pci 1200 Alternative on windows 10

[Zedrick]

We're upgrading an old machine that runs Windows XP NI-DAQ 6.9.3. The drivers for our PCI 1200 pci card are not compatable with windows 10. Is there an alternative for this card that takes the same input without having us to rewrite the software (The software is propriatary).

[Niki.B]

Hello,

Based off of the specifications of the PCI 1200, some devices I would recommend looking at would be the USB-6000, USB-6001, USB-6002, and USB-6003. The major differences in these devices are the number of differential analog input channels and the maximum sampling rates.  You can look at these products more in depth on the NI shop page to see which would be best for your application: https://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/category/multifunction-io.html?productId=118688

[bstreiff]

@Niki.B points out some replacement products above with similar performance and capabilities as the PCI 1200, but one key aspect to your question:

Is there an alternative for this card that takes the same input without having us to rewrite the software (The software is propriatary).

If you're using NI-DAQ 6.9.3, then the software you have utilizes the Traditional NI-DAQ API.

The USB-600x series of devices uses the NI-DAQmx API. They are not supported in the Traditional NI-DAQ API. The NI-DAQmx driver was introduced in 2003, and all NI DAQ hardware produced afterward has used this API exclusively.

There are some products from around that era that are supposed by both driver stacks; note that, because of their age, many of the items in this list are either coming up on or have passed their EOL date.

I'm afraid that if you need Windows 10 support, you're probably going to need to rewrite your software. This article on transitioning from Traditional NI-DAQ to NI-DAQmx may be useful in that process.

[Zedrick]

 I actually managed to install NI-DAQ 6.9.3 on windows 10 32bit, the drivers are detected (though unsigned) and the boards initializes correctely in NI-MAX. The software detect the boards and functions and intended. BUT, once I restart the machine, the boards disappear. I can still see them in the device manager, but NI-MAX can never detect them. When I delete the drivers and NI-DAQ software and reinstall them fresh, the boards initialize correcetly....Until I restart the PC. What could be the problem? 

[bstreiff]

My first instinct would be to look at turning off Fast Startup, which was a feature added in Windows 8 (and also present in 8.1 and 10) which affects driver behavior on shutdown and startup. Since NI-DAQ 6.9.3 predates Windows 8 by just over ten years, it was never tested with Fast Startup in mind.

Aside from that suggestion, I'll note that you are well into unsupported territory at this point, and I do not know what nasal demons you may have to contend with.