My trusty laptop recently began showing signs of decline (it's not as fast as it used to be, and it freezes more than I can tolerate). So off I went to the Sony Style store to pick up a new laptop.
As you would expect, there was plenty of inventory at the Sony Style store to consider. I've purchased hundreds of laptops over the years so it didn't take me long to zero in on a model that would work well for me. I won't bore you with the laptop's features other than to list the big stuff:
- Hard Drive: 250GB (not the biggest but that'll work); Memory: 4GB (nice!)
- Screen Size: 15.4 inches (nothing to brag about, so I won't)
- Operating System : Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit (I wasn't a fan of Vista six months ago, but the more I use it, the more I prefer it to Windows XP)
- And I saved the best for last: $779.00 (I'll bet you can find it even cheaper with a bit of shopping).
So I handed over my credit card and bought my new toy home. And it wasn't long before I had installed my usual software suspects: Office 2007 and the Adobe Technical Communications Suite 2 (FrameMaker 9, RoboHelp 8, PhotoShop CS4 and Captivate 4).
While installing the Adobe Technical Communications Suite, I received a message I hadn't seen before, something about 64-bit blah, blah, blah, but I pushed forward and installed the whole suite without issue.
And then… I started Captivate and noticed some very strange behavior while trying to record a lesson. After clicking the Record button, Captivate pulled the first screen capture as expected. But that was it. After the first capture, Captivate refused to capture anything else. Pressing END on my keyboard to stop the recording process did nothing. In fact, the only way to get Captivate to pay attention was by manually stopping the recording process (by clicking the Captivate icon in the System Tray.
I know that Captivate 4 is Vista compliant. In fact, I was running Captivate 4 on another Vista laptop without incident. This laptop was brand new (just a few hours in service), so I was pretty sure there wasn't a virus causing trouble.
I went to Adobe's Web site to verify Captivate's System Requirements. Here's what you'll see on the Adobe site:
- Intel® Pentium® 4, Intel Centrino®, Intel Xeon®, or Intel Core™ Duo (or compatible) processor
- Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit editions)
- 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
- 1.5GB of available hard-disk space; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
- DVD-ROM drive
- 800×600 screen resolution (1,024×768 recommended)
My new laptop certainly meets these specifications. Hmmm. Uh oh. What's that phrase mean: "certified for 32-bit editions?" Certified? As in, won't work otherwise? Say it isn't so, Joe!
Back in Vista, I checked my laptops specifications by choosing Start > System Information. And there it was: System Type: x64-based PC. Most computers running Windows today are 32-bit machines. What's the difference between a 64-bit platform and a 32-bit? Mainly, the extra 32 bits result in increased speed and performance. If your software is 64-bit certified, you might see a speed increase of up to 20% or more. However, if your software is not 64-bit certified, there could be trouble.
And there's trouble for Captivate developers. If you are running a machine using the Vista 64-bit platform, there is no guarantee that Captivate will work properly. What could go wrong? For me, the only problem has been recording actions on the desktop (as I mentioned above, Captivate freezes and won't record anything beyond the first screen). However, when I record within an application (such as a Web browser), Captivate records the lesson as expected. I haven't seen other problems, at least not yet.
There are a few things you can try to get Captivate to work with Vista 64. First, right-click the Captivate application icon and choose Properties. On the Compatibility tab, select Run this program as an administrator and then click OK.
Start Captivate and see if the program runs as expected. If not, you can try one more thing. Right-click the application icon and choose Properties again. Once again on the Compatibility tab, click the Run this program in compatibility mode for drop-down menu and select Windows XP.
Several people have reported that either one or both of these workarounds did the trick. However, in my tests, Captivate just would not work 100% with Vista 64. I'd be curious to hear your experiences with Captivate and Vista 64. Send me your comments and I'll forward them to Adobe. Captivate is such a wonderful program and Adobe very responsive to customer requests and concerns. I have to believe that Adobe is working on the problem and a solution is not far away.
