Update: Since Primavera P6 16, the 64-bit version is default.
There was a decision to be made. It was just a simple check box. But looking back now, I’m as surprised as Robert Frost to the difference it made.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.–Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken.
Not that installing software is like poetry at all, but sometimes you realize that a small decision made a few weeks back can make a world of a difference. Let me explain.
I recently installed Primavera P6 Professional 15.2 for a client, the latest version of Oracle’s Project Management software. It was a pretty normal day.
Somewhere at the front of the install,…. in fact it might be the first prompt,
“Please select the Platform you wish to install: 32 Bit or 64 Bit.“
Whereas I thought there was no question about whether to install Primavera P6 64-bit vs the 32-bit install (I always go 64-bit), it turns out there are some important things to consider. More on that shortly.
So I choose: 64 Bit.
And the install proceeded as normal. It completed, we configured a database and in 5 minutes the latest version of Primavera P6 was up and running.
Why Install Primavera P6 64-Bit version?
During the install, it seemed to make sense to go with the 64-bit version. We all like our applications as speedy and robust as possible, and when you opt to install a 64-bit application, that’s the implication we’ve interpreted. Although, computer scientists will tell you it’s not always the case, we do expect 64-bit applications to run faster than their 32-bit counterparts.
64-Bit applications can access more RAM – like a LOT more RAM. But that alone doesn’t make them faster. It depends on what sort of data the application works with. And in the case of Primavera P6, which is very data intensive, the 64-bit capacity should deliver a faster application to the user.
Who doesn’t want a faster application? Why would you not install the potentially faster version?
We here’s one.
Microsoft Office Applications
That’s right. The platform version of Microsoft Office you already have installed can have a major impact on whether you should opt for the 64-bit version of Primavera P6.
Here’s why.
Primavera P6 is integrated in some ways with MS Excel. An uber-common feature is to export data to XLS format from P6 to allow users to manipulate it or view it in Excel. And now, a major discovery.
32-bit Office Applications Are Incompatible With 64-bit Primavera P6
When I tried to export Primavera P6 data to XLS, I received the following popup message:
“Excel Import / Export features require Microsoft Database Engine. Please contact administrator.”
This was so confusing. I’ve exported data to Excel at least a thousand times and never had problems with it. But since I had a 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel, I was getting this error. The Road less traveled.
Primavera P6 64-Bit vs 32-Bit – What Are the Differences?
As I dug deeper into how to fix my Excel issue, I found a document called “P6 Professional 15R2 32-bit and 64-bit Features – White Paper”. You can get a copy from Oracle.
There are some differences in features between Primavera P6 64-Bit and 32-Bit. I’ve outlined them here for you.
**It may be possible to get 32-bit P6 to work with 64-bit Excel.
From a glance at this table, you can see that some important P6 features are disabled with the 64-bit version of Primavera P6. There is no warning during the installation.
Conclusion
While the P6 Features white paper I mentioned above is heavy on highlighting the performance benefits of Primavera P6 64-Bit, if you do install it, you might be surprised to find out that there are some important features missing. These features only behave in 32-bit mode, so there are not included in the 64-bit version.
After discovering all of this, I ended up uninstalling Primavera P6 64-bit and reinstalling the 32-bit version. It was much easier than reinstalling Microsoft Office and upgrading to a 64-bit version. The performance of Primavera P6 in 32-bit mode is sufficient for the work that I do.
For the time being, I’m recommending to readers to use 32-bit Microsoft Office apps (even Microsoft recommends 32-bit) and a 32-bit Primavera P6 Professional 15.2 .
Let’s see what’s new when Oracle releases version 16.1 later this quarter or early next.
Oh yes. Don’t let this deter you from taking the road less traveled. Check out our article on 5 Ways to Prevent Your Primavera P6 Install From Getting Hacked.
Thanks Michael for the insight.
Hi;
I noticed that update baseline is not availvbe too in my installaition (64-bit ) , I do not know id the same was also deleted from the 32-bit version.
Sami, actually the lack of Baseline Update is related to using SQLite db rather than Oracle or MSSQL. See here: https://www.planacademy.com/primavera-p6-84-should-you-upgrade/
Thanks for your advance information on this subject.
Thank you! now I can import/export in excel.But where is the claim digger?
Jaime, the lack of Claim Digger is also related to installing P6 with SQLite – see my reply and link to Sami above.
I’m finally upgrading my P6 version 7 to version 15 today so this article was very timely. I would have gone with the 64 bit but now I’ll go with the 32. Muchos Gracias.
Anytime Larry!
What about installing the 64 bit version of Visualizer with the 32 bit version of P6, since Visualizer is a stand alone executable file. The supposed fix to Visualizer working with larger schedules is to install the 64 bit version.
Hi Dave, I don’t think you can install 64-bit visualizer when 32-bit P6 is installed. The Installer doesn’t seem to let you.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your wonderful insights. My real problem is SQLite database that does not work with API: with means one cant use visualizer, claim digger, Pertmaster and the likes. I have tried unsuccessfully to install and connect to an oracle database.
Can you please help?
Hi Guys i have just tried downloading V16.1 from Oracle & failed miserably, so i decided to try & install V15.2 & ended up with the same issue as per below. Has anyone any ideas what is going wrong as i have never had this issue before.
Cannot find language file C:\Program Files\Oracle\Primavera P6\P6 Professional\Languages.Dutch\comStrings
Havent got a clue where the Dutch comes in to play. All replies will be greatly appreciated. Regards
Oracle Support says that this occurs if you have multiple versions of P6 installed on the same PC. They say to try a repair.
Repair the existing P6 Client Application installation by performing the following steps on the workstation:
Browse to Start > Run > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
Choose the P6 Application Product (or P5 Application product if version installed)
Select Remove which brings up a menu to Repair, Remove or Uninstall
Select Repair to reinstall any missing files from the client application installation
If running a repair on the Client Application does not resolve the issue, Reinstalling the applications will.
Try that.
Recently upgraded my computer… and just discovered I’m in the same boat. THANKS for the info!
My pleasure. Glad it helped!
Dear michael
i have a 32 bit computer,i wish to upload my primevera p6 software which shall i go, 64 bit or 32 bit, i have autocad 2016 version and m.s.office 2013, will my P.C. accept the latest p6 primavera.i will be happy if replied.
with regards
Ramprakash
I believe it will run on a 32.bit pc.
This is very helpful. If you already have 64 bit installed, can you install the 32 bit without problems?
Ran across this article and wondering about updates…. Any idea if newer versions of P6 have the same issues? I’m currently running 17.7 and am curious about moving to 64-bit but our IT department standard is 32-bit Microsoft Office products.
Derek, I’m pretty sure this is fixed in v17. You can do a quick search on Oracle’s Primavera P6 Cumulative Feature tool here. It will tell what was fixed in which version.