Knowledge Base

Compatibility of Red Gate tools in 64-bit environments

Category: Frequently-asked questions
Date: 10 Mar 2009
Product: all SQL products
Do all Red Gate's Applications support 64bit environments?

All of our SQL Tools run in a 64-bit environment, however they don't run as native 64-bit applications: they will run in WoW64 (Windows-on-Windows 64-bit). WoW64 is a subsystem of the Windows operating system that is capable of running 32-bit applications and is included on all 64-bit versions of Windows. The WOW64 subsystem handles the key aspects of running 32-bit applications. This is transparent to the end user during the installation so you don't need to set any special options.

However, there are two products which have to have special consideration when it comes to 64-bit environments. SQL Backup consists of two components, the GUI and the server components. The GUI is the same as the other SQL Tools and will install in the WoW64 subsystem. However, if you're installing the server components onto a machine that has SQL Server 2005 64-bit installed then you will need to purchase the Professional version of SQL Backup. This version includes 64-bit versions of the extended stored procedures that we use in the product. You will not be able to use the Standard version of SQL Backup in a 64-bit SQL Server environment.

Another exception is the SQL Comparison SDK. The assemblies are compiled as "any CPU" as of version 7.1, however, any reference to the RedGate.SQLCompare.BackupReader assembly will require your application to be compiled as 32-bit, as this assembly has got the 32-bit flag set. You can compile an SDK application on a 64-bit machine as a 32-bit application, but the Visual Studio environment needs to be adjusted to compile your project in 32-bit mode. See the following knowledge base article - http://www.red-gate.com/supportcenter/Content.aspx?p=SQL%20Comparison%20SDK&c=knowledgebase%5cSQL_Comparison_SDK%5cKB200701000007.htm