***
I hope Adobe comes up with something soon. I just bought a new computer this weekend that came with the 64 bit version of Vista and and have been fighting with Captivate on it for three days now. At least now I know for sure that the version of Vista is what the problem is. FYI, neither of the work arounds above worked to solve my problems, which I emailed to you.
I hope Adobe comes up with something soon. I just bought a new computer this weekend that came with the 64 bit version of Vista and and have been fighting with Captivate on it for three days now. At least now I know for sure that the version of Vista is what the problem is. FYI, neither of the work arounds above worked to solve my problems, which I emailed to you.
I hope Adobe comes up with something soon. I just bought a new computer this weekend that came with the 64 bit version of Vista and and have been fighting with Captivate on it for three days now. At least now I know for sure that the version of Vista is what the problem is. FYI, neither of the work arounds above worked to solve my problems, which I emailed to you.
Thanks again, Kevin, for your courteous and fast reply to my problem with completing the screen capture exercise (5) on page 30 of your workbook. I, too, have a Vista 64-bit machine and like the other poster, neither workaround worked for me.
Just makes you want to rush out and buy Windows 7, doesn’t it? 😛
As an aside, I like the way the workbook is written and structured–great job!
Thanks again, Kevin, for your courteous and fast reply to my problem with completing the screen capture exercise (5) on page 30 of your workbook. I, too, have a Vista 64-bit machine and like the other poster, neither workaround worked for me.
Just makes you want to rush out and buy Windows 7, doesn’t it? 😛
As an aside, I like the way the workbook is written and structured–great job!
Thanks again, Kevin, for your courteous and fast reply to my problem with completing the screen capture exercise (5) on page 30 of your workbook. I, too, have a Vista 64-bit machine and like the other poster, neither workaround worked for me.
Just makes you want to rush out and buy Windows 7, doesn’t it? 😛
As an aside, I like the way the workbook is written and structured–great job!
Hi Kevin,
I emailed you before about having issues with my Vista 64 bit computer and Captivate and I am still having them even when I have all of the updates installed and I run it as an administrator! I’m trying to record something on my desktop and start menu—and it just hangs and I can’t get out of Captivate. Has there been a fix for this yet?
Does upgrading to Windows 7 fix this?
Thank you!
Kathleen
Hi Kevin,
I emailed you before about having issues with my Vista 64 bit computer and Captivate and I am still having them even when I have all of the updates installed and I run it as an administrator! I’m trying to record something on my desktop and start menu—and it just hangs and I can’t get out of Captivate. Has there been a fix for this yet?
Does upgrading to Windows 7 fix this?
Thank you!
Kathleen
Hi Kevin,
I emailed you before about having issues with my Vista 64 bit computer and Captivate and I am still having them even when I have all of the updates installed and I run it as an administrator! I’m trying to record something on my desktop and start menu—and it just hangs and I can’t get out of Captivate. Has there been a fix for this yet?
Does upgrading to Windows 7 fix this?
Thank you!
Kathleen
Hi All,
Windows 7 does not fix this issue for me. In fact, I had it working just fine in Vista and then my Windows 7 upgrade killed it. Even compatibility mode won’t work.
🙁
Hi All,
Windows 7 does not fix this issue for me. In fact, I had it working just fine in Vista and then my Windows 7 upgrade killed it. Even compatibility mode won’t work.
🙁
Hi All,
Windows 7 does not fix this issue for me. In fact, I had it working just fine in Vista and then my Windows 7 upgrade killed it. Even compatibility mode won’t work.
🙁
Hello Kevin and All,
I wanted to post to agree with Windows 7 issues. I am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and Captivate 4. Any screen recording I try to create from the desktop, like create a new folder, will not work. I get the first screen and nothing else, I can’t even use my END key to stop the recording. But, all is fine once I am in an application. I have tried all the compatibility settings, etc. Nothing seems to work. Luckily most screen recordings are from within an application.
