zag Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 Is there a way of having a common shortcut for 64bit and 32bit versions of Sims? I have found I can manually move the Sims install directory to program files and then link to pulsar.exe but I'm not sure if this will have unintended consequences. Is there a reason the normal shortcut is simsload.exe?
LosOjos Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 Is there a way of having a common shortcut for 64bit and 32bit versions of Sims? I have found I can manually move the Sims install directory to program files and then link to pulsar.exe but I'm not sure if this will have unintended consequences. Is there a reason the normal shortcut is simsload.exe? I didn't know there was a 64bit version of SIMS? I wouldn't move your SIMS installation, better to write a script and have that launch SIMS simply by checking if it exists in the "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)" folder - if you need a hand with the script let me know. I believe simsload.exe as a wrapper to pulsar.exe checks for any available updates, installs them if found, then launches SIMS (pulsar.exe). If you launch pulsar direct, I believe you skip update checking (been a while since I experimented with this)
FN-GM Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 When we had mixed x86 and x64 we had 2 separate redirected start menus. One for x64 and one for x86. easy, not fuss.
zag Posted April 3, 2014 Author Posted April 3, 2014 I'd like to have a common shortcut if possible. Does anyone have a better solution? I assume if I move the install directory then it will break Solus 3...
LosOjos Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 I'd like to have a common shortcut if possible. Does anyone have a better solution? I assume if I move the install directory then it will break Solus 3... Define 'better'. Personally, I'd be quite happy with sitting a small BAT file on each machine that opens the relevant pulsar EXE, then having a shortcut to that BAT in place of directly to SIMS. How do you envisage a 'better' solution working?
synaesthesia Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 If you're using S3 then don't worry about simsload, feel free to run straight from pulsar. What exactly is your goal in loading a separate "version" (although there isn't an x64 sims) ?
zag Posted April 3, 2014 Author Posted April 3, 2014 If you're using S3 then don't worry about simsload, feel free to run straight from pulsar. What exactly is your goal in loading a separate "version" (although there isn't an x64 sims) ? The goal is to have a single icon on a shared teachers desktop. I have a 64bit remote desktop server i'd like to roll out but currently the icon on the desktop does not work as its 64bit. Assuming I can link to pulsar.exe then its problem solved I think. I'll just move the folder and upgrade manually in the future.
vikpaw Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 @LosOjos you're right about how things work with the simsload simspulsar. @zag I'm guessing you have a mixed client environment, and people have shortcuts that don't work. We have this, and it's not just SIMS which is affected. Any links, taskbar items, etc. created / saved in your profile from the 32 bit days, no longer point to the right place. so as they move around the site, sometimes things work other times - they 'can't find the internet'. I tell people to hit the Windows Circle a.k.a. Start Circle / Start button / Windows Key etc. (we're on Win 7!) and type the name of the program they want. So they click on the correct link or shortcut as it were. If you created / pushed both links to their desktop or start menu, i think they should end up with one which has the logo / image and one that doesn't. This will also give them an error if they did try to click it. Would this suffice? It's not about making a one file fits all, rather than giving them the right file/link for the job. Making a batch file is easy enough, and you can even override it with the SIMS icon so it looks correct. I did this when i had an upgrade interrupt script to manually run Sims load first.
zag Posted April 3, 2014 Author Posted April 3, 2014 I'd be interested in a batch file that checks if the folder exists or not.
vikpaw Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 Can't you just change the link to the program files (x86) folder and it will then work...?
vikpaw Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 I cannot tell a lie - I googled it How to check location of 32bit Program Files folder in windows .bat script - Stack Overflow
LosOjos Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 Here is the script you need: @ECHO OFF IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\" GOTO X86 IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\" GOTO X64 ECHO "SIMS.net not found!" GOTO EOF :X86 "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" GOTO EOF :X64 "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" :EOF Save it as a BAT, create a shortcut to it, replace the icon of the shortcut with the SIMS icon and your users will be none the wiser 2
zag Posted April 3, 2014 Author Posted April 3, 2014 Many thanks @LosOjos Just to confirm, are there any side effects from using pulsar.exe rather than SimsLoad.exe? I'm using Solus 3 so hopefully it doesn't need that any more.
