Well, I bought all the parts to build a new computer......

So, I wanted to go ahead and get this old one fixed so I could sell it. It turns out I found a bad memory stick. I used memtest and it crapped out right away. So I pulled a stick, ran the full test and it was fine. I then swapped the other stick in and it failed right away.

Down to 512k of memory, but windows xp is back up and running. Working on getting all the updates now....

I wonder if this memory stick has been intermittent causing me headaches for years. I actually went through all the memory tests once before and had no errors.
This could be a good Mach3 computer now....for someone that wants a decent old old XP computer.

Its a P4 3.06 Ghz, 256MB Geforce 6800, 400Gig HD, EMSI MB...just needs more memory now.

Cool. Glsd you figured it out.

I have been reading the threads and plain and simple Mach3 will NOT run in 64bit OS. The driver was written to use either APIC timer or take over interrupts in the uP in which case the architecture differs greatly in a 64 bit system. I heard someone mention the bricks or embedded systems which we use on a regular basis. I buy a nice little micro ITX MOBO(D5255MW Atom) and integrate it into the controller. The drivers, BOB and PC all live in a suitcase sized box and Mach 3 runs on a 32 bit version of W7. The Atom MOBO is less than $100 and I use a small 64G SSD with it. Boots in less than 30 sec and is entirely dedicated to Mach3 and SheetCAM in case people want to edit tool paths. I had a friend put together an install package for W7 the disables useless bloat services in the install. It is increasingly difficult to find nice boards w/ parallel ports but this one seems to be fast, cheap and reliable.

cheeta,
 Mach itself will not be a problem on a 64bit OS, where the problem is if you want to use a parallel port for your control, then you need a 32bit OS.
Hood

Hood,
You are correct. I have successfully run on 64bit OS in simulator mode and not installing the driver. I do that when writing code or building screen sets. I have even experimented with VMware and Virtual Box and had no luck with trying to use the parallel port. I finally stopped trying to update everything and came to the conclusion that many people are tossing perfectly good XP desktops in their efforts to upgrade and with a little work, they run perfectly with Mach3. I have a never ending stream of old desktops that I can "convert" to controllers . I have found that even old laptops with a P3 and W2K are sufficient in some apps. I keep telling my youngsters that old isn't necessarily trash...just depends on what the job is.

Cheeta

I use atoms a pico mobos in my machines but I dont use the parallel port on any. I still however prefer XP to any of the newer OS's but suppose one day I may have to upgrade when drivers for new mobos are not available for XP, hopefully that will be quite a few years away.
Hood

I like this thread,
I'm interested in 'industrial' computer and/or 'embedded' OS.
Can anyone tell me where I might find info to start some research?

Microsft say find a partner which I take to mean 'have someone else build your OS' and probably pay thru the nose for it!
Rather defeats the purpose of do-it-yourself CNC building.

Is there some list or similar which outlines those OS components that Mach3 requires and would it be feasible for me to construct my own
embedded OS, I'm reasonably geeky and as patient as a rock when it suits me.