I will check back to see if Adobe has any solutions.
Also – On a side note, I’ve been using your training manuals for at least 4 years now. Very nice books, easy to train from. Lots of great info.
Eleonora
Hello Kevin and All,
I wanted to post to agree with Windows 7 issues. I am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and Captivate 4. Any screen recording I try to create from the desktop, like create a new folder, will not work. I get the first screen and nothing else, I can’t even use my END key to stop the recording. But, all is fine once I am in an application. I have tried all the compatibility settings, etc. Nothing seems to work. Luckily most screen recordings are from within an application.
I will check back to see if Adobe has any solutions.
Also – On a side note, I’ve been using your training manuals for at least 4 years now. Very nice books, easy to train from. Lots of great info.
Eleonora
Hello Kevin and All,
I wanted to post to agree with Windows 7 issues. I am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and Captivate 4. Any screen recording I try to create from the desktop, like create a new folder, will not work. I get the first screen and nothing else, I can’t even use my END key to stop the recording. But, all is fine once I am in an application. I have tried all the compatibility settings, etc. Nothing seems to work. Luckily most screen recordings are from within an application.
I will check back to see if Adobe has any solutions.
Also – On a side note, I’ve been using your training manuals for at least 4 years now. Very nice books, easy to train from. Lots of great info.
Eleonora
Try this fix…it worked for several of my student’s 64 bit machines that were being cranky.
1. Open Captivate. Go to Edit > Settings.
2. Click on “Full Motion Recording”
3. Check the box “Disable hardware acceleration”>
4. Click “OK”
-Troy Challenger, California State University, Monterey Bay
Try this fix…it worked for several of my student’s 64 bit machines that were being cranky.
1. Open Captivate. Go to Edit > Settings.
2. Click on “Full Motion Recording”
3. Check the box “Disable hardware acceleration”>
4. Click “OK”
-Troy Challenger, California State University, Monterey Bay
Try this fix…it worked for several of my student’s 64 bit machines that were being cranky.
1. Open Captivate. Go to Edit > Settings.
2. Click on “Full Motion Recording”
3. Check the box “Disable hardware acceleration”>
4. Click “OK”
-Troy Challenger, California State University, Monterey Bay
Hi Troy… it was a worthy suggestion but I had tried that one already. On a 64-bit system, CP will simply not capture desktop screen actions beyond the first shot. CP5 will be fully compliant but we will have to wait until that version is released (which will happen later this year).
Hi Troy… it was a worthy suggestion but I had tried that one already. On a 64-bit system, CP will simply not capture desktop screen actions beyond the first shot. CP5 will be fully compliant but we will have to wait until that version is released (which will happen later this year).
Hi Troy… it was a worthy suggestion but I had tried that one already. On a 64-bit system, CP will simply not capture desktop screen actions beyond the first shot. CP5 will be fully compliant but we will have to wait until that version is released (which will happen later this year).
One more thing… those of you using my Captivate Essentials or Advanced books should record something in any program (such as a Web browser) instead of the desktop. That way you will at least be able to record a lesson. In addition, go to your Help menu and select Updates. Adobe has released a few patches that fix some issues with Vista 64-bit systems.
One more thing… those of you using my Captivate Essentials or Advanced books should record something in any program (such as a Web browser) instead of the desktop. That way you will at least be able to record a lesson. In addition, go to your Help menu and select Updates. Adobe has released a few patches that fix some issues with Vista 64-bit systems.
One more thing… those of you using my Captivate Essentials or Advanced books should record something in any program (such as a Web browser) instead of the desktop. That way you will at least be able to record a lesson. In addition, go to your Help menu and select Updates. Adobe has released a few patches that fix some issues with Vista 64-bit systems.
Hurrah! The patches worked 🙂 – AMEN!!
Hurrah! The patches worked 🙂 – AMEN!!
Hurrah! The patches worked 🙂 – AMEN!!