topic Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7 in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Questions

worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:04:07 GMT

I used explorer v10 under windows xp. I upgraded to windows7 (Home Premium, 64-bit, (same computer) and now I'm told my graphics adapter is inadequate. Same adapter that worked on xp.

Any ideas on how I can get around this?

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:51:42 GMT

Verify that your Widnows 7 OpenGL driver is at least version 1.3 capable, but preferably OpenGL 2.0

Use this tool:
[INDENT]http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/download.html[/INDENT]

You will probably find that the default OpenGL drivers installed with Windows 7 is not the most functional for your GPU. With updated drivers from the video GPU manufacturer you may then be OK. It may take a little to get it all sorted.

Unfortunately, if you can't get to at least OpenGL 1.3 in Windows 7, you will need to replace the video card or move back to XP with OpenGL support on the same hardware.

Good luck.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:02:57 GMT

Stuart, thank you.

I think you're telling me that it's a driver problem.

I am unable to download OpenGL--I get no response from the link you provided--click download and all I get is a cycle of ads.

Anyway, you have pointed me in a direction, so I have some things to check. I also tried installing it on a linux machine (Ubuntu Lucid), but ran into java problems.

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:01:22 GMT

Yes, chances are that your Windows 7 GPU driver is only meeting OpenGL 1.1 level compliance.

Sorry about the link. The Realtech-VR page is PHP and layout a little confusing to get to the right download. But, here is the direct link to the Windows version of their utility.

[INDENT]ftp://ftp2.realtech-vr.com/realtechv/pub/glview334.exe[/INDENT]

The utility will help you verify what driver you have for both OpenGL and ActiveX, and what level of compatibility you have with each. It also will provide links to the GPU manufacturers driver site which you'll have to download and install.

Post back if you have any questions.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:11:07 GMT

Thanks again.

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad r61 with an intel gm965 express driver. Running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

Intel tells me that I have a proprietary driver and may have problems if I install their generic driver. Lenovo does not have Windows 7 drivers for this machine. They have a Vista driver, but Windows will not install it (wrong os--and yes, I checked that it was the Vista 64 bit).

I've taken this up on the Lenovo support forums.

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:04:08 GMT

Thanks again.

Verify that your Widnows 7 OpenGL driver is at least version 1.3 capable, but preferably OpenGL 2.0

Use this tool:

http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/download.html.

The tool reports OpenGL 2.0. I have other reports from the Thinkpad forums of Explorer not working on Windows 7.

I have the latest driver, I have OpenGL support, what else do I need?

Again, Explorer worked on this same computer under XP...only after I upgraded to Windows 7 does it fail. The problem: it will start up, but will not display anything (the map area contains whatever I had displaying before I launched explorer--desktop, firefox page, or whatever).

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:39:39 GMT

Lemuel,

OK, you're making progress! A Windows 7 installation is definitely supported with ArcGIS Explorer build 1500. You don't have any other ESRI products loaded at present, correct?

So from the ESRI ArcGIS Explorer support site:
[INDENT]http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-explorer/1500/system-requirements
[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Supported Operating System
[INDENT]Windows 7 Ultimate, Professional, Home Premium (32-bit and 64-bit (EM64T))[/INDENT]

Software Requirements
[INDENT]Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 or equivalent must be installed prior to installing ArcGIS Explorer.

Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) 4.0 Service Pack 2 must be installed prior to installing ArcGIS Explorer.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.0 or 8.0 must be installed prior to installing ArcGIS Explorer.[/INDENT][/INDENT]

ESRI provides a link to a "can you run it" test utility.

With a new Windows 7 installation, you will have a number of .NET updates to apply via Windows Updates.

Additionally, I would suggest going ahead and updating the MSXML4 to SP3 and applying the KB973685 update

Work through all those new install Windows 7 updates, AND uninstall the ArcGIS Explorer installation. Clean things up (use a utility like CCleaner-- http:www.piriform.com/ccleaner ) and reboot.

Make one more attempt at installing ArcGIS Explorer. Reboot, and then see if ArcGIS Explorer will launch cleanly.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:07:00 GMT

OK. I did install .net before Explorer. I installed it again. (Explorer claims to verify the .net version during install).

I got MSXML 4.

I ran the cleaner.

Rebooted.

Reinstalled Explorer.

No change.

"Can you run it" won't run now (it says it's installing, but never finishes)...but I did get it to run before and it barked at my graphics card.

That's why I started this thread--I can't believe the card is a problem when it is not a problem under XP.

Any other thoughts?

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 16:12:49 GMT

Lemuel,

As you've found, there are a number of driver issues for hardware when vendors like Lenovo, or Intel for that matter, choose not to support their systems when new OSs are released. They can make the economic case, but it often leaves owners in limbo when it comes to applications that require the updated feature support of new drivers to be able to continue to run software on the new OS.

I don't know for sure, but it seems that if you've gotten your Lenovo/Intel GPU driver in place to support OpenGL 2.0 specifications, you should be able to install and run ArcGIS Explorer under Windows 7.

Other than the driver issues for marginally supported hardware, the other major difference between XP and Vista/Windows 7 is UAC--which must be dealt with.

I assume that you know to run the installations as Administrator to bypass UAC constraints. That by-the-way is probably the reason the ESRI provided "can you run it" applet did not run.

