System Requirement = Windows XP

[JVanB]

This may sound dumb, but I find Intel's web pages a little awkward to navigate, so I can't find the information that I want.

I messed up my old computer so badly that the only way I could think of to make it usable again was to reinstall the OS, Windows XP Professional x64. This wiped my registry, causing the box to be usable again, so Intel Fortran no longer works. Now I have a current license for ifort but I can't find out which version I should install on my XP machine and how I should get it. Any advice?

[TimP]

Why not the latest version available on your license .?

[TimP]

?

[JVanB]

The latest version claims not be work on Windows XP. I was hoping out what the latest version that works on Windows XP is and how to navigate Intel's web pages to download it.

[mecej4 · Accepted solution]

Note that XP-64 was used much less often than XP-32, so few statements about "XP" may apply to XP-64. As far as I can remember, 11.1.070 worked on XP-64. You may be able to use Composer XE-2013 if you can accept some limitations (e.g., command line builds only).

Limitations can come from VS as well. Which version of VS are you going to reinstall? 

See these release notes to decide which version to choose.

     http://registrationcenter.cps.intel.com/irc_nas/2248/w_cprof_p_11.1.072_release_notes_en_us.pdf

     https://software.intel.com/sites/default/files/managed/47/7e/release-notes-f-2013-w-en-u6.pdf

To download, open https://registrationcenter.intel.com/download.aspx?productid=2593&pass=yes and sign in. Select whichever Fortran package you are shown, and fake/select the latest Fortran package that you are entitled to on the basis of your license. You will see a new page with the latest version pre-selected, but you probably do not want that -- change the selection to the older version that you want. You will probably find that the oldest version available for download without human intervention is 8.0.

[JVanB]

I was hoping for a page like http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie-system-requirements#ie=ie-11 where there is a drop-down list that allows you to check version by version to see what the system requirements are.

From your links it seems that I have to get version 11.1 just for Visual Studio 2008 or something like that, and then get version 2013 for the actual compiler without uninstalling the old Visual Studio or installing the new one. Isn't there a separate thing called integrations into Visual Studio? Is there some way I can know what's going on with that or how to control whether the old ones or the new will be in effect after the second installation?

ifort installation has never gone through 100% smoothly, so I am hesitant to mess around like this after just having installed all 198 updates to XP.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Compiler version 14 (Composer XE 2013 SP1) was the last to support installing on Windows XP.

[mecej4]

I see from the release notes of Composer XE-2013 that VS2010 is not supported on Windows XP-64:

"Installation of the included Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Shell has the following limitations: Windows XP 64-bit is not supported. Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Shell from earlier versions of Intel® Visual Fortran can be used on Windows XP 64-bit."

The same limitation may be expected to hold for Composer XE 2013 SP1. RO may need to consider whether he wishes to install an older version of Intel Fortran just to obtain the VS 2008 shell, and then install a later version such as XE 2013 SP1 on top of that.

[JVanB]

OK, so I followed the docs in Quote #5. First I got w_cprof_p_11.1.072.exe from the registration center. Took me quite a while to figure out where it was hidden... But at last I had it and began the installation process. I guess I'm not very good at this sort of thing because it was a couple of hours before I figured out a method to activate because for some reason the installer said it couldn't connect to the internet. Then I was trying the wrong serial number for a while, but following the link about where to get the serial number worked eventually and I was able to get a license file in email. So I installed:

MSVS 2008 Shell
ifort IA-32
ifort Intel 64
Integrations in MSVS
Integrated docs

And the installer wanted to install the integrations into MSVS 2008, just as planned, so everything went through OK. Tried the 32- and 64-bit command prompts and they worked, but I couldn't get Visual Studio to compile to an executable for some reason. At this point power went down and it was a warm evening so I took a walk. Power was out for a mile or more! But eventually the lights came on and I walked home and tried the advice in the getting started docs, and did get something to build and run. Thus I downloaded w_fcompxe_2013_sp1.5.239.exe and installation went much more easily because now I had a license file that the installer could use. I installed:

ifort IA-32
ifort Intel 64
MKL Intel 64
F95 interfaces for BLAS and LAPACK for Intel 64
Integrations in MSVS
MKL IA-32
F95 interfaces for BLAS and LAPACK for IA-32

And the installer wanted to install the integrations into MSVS 2008, again as planned. After successful installation I checked that the new command prompts for IA-32 and Intel 64 worked, but when I created a new project in Visual Studio and used the Console template, added a source file, saved everything and tried to build, I got an LNK1104: cannot open file 'ifconsol.lib'. So that's a lot of progress, but something seems to be wrong with the MSVS setup. Even the silly hello, world file that the template creates for you does this. So it looks like I am pretty close at this point. I even have a link to the docs under the Start menu, which I never got from versions 15 or 16.

