Determining Application and Scanner Compatibility with 64bit VRL

Author: Eric Vasbinder

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview

As Viewpoint's Vista and continues to grow, new technologies and capabilities are continually added. One of the more fundamental shifts in computing technologies that has occurred in the past decade is the transition to 64 bit computing technology from the previous state of the art 32 bit computing technology.

Given this shift, Viewpoint has begun to modernize and enhance Vista by moving toward a 64 bit future. As of Vista version 2020R2, Vista is now available in both 64 and 32 bit architectures: both the app server and the rich client are now available in both platform architectures. To be clear, 64 bit architecture is the way of our future and provides significant advantages in terms of capabilities, from managing large datasets to integrations. Critically, the 32 bit version of Vista will eventually go away, completely replaced by the 64 bit version. This will not happen for some time yet, however there is no time like to present to begin the move to 64 bit.

One of the important prerequisites to ensure is in place prior to moving to a 64 bit version of Vista is the presence of 64 bit integrated applications, such as Microsoft Office, and 64 bit scanner drivers and applications:

• Office "bitness" MUST be the same as Vista: If you only have a 32 bit Microsoft Office installed, a 64 bit version of Vista will be unable to recognize the presence of Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Word: a 64 bit version of Microsoft Office must be installed on the same workstation as your 64 bit Vista client in order for Vista to integrate with Office.

• Scanner Application "bitness" MUST be the same as Vista: Without 64 bit scanning applications, a 64 bit Vista client may not be able to recognize the presence of the scanner in question. This applies to both the scanner drivers, as well as the associated scanner applications.

Determining Office Compatibility

Determining the compatibility of Microsoft office with a 64 bit vista version is straightforward. We need to go to the "Help/About" area of the application, which will have an entry that shows us the platform architecture being used (32 bit or 64 bit).

For this example, I will be using Microsoft Outlook from Office 365 as the Office application to check to validate the "bitness" of my Office applications.

Steps

1. To begin, we open the application in question.

2. Once opened, we click the "File" menu in the ribbon above.

3. We then click on "Office Account".

4. Then click on "About Outlook"

5. On the following screen you will see the 64 or 32 bit platform version shown at the top, along with the build number of Outlook.

IMPORTANT: If you are running a 32 bit version of Office, you will need to either uninstall the 32 bit Office and install 64 bit Office, or use the 32 bit version of Vista (not recommended).

NOTE: please ensure your plug-ins and add-ons for Microsoft Office are compatible with the 64 bit platform of Office prior to reinstalling with 64 bit Office.

Determining Scanner Architecture

Another key element to ensure is that your scanner applications and drivers are running the same "bitness" (a.k.a. platform architecture) as your installed Vista client. To determine if your application is 32bit or 64bit, there are three methods that work well:

METHOD 1: Look for the install directory of the application

• • If it is installed in C:\Program Files (x86), then it is a 32bit application

  • If it is installed in C:\Program Files, then it should be a 64 bit application

METHOD 2: PROCESSES IN TASK MANAGER

Look for the application listed in your Task Manager

1. 1. Start your scanner's software

   2. Press "Control-Shift-Escape" on your keyboard to open Task Manager and look in the Processes list

   3. If it says 32 bit, then you should contact your vendor for updated scanning software that is fully 64 bit

METHOD 3: TASK MANAGER DETAILS (MOST ACCURATE FOR SOFTWARE)

As per method 2 above, please start your scanner software, as well as Task Manager.

1. Go to Task Manager and click on the Details tab

2. Then right click on the column list.

3. Click Select Columns

4. Click the "Platform" checkbox.

5. Click OK and then scroll to the process for your scanning application.

6. Look for the bitness of the process in the Platform Column. This will be the exact architecture platform of your application in question.

METHOD 4: VISTA SCANNER SELECTOR (MOST ACCURATE FOR DRIVERS) - MAY REQUIRE 32 BIT VISTA TO TEST

This method may require that you have the ability to uninstall 64 bit Vista and install the 32 bit version of Vista for testing purposes.

1. Ensure your scanner's drivers are installed.

2. Open Vista and log in.

3. Go to a form that can accept scans directly. For example, AP Unapproved Invoice Entry.

4. Once the form is opened, click on

IMPORTANT

If it says 32 bit, then you should contact your vendor for updated scanning TWAIN software and drivers that are fully 64 bit

IMPORTANT

Your scanner vendor support team may believe that they have created fully 64 bit drivers / software, when they actually have not done so.

The ONLY WAY to ensure that scanner drivers are truly 64 bit is to see which "bitness" Vista detects for them (Method 4 above) and/or if the drivers and software show up in Task Manager as 64 bit, as per Method 3.

If you do not do so, you will need to either:

• Uninstall the 64 bit version of Vista, Crystal Reports, and Office (if applicable), and reinstall 32 bit versions of each of these applications*

• Forgo the direct integration between Vista and your scanner

  • E.g. you could scan into another application, such as Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Scan, or others, save the document as a PDF to your drive, and then drag it into Vista's Attachment Lister, without using the Vista Document Management built-in direct scanning forms.

Compatible Scanners Known to Have 64 Bit Drivers and Software

NOTE: We do not endorse or recommend any specific brand of scanner over another. However, the following scanners have been brought to our attention and we have verified through customer testing that they do have 64 bit drivers and TWAIN scanner software available and have worked with 64 bit Vista in the past:

• Fujitsu: recent fi series scanners (e.g. Fujitsu fi-7180, fi-7160, fi-7300nx, etc.): https://scanners.us.fujitsu.com/fujitsu-scanners

  • Link to x64 TWAIN PaperStream IP Software: https://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/fi/faq/psip-installation005.html

*NOTE: We do not recommend this approach, as eventually Vista will become a 64 bit only application, eliminating this workaround.