LosOjos Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 Many thanks @LosOjos Just to confirm, are there any side effects from using pulsar.exe rather than SimsLoad.exe? I'm using Solus 3 so hopefully it doesn't need that any more. With Solus3, SIMSload is redundant so you'll be fine. If you wanted to run SIMSload "just in case", you can simply change the script above to: @ECHO OFF IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\" GOTO X86 IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\" GOTO X64 ECHO "SIMS.net not found!" GOTO EOF :X86 "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSload.exe" "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" GOTO EOF :X64 "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSload.exe" "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" :EOF
box_l Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 I do not allow users to run batch files, so I have converted it to an exe. I have included the tool that I used, the icon and the script inside. I used the "ghost" option in the tool to stop the cmd window flashing up Script from LosOjos @ECHO OFF IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\" GOTO X86 IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\" GOTO X64 ECHO "SIMS.net not found!" GOTO EOF :X86 "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSload.exe" "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" GOTO EOF :X64 "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSload.exe" "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" :EOF Tested and working for me. See attached. BoXSIMS 32-64bit exe.zip 3
3s-gtech Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 We purposely retired/upgraded anything running a 32bit OS to help with this - a lot of work though! Then last week I bought a new Atom tablet which it turns out doesn't have 64bit UEFI so I have a single 32bit OS on the network again - gah!
LosOjos Posted November 4, 2014 Posted November 4, 2014 Here is the script you need: @ECHO OFF IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\" GOTO X86 IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\" GOTO X64 ECHO "SIMS.net not found!" GOTO EOF :X86 "%ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" GOTO EOF :X64 "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" :EOF Save it as a BAT, create a shortcut to it, replace the icon of the shortcut with the SIMS icon and your users will be none the wiser Just thought I'd share this, a tidier way of achieving the same with less repetition (note there's no check for SIMS.net's existence now, but the resulting error would alert you to that anyway): @ECHO OFF IF DEFINED ProgramFiles SET _programs=%ProgramFiles% IF DEFINED ProgramFiles(x86) SET _programs=%ProgramFiles(x86)% "%_programs%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe" 1
harriuk Posted November 4, 2014 Posted November 4, 2014 An alternative would be to create a junction link and point "c:\program files\Sims\" to "c:\program files (x86)\Sims\". Every time you go to "c:\program files\sims\" it will open the x86 version. But you have create this on all x64 computers so you might need to do it as a logon script or group policy?
vikpaw Posted November 4, 2014 Posted November 4, 2014 Could you do an IF folder64\file exists run folder64\file ELSE run folderx86\file ?
harriuk Posted November 4, 2014 Posted November 4, 2014 Oh forgot to say how to make the junction link. Mklink /J "c:\program files\Sims" c:\program files (x86)\sims" Run it on an x64 machine and when you browse or run anything from c:\program files\sims it opens the x86 folder.. 1
LosOjos Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) Could you do an IF folder64\file exists run folder64\file ELSE run folderx86\file ? That's what my script does Vik There's no 'else' in BAT scripts, but the two 'IFs' in that script achieve the same effect EDIT: there are 'ELSE' statements - thanks @vikpaw! Edited November 5, 2014 by LosOjos
vikpaw Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 That's what my script does Vik There's no 'else' in BAT scripts, but the two 'IFs' in that script achieve the same effect I thought that, but when i googled it i found some references to ELSE statements If - Conditionaly perform command | Windows CMD | SS64.com I suppose you could replace the set command with just run that version , and remove the last line.
LosOjos Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 I thought that, but when i googled it i found some references to ELSE statements If - Conditionaly perform command | Windows CMD | SS64.com I suppose you could replace the set command with just run that version , and remove the last line. Right you are! OK, even more condensed version: @ECHO OFF IF DEFINED ProgramFiles(x86) SET _programs=%ProgramFiles(x86)% ELSE SET _programs=%ProgramFiles% "%_programs%\SIMS\SIMS .net\pulsar.exe"
tmcd35 Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 When Capita will update SIMS to 64bit??? When will Capita update the 16bit modules to 32bit? 1
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