6K Software - Running Motion Planner on Windows 7 OR Windows 10?

MotionPlanner will not work in Windows 10.

There is no ongoing development for the old product lines which that use Motion Planner. It is a very mature product and on is slowly counting down to obsolescence. We do not recommend using the GV family in new applications, only as replacement of existing equipment.

Due to the age of Motion Planner, the last OS supported directly was Windows XP. Since Windows 7 had an option to run it in XP compatibility mode, it was possible to get the software to run in Windows 7 by using the setting shown below. Windows 10 does not have the same XP compatibility that Windows 7 had. Windows 7 still had the capability to emulate 16 bit operation and would work. Win10 removed support for 16bit operation, and will no longer run the 16 bit libraries that Motion Planner requires (even in compatibility modes).

There is no way to update Motion Planner to work in Windows 10. The only option is to run it in a Virtual machine running Windows XP or Windows 7. See the instructions below for getting Windows 7 to run Motion Planner in Windows XP Compatibility mode.

Motion Planner can be run on Windows7 using XP Compatibility Mode. (32bit and 64bit). (Virtual Machine running Windows XP is also an option)

Set XP Compatibility mode and Run as an Administrator for the Motionplanner2.exe file. (right-click on MotionPlanner2.exe file and the compatibility tab): Default file location is C:\Program Files\Parker\Motion Planner

Windows7 does not install the legacy Windows Help program. You may encounter an error when opening Motion Planner Help. "Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) is no longer included with Windows"

The necessary files can be found in the Microsoft Download Center. WinHlp32.exe downloads for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607

After installing the above file you may encounter another error when opening help :

"There was a problem running the macro. (1037)"

To eliminate this error, on the same MS download Center page as above, find the section

"How to enable macros on a single computer after you install WinHlp32.exe"

and run the FixIt.

With Win10, Motion Planner will seem like it can upload/download but will not work. On upload, it'll list the memory but not the programs to select:

There is not a way to fix this easily. Use Win7 or WinXP computer (standard or virtual).

edited dom 05/10/2019

edited jh 9/27/2019 - include win10 upload fail image

JD 29MAY20 - note Win10 XP not same as Win7 XP 16bit