CPU can fully understand and run it because they are 'speaking' the same language.


On the side of the OS: There is a similar mechanic, though here it's called an "API" (Application Programming Interface). In very broad terms, it works like the instructions sent to a CPU: These are the commands and formats programmers use to talk to the Operating System, which they use to access system resources like memory and information on the hard drive. You can think of it like the teller window at the bank: It's your way to pass an instruction inside in order to get the result you want. When you go to the teller (API), you have to give her a message (instruction) that she understands, right? The OS wants to see some Function (Withdrawl), the location required (Account #), and some data set (how much). If you give the teller (OS) that, then you'll get your twenty bucks.

As long as the program (game, whatever) follows the proper API's then it will run on the Operating System.

So: Just so long as a given (32 bit) game is written to the proper Windows (Vista) API's, and compiled to run on an x86 processor, then it *will* run on 64 bit (Vista).


Generally speaking, when you hear about incompatibilities it's because the programmers who wrote a given application either did not adhere to the proper API spec when they wrote their code, or because they took short cuts (which may no longer work), or because the (new) Operating System's API set is different from the old one.

***************


That's why your 32 bit games and applications work on a 64 bit machine: The processor understands both, and so as long as it's a windows API you're GTG.


Regarding: i have installed vista x64 on my machine previosly only to discover that the installation would not launch.
recieved message saying that only 32bit soft exist on the cd so it wont go any further


If I understand what you wrote, you have/had a 32 bit OS already on your machine, popped in the 64 bit CD and attempted to install Vista 64. But got the message saying you can't do that.

The Kernel (fancy word for 'core' - means the internal guts of the software) is different between the 32 and 64 bit versions of the operating system. This is a much much bigger deal than (going to the teller to withdrawl $20). In essence, what you tried to do is put a new bank in the spot where the old one is. That is why the computer prevented you from doing that.

If you want to install your 64 bit OS, you must put it in a clean place. The easiest thing to do is buy a new hard drive, unplug the old one, and do a clean install.

Use the quote button, top right of your post, or you the [quote] [\quote] tags with a / instead of \

thanks alot

thanks for the input sudec http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] /icon7.gif

irony in full swing? I think so anyway!

the good news is that you were able to get them up and running anyway which means that maybe I can as well.

thanks