How do I determine an application's native processor type?
Native Win32 applications come in different flavors, but they all have
the .exe extension. To effectively troubleshoot application compatibility
problems, you need to determine what kind of processor the application's
developer designed it for.
In NT Explorer, find the application you want to run. Right-click the
application, and select Quick View. Screen 1 shows the Quick View window that pops up. This window contains information about the application, including its native platform. Under Technical File Information, the Image File Header section shows information about the application type. This section's layout depends on the application type. For Win32 applications, the Image File Header section shows the machine type. Intel-based Win32 applications' machine type is Intel x86. Alpha-based Win32 applications' machine type is DEC Alpha AXP.
For 16-bit DOS applications, the Quick View window shows the operating
system (OS) but not the application type. To verify that an application is a 16-bit DOS application, you must view a detailed listing of the application's files. Open NT Explorer and select View, Details from the toolbar. Screen 2 shows a detailed listing of files in a directory. For 16-bit DOS applications, the words MS-DOS Application appear in the Type column.
How do I run a Win32 Intel application on an Alpha machine?
Win32 applications are source-code compatible. If you try to run an Intel
application on an Alpha machine running Windows NT 4.0, you get the error
message you see in Screen 3. Earlier versions of NT generate the error message
11 - An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format.
Users commonly need to run Intel applications on Alpha machines. For optimal
performance, you need to obtain the Alpha versions of your applications. Some
applications don't have Alpha versions. To run Win32 Intel applications on your
Alpha machine, you need to install special software such as Digital
Semiconductor's FX!32.
What is FX!32?
FX!32 is translation software for Alpha systems. It lets users run 32-bit
Intel-based Windows applications on Alpha machines. You can download FX!32 for
free at http://www
.digital.com/semiconductor/amt/fx32/
fxdownload.html. (For more information about FX!32, see Brian Gallagher, "FX!32,"
April 1998.)
What types of applications does FX!32 support?
FX!32 supports standard executables files, screen savers, services,
and ActiveX controls. For restrictions on FX!32's functionality, see the FX!32 README document that comes with the software.
Why are Win32 applications that run on different platforms only
source-code compatible?
You might think Win32 applications' source-code compatibility is a
disadvantage because developers must rebuild applications to run on non-Intel platforms. However, source-code compatible applications give you optimal performance.
Each processor that NT runs on has a machine-readable instruction set. The portable executable format for a Win32 application is the same regardless of platform, but the application's machine-readable instructions are platform
specific. For example, an Intel Win32 application contains x86 machine
instructions. Performance decreases if the system must convert from one
instruction set to another on the fly. When a developer recompiles an
application for a specific processor, the application runs more efficiently
because it contains the machine-readable instructions for the processor.
Developing applications for the Win32 standard lets you target multiple
platforms and achieve native application performance on any platform.
Where can I find additional information about 32-bit applications?
For information about the Win32 API, refer to Microsoft Win32
Programmer's Reference (Microsoft Press). For more information about Win32 development, go to Microsoft's Win32 Web site (http://www.microsoft
.com/win32dev/). For information about Windows NT application support, refer to Helen Custer's Inside Windows NT (Microsoft Press). For information about running Win32 applications on VMS, go to http://www.openvms.digital.com/ affinity.
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