[JVanB]

More trial and error. I found that I could successfully build an x64 solution. Adding /VERBOSE to the link command line in Visual Studio, I see that it found ifconsol.lib at C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Composer XE 2013 SP1\compiler\lib\Intel64\ifconsol.lib (when building for x64). There is also an ifconsol.lib at C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Composer XE 2013 SP1\compiler\lib\ia32\ifconsol.lib , with a different size. I presume that this is the one required for IA-32 builds.

Searching Google via site:software.intel.com ifconsol.lib turns up several results, but many are due to mixed C/Fortran projects in Visual Studio or building from the command line without using the environment as set up by the ifort command line. My guess is that the directories aren't getting set up correctly in Visual Studio for 32-bit builds, but I have no idea about how to inquire what directories MSVS thinks it's searching or how to point it at the one above that does have ifconsol.lib.

[mecej4]

I find myself in similar situations quite often, because I frequently find it necessary to build test programs with older versions of MS, Intel and other compilers. These older packages may exist only on an old system drive which I have put into a USB connected metal enclosure, and so are not accessible through the Start Menu. Most of the time I don't use Visual Studio at all, and the following is an example of a batch file that serves to set up a suitable CMD window for running IFort 11.1.070 (d: is the drive letter of the removable drive on which an older MS VC SDK and an older IFort package reside) :

@set SDKD=d:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A
@set VCD=d:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0
@set IVF11D=d:\lang\ivf11\Compiler\11.1\070
@set MKLD=d:\LANG\IVF11\Compiler\11.1\070\mkl
@path %ivf11d%\bin\ia32;%mkld%\ia32\bin;%sdkd%\bin;%vcd%\common7\ide;%vcd%\vc\bin;%path%
@set LIB=%IVF11D%\lib\ia32;%mkld%\ia32\lib;%SDKD%\lib;%VCD%\vc\lib;%LIB%
@set include=%mkld%\include;%mkld%\include\ia32;%include%
@title IFC11-IA32

You have probably done similar things to qualify for the appellation "R.O.".

[JVanB]

OK I got the IA-32 build to go through. It turned out that MSVS had set the Fortran library directories to

$(IFortInstallDir)lib\ia32
$IFortInstallDir)mkl\ia32\lib

which would be appropriate for ifort 11.1, so I changed them to

$(IFortInstallDir)compiler\lib\ia32
$(IFortInstallDir)mkl\lib\ia32

By analogy with what was working for 2013 SP1, 64-bit. The directories downstream from $(VCInstallDir) and $(WindowsSdkDir) seemed OK, so I left them as is.

But I am still left with questions: did I mess something up during the 2013 SP1 installation, or should this be expected? How do I get MSVS to make this change permanent without having to do it by hand every time? Are there more changes I should be aware of? I notice that the Fortran INCLUDE paths are for 11.1 rather than 2013 SP1, for example.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

I've read this thread a few times and am unsure what you've done and what you're trying to do. But I'll make some observations that may help.

For Fortran projects in VS, the PATH, INCLUDE and LIB variables are set from lists in Tools > Options. The level after that has different names in different versions, but for 2013 SP1 I think it is Visual Fortran. Then under that, Compilers. This is where you can select which of multiple installed versions you want to use, and can modify the various folder lists.

If you are building from the command line, just "call" the ifortvars.bat file for the version you want to use, with a required argument of ia32 or intel64.

If you are doing mixed Fortran-C and the main program is in C, see https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/configuring-visual-studio-for-mixed-language-applications

[JVanB]

Steve, if you're uncertain as to what I'm doing, perhaps I had better summarize everything as concisely as possible in one post.

Problem 0: How do I install Intel Fortran on my Windows XP x64 machine?

Discussion: In Quote #1 I tried to point out that I had a new registry and had installed no software except for a couple of ethernet drivers and video drivers. Tim Prince asked in Quote #2 why I didn't just install the latest ifort, and as you pointed out in Quote #7, the last version that works in XP x64 in Version 2013 SP1. In the second link in Quote #5 provided by mecej4, it says that Windows XP x64 version will have to obtain their own version of Visual Studio 8 because the product comes only with Visual Studio 2010, which doesn't support that OS. In the first link in Quote #5 it says that Version 11.1 comes with Visual Studio 8. Thus the task seems to come down to 3 problems:

Problem 1: How do I install Intel Fortran 11.1?

Problem 2: How do I install Intel Fortran 2013 SP1?

Problem 3: How do I clean up the mess?

Problem 1: How do I install Intel Fortran 11.1?

Procedure: First you go to https://registrationcenter.intel.com/download.aspx?productid=2593&pass=yes and then you have to log in and scroll that little box down to 11.1, which you can select and then you have a choice of files to download. The one you want is w_cprof_p_11.1_072.exe. So I downