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I need one single windows program

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michaeltenerife
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I need one single windows program

#1 Post by michaeltenerife »

Hi everyone,

I need to get one simple program that connects with an external device through usb that only works on windows.
I don't like or want windows so it makes no sense to get a dual boot and install.
I tried the virtual box when I was using ubuntu and I had a really hard time and no success.
Is there anything quite reliable and simple on debian to make that simple program work?
A link to a clear reliable tutorial with each step clearly explained for a newbe?

Thank you so much.

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Re: I need one single windows program

#2 Post by canci »

1. Google whether there are Linux alternatives to that programme first. Sometimes they exist.

2. You can try to run the programme in wine
https://wiki.winehq.org/Wine_User%27s_Guide#Using_Wine

Unfortunately, it's a bit more involved for novice users, but it's also not rocket science. You can learn that in 30min. However, no guarantees that this programme will work.
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Re: I need one single windows program

#3 Post by CwF »

michaeltenerife wrote: 2022-05-05 22:03 I tried the virtual box when I was using ubuntu and I had a really hard time and no success.
a 'native' libvirt qemu/kvm virtual machine would do it if the concern is reliably passing the usb.

I do 'firmware' programming and flashing through such a vm with a keyed usb gadget connected to a gadget more costly than the computer I'm using. Makes me nervous! Works fine via vm.

The graphics accuracy of 'vbox' was not up to the task. So another concern is whether the app needs gpu acceleration.

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Re: I need one single windows program

#4 Post by arochester »

What is the Windows program?

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Re: I need one single windows program

#5 Post by michaeltenerife »

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay. Thank you for the suggestions.
Id doesn't need GPU acceleration. It is basically a program that runs frequency numbers and send them via usb to an external device for which a driver needs to be installed. I maybe should have told that in more details. Is wine worth a shot?

Also, is there a company offering to make a windows program compatible with linux/debian so I could ask how much it would cost?
Thank you

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Re: I need one single windows program

#6 Post by michaeltenerife »

??

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Re: I need one single windows program

#7 Post by sunrat »

Bumping is not helpful and is discouraged. If there is no answer for your question, probably no-one here knows the answer.
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Re: I need one single windows program

#8 Post by CwF »

michaeltenerife wrote: 2022-05-12 12:36 via usb to an external device for which a driver needs to be installed
CwF wrote: 2022-05-05 22:48 qemu/kvm virtual machine would do it if the concern is reliably passing the usb.
michaeltenerife wrote: 2022-05-12 12:36 Is wine worth a shot?
No

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Re: I need one single windows program

#9 Post by NFT5 »

I had the same problem - use a proprietary Windows program for work. In my case the device uses a serial port rather than USB but the basics are similar although a bit easier with USB. Getting it set up in Virtualbox wasn't too difficult. I used the Oracle Virtualbox User Manual.

Can't offer anything on other virtual machine emulators since Virtualbox works for me.

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Re: I need one single windows program

#10 Post by peer »

Wine will not work because (you say that) your external device needs a windows driver.
You can run windows in a virtual machine (virtualbox or qemu/kvm) and then it should work.

I have the same situation. I need to run a windows program (Toneprint from TC Electronic) that does not run properly in wine. I installed windows 10 on an very old laptop (2008) and stripped down windows as much as possible. The laptop is not connected to the internet. This way it works

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Re: I need one single windows program

#11 Post by michaeltenerife »

ok,thank you for the information.
Which windows version is safest, usb bootable and light to use for that only program?

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Re: I need one single windows program

#12 Post by peer »

It was/is possible to install windows on a (large) usb-stick or usb-disk. I think it was called 'windows to go". I did this a few years ago but it was not a success. It dit work but it was very slow and there were many problems with updating. So I would not recommend this.

Instaling windows in virtualbox (or vmware or qemu.) is probably the easiest way.
Windows is not light but when you remove all the bloatware (google can help here) it will work.

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Re: I need one single windows program

#13 Post by CwF »

Well, a poorly thought out question in the wrong forum!
What version and extras does this mystery program require?
search terms; BartPE, nLite, slipstream, ah, that's enough to start. If one is not already there I think it's a lost cause to backtrack your knowledge base...
Mine are 1.2GB qcow's base with a runtime layer on top. Created a long time ago now and migrated 3-4 times to current machines I'll tell you that success likely won't be so simple on the proprietary solutions - they break. Eventually I built a bare metal XP32 on the original and retired vm server, so a dual xeon 24GB ram 4GB vram 5520/X58, stupid overkill power...It rocks.
Now Off Topic

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