A viable alternative with Windows 7, is to activate the built-in Administrator account and attempt the installation and updates under that log-in. Here is how you'd do that.

Run a command prompt as Administrator and enter:


net user Administrator /Active:yes

Since you are on Windows 7 Home Premium you'll also need to launch the registry editor, e.g. regedit.exe, from the same elevated command prompt. And navigate down the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE key opening each "+" and create new registry keys as needed to end up with:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

Add to it a DWORD value Administrator setting its value to "1"

[INDENT][INDENT]Note: Any change to the registry is immediate and irreversible, so be careful and certain of each action.[/INDENT][/INDENT]

Log out.

You'll now have an Administrator login on the welcome screen that you can use for software installation and management free of UAC restrictions.
Note: you should set a password for the newly activated Administrator account from the User Accounts icon on the Control Panel--and don't use this account for your every day use.

Finally, give the "can you run it", and removal/install cycle another go from this account and see if you have any better results.

Good luck, and post back if any of this was unclear.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:42:42 GMT

Stuart,

Thanks for hanging with me. I discovered the "run as administrator" during this process. The "can you run it" doesn't give me the option--it installs from the web site--I did get it to install once, but now it just hangs.

It appears to me that the administrator account you're suggesting is analogous to the root user on linux and the run as administrator analogous to using sudp.

I'll read up on UAC and decide whether I want to re-install Win7 and start over or try to move forward.

I'll let you know.

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:42:49 GMT

Lemuel,

Yes the MS Windows Administrator account is conceptually the same as the Root user in Linux/Unix flavors. Of course the underlying file access and process control are handled differently. But it is also the same range of hassles to get a fully active Root user Desktop configured on many of the Linux flavors.

ESRI's "can you run it" applet from Systems Requirements Lab has both an ActiveX and a Java flavor--so your choice of browser used (IE, Chrome or Firefox) and the security mode and run permissions can end up garbled during the applet setup.

If the applet did load but only gave a partial result, you can remove it from the "Programs and Features" panel of the Control Panel--look for "Systems Requirements Lab" and uninstall. Then try downloading and running it again, perhaps a different browser and watch for the security notification to let it complete an analysis.

Which ever way you proceed, the Forum is here to help to get you on track.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:20:33 GMT

I uninstalled the can you run it tool, and downloaded with IE (I use Firefox except whan I can't)
it tells me what it told me before--the issue that brought me to this forum:
"Minimum: 24-bit capable graphics accelerator with 32 MB of video memory (NVIDIA Quadro FX 350 or better/ ATI Radeon 9500 or better / Intel GMA X3500 or better)
You Have: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
   Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your Video Card does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations.
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
                                         Required     You Have
Video RAM                           32 MB        358.0 MB
3D                                       Yes           Yes
Pixel Shader version                   2.0         4.0
Vertex Shader version                2.0         4.0 "

Seems like a lot to go through to use a free tool, particularly when ancient XP can run it on the came computer.

Anyway, is it possible that doing all the administrator stuff you suggest..uninstalling and reinstalling Explorer, .net. MSXML (I think that's it) will make any difference?

I'm looking into open source stuff as an alternative.

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

V_StuartFoote — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:50:04 GMT

Lemuel,

Taking the time to configure the Administrator account is worth it in my experience for general usability of Windows 7. Additionally, there are a lot of updates beyond a bare metal installation to bring a system fully up for use.

Frankly, ArcGIS Explorer does have a lot going for it beyond some of the alternative commercial or open source projects--a lot depending of the source of the geospatial material you need to work with.

What did you end up doing for a Windows 7 Intel GPU driver? Something from Lenovo or forced install of the generic driver from Intel?

It is not fun, but you may need to dig into the process log. Download the Microsoft Sysinternals Process Monitor. Running it and capturing the log--then opening it and identifying the faulting calls is tedious. But we've had to do that over on the full ArcGIS Desktop side to run down misbehaving components.

Finally, you might solicit support with your issues with ArcGIS Explorer installation from ESRI technical support.

Stuart

Re: worked on xp doesn't work on win 7

LemuelSkidmore — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:05:24 GMT

Uninstalled the video drivers

Downloaded and installed a later driver from Intel

Tried Explorer again--no change

reinstalled .net (there's a silly windoze "turn features on and off" at the end).

Uninstalled Explorer

rebooted

reinstalled explorer

same problem

Then, I installed virtualbox, and installed an XP VM on this computer. "can you run it" likes the virtual video card even less than the real one.

Meanwhile, I downloaded MapWindow GIS and Shape2earth. I can take the parcel and zoning files from my town web site, symbolize the way I want, create a new shapefile, convert to KML, and import into GoogleEarth. No issues installing or using.

This is a pity. I wrote a Master's thesis on how non-GIS users in local health departments can take advantage of GIS tools--I had a student license for ArcView, and recommended Explorer. I ran 7 projects with health depts to prove the concept. I'm disappointed in ESRI for not providing something everyone can use (what happened to "GIS for Everyone?"). See my web site.

Stuart, thanks again for your help. If you or anyone has any further ideas on how to get this to work, I'm still listening.

Re the administrator account: I agree, but I was looking for solutions to this specific problem, and I don't think that's part of the solution.

Since I have something (MapWindow) that appears to meet my needs for now, I think I'm set.