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Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

Shell integration fixes

Programs that add to the Windows Explorer context menu will fail to do so on 64-bit Windows.  Here are some workarounds:

  1. WinRAR - I've created a .reg file that will add an “Extract here“ menu option for all WinRAR supported file types.  This assumes that you have WinRAR installed in the default directory “C:\program files (x86)\winRAR“.
    I've included Slipmatt's “Extract To...“ registry hack  in the .ZIP as well.  I haven't tested it myself so let me know if it works.
  2. Command Prompt Here - the ZIP file below also includes a Command Prompt Here reg file.
  3. There's an easier way than using the registry to add other handlers.  Simply open up an Explorer window, select “Tools“ and then “Folder Options.“  Go to the “File Types“ tab, select the file extension you wish to add an entry for, and click “advanced.“  Then click “new“ and tell it what executeable will handle the menu entry.  You can use the “%1“ variable to reference the filename.
    Example:  cmd.exe /k cd "%1"
    Adding that to the Folder item (NOT FileFolder) will give you the Command Prompt Here item.

DOWNLOAD the file.

Installing Applications


Some applications simply refuse to install on an OS that they don't recognize.  Because Windows XP x64 is built on the Server 2003 codebase, installers that explicity check for Windows XP by version (5.1) or build number (2600) will fail, as they are different for the Server 2003 and x64 builds (5.2 and 3790, respectively).

Here's a list of known workarounds:

  • PhotoStory 3
    Download the PStory.msi file as you normally would.  Go to a command prompt and run:
    msiexec /i PStory.msi NOLEGITCHECK=1

    You will then have to enabled Compatability Mode for the installed application.  Go to the Start menu and find the Photostory icon.  Right-click and click “properties.“  Then go to the Compatability tab.  Then select “Run this program in compatability mode for:“ and choose “Windows XP“ from the drop-down.
  • Other MSI installs.
    You can download the ORCA tool here.  This tool will let you edit MSI files.  Be warned, if you have no clue what you're doing, you'll probably mess something up.  If you're trying to figure out how to get an MSI to install, try this tool but MAKE A BACKUP COPY of the MSI to revert to in case you change anything.
    Usually you DO NOT NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING using this tool.  All you have to do is find the right parameter to set.

Programs that don't work:

  • MSN Desktop Search:

    You can force this one to install, and the indexer works fine.  However, the Deskbar and Explorer integration will not show up, and the Outlook integration is broken.  You can perform a search by loading the 32-bit version of IE, and your search will work as normal.  This leads me to believe that supporting x64 in an upcoming release should be fairly trivial for the MSN team.

 

Links

http://www.extended64.com/

http://www.planetamd64.com

Post your additions, questions, problems, or whatever else you feel like saying!

posted @ Saturday, April 02, 2005 12:32 AM

Feedback

# re: Things to know about 64-bit Windows (XP and Server 2003 x64 editions).

Nice article. What about Google Desktop Search? Does it work properly? I find it better then MSN mostly because of the ability to search thru OpenOffice.org files and Firefox and thunderbird. 4/2/2005 8:11 AM | Anthony

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

Hey, i'd like to help out with that context menu thing. i'd like to see what you've got so far, but that link seems to be mia. 4/8/2005 10:44 PM | butter_fry

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

I've actually moved back to 32-bit land for now, in the form of XP Media Center Edition 2005.

I was certainly impressed with 64-bit Windows, however two things stood in the way of my initial adoption:

1) TV tuner support
2) MSN Desktop Search support

Once those two are straightened out, I'll almost certainly try it again.

4/9/2005 2:46 AM | Brandon Paddock

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

Anthony - I haven't tried the Google Desktop Search, but I believe it also uses an explorer toolbar that shows up in the Windows taskbar. That part almost certainly will not work. I don't know about the rest of the app.

I don't use GDS for several reasons, one of which is that it runs as a system service (with admin privileges by default) and not a user process. So it indexes other users' data, and cannot index encrypted files or those for which the System account does not have permission to access. I also just plain don't like the html-based interface. 4/14/2005 5:30 AM | Brandon Paddock

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

I have x64 and am using a TV Tuner with my ATI Radeon 9800 All in Wonder. There are two tuners I know of that work.

* InterVideo WinDVR (I'm using this now)
* Something called ChrisTV (I haven't tried)

I also wish the Google bar worked with x64, but i'm sure they'll do it soon. 5/1/2005 5:46 PM | cg

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

"&Extract to..." - WinRAR.exe x -ow -ver -- "%L" "?\"

"E&xtract here" - WinRAR.exe e -ow -ver -- "%L"

"Extract to folder" - WinRAR.exe x -ow -ver -ad -- "%L" 5/18/2005 1:35 AM | Qweryt

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

The work around for Photo Story 3 did not work. The install went fine but the application throws the following error when launched - "Photo Story 3 cannot run on this version of Windows. Check the system requirements for Photo Story 3 for Windows before trying to run it."

Please advise. Thanks 10/23/2007 10:51 AM | David Mutchler

# re: Shell integration and Program Installations on 64-bit Windows (XP and 2003 x64 Editions).

I realize it's been a while since you posted this, but the link to DOWNLOAD the program to enable the "Command Prompt Here" functionality in Windows 64-bit versions seems to be broken. Perhaps it is my problems, but I could not get it to work and I did try it several times.

I was able to get the link to the ORCA tool to work just fine and downloaded it without any problems.

Thanks for the help on that and I hope you can fix the other soon because I hate being without my Command Prompt Here functionality.

Also, I have been considering the question of installing the programs that check for machine type and object to 64-bit machines for some time. Most of those programs are actually 16-bit applications and they fail because there is no support for them in any of the 64-bit versions of Windows like there is in the 32-bit versions. If someone could create a program to convince the 64-bit versions of Windows to accept the dll files that are needed and used in the 32-bit versions of Windows to supply that support, that would be one possible way to get around that problem. A second, possible solution would be to write a 32-bit or 64-bit installer or virtual platform provider program to allow such programs to run in the 16-bit environment that they "expect" to run in. I'm not sure which of those solutions would be more complex to implement. 9/28/2008 10:27 AM | Rob Branstetter
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