Pretending to be 32-bit to automatically install a driver

I have a USB device that is used to wirelessly communicate with another
device of mine. The drivers are installed automatically when the device is
plugged into the USB. However, because the device was designed for 32-bit
systems and I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, it does not want to install
the drivers correctly. It did everything perfectly on my previous system
(Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit). Is there any way to make my machine
"pretend" to be 32-bit when I plug the USB device in so that the drivers
will be installed correctly? At the rate most places are going with updating
drivers, plugins, and other stuff for 64-bit, I have a feeling it might be a
while before they give me anything designed for my system.

 

Nathan,

I have a scanner that only has a 32 bit driver. I installed it using the
Windows XP virtual machine. This comes free with Windows 7 Ultimate -- I
believe you need to download it from the MS web site.
--ron

 

Nathan,
Have you let Windows 7 64-bit to automatically search for drivers?
Have you gone to the "usb device" manufacturer's web site and check if Win 7
x64 drivers are available?
Other than that the solution is to use your usb device with Windows XP mode
virtual machine.
Carlos

 

Yes, I have let Windows 7 64-bit automatically search for drivers (including
on the CD that came with the device), but it didn't find any. I have also
been to the USB device manufacturer's website, and a response to an email I
sent them they said that drivers for Windows 7 and 64-bit are not yet
available (but 32-bit is available for Vista, which is why I am assuming
there is some way for me to get it to work on my machine if I pretend to be
32-bit). I have not yet tried the Windows XP mode virtual machine, so I will
see if that works.

 

In message <> "Nathan

It's not a matter of "pretending" to be 32-bit, 32-bit drivers simply
don't work in 64-bit.

If your version of W7 includes XP mode, you may be able to use USB
drivers from XP mode since XP mode is a x86/32-bit environment.

 

Not clear - 64-bit drivers for Vista? They usually work on Win 7 64-bit.

 

Wrong - the driver author made the mistake of checking if the OS is "XP", but XP64 is actually "windows server 2003", which failed their "is this XP" check - it's a common error. If the check is bypassed, the drivers will work just fine.