Hi,
My lab PC is running Windows 7 (it connects to the internet rarely). Will the QA403 driver run on Windows 7? I installed v1.201 and it launches, but I’m not sure the communication will work properly.
Thank you,
Morty
Hi @MTarr, I think the answer is “probably not” because the QA403 uses a driverless install that only came in Windows 10. However, MSFT I think MSFT did offer a backport to Win7. And I have heard from someone using Win7 in a factory that it did work. Give it a try and report back when time permits. And it probably wouldn’t hurt if Win7 wants to update everything to try unless you are opposed to that for some reason.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for the reply. I found that post, so I became interested. My (HP) PC says it has an USB Enhanced host controller. I’ll try it and get back to you.
Having to purchase a new PC also at least doubles the cost of converting from my HP339A/HP5380A to the QA403.
-Morty
Hi @MTarr, have you looked at some of the mini PCs out there? These are pretty cheap, and come with Win11. I’ve written before about $100 mini PCs…
Hi Matt,
The QA403 arrived today and initially it did not communicate. The Win7 Ultimate OS went almost 10 years without an update (as a consultant, correlation is important).
I did a full update, and now it seems to work. I could not tell you which specific update addressed the USB controllers, as I did 3 “bulk” updates.
I like the idea of a laptop rather than a mini PC as the laptop can be disconnected from the mains to make measurements, if necessary.
Thanks for a your help and a great product,
-Morty
Maybe I just got lucky?
Hi @MTarr,
I like the idea of a laptop rather than a mini PC as the laptop can be disconnected from the mains to make measurements, if necessary.
The measurement section of the QA403 is galvanically isolated from the digital section, so this probably won’t help. In fact, if you are seeing excessive 50/60 Hz in your measurements, you system is probably WANTING the BNC shells to be grounded.
In any case, the MiniPCs don’t usually provide an earth ground as they are powered by a two-conductor wall wart. So, from that perspective they are the same as a laptop.
Maybe I just got lucky?
The fact that it didn’t work, and then did work after all the updates suggests it worked as MSFT intended. The driverless install process is described in the doc below. I am glad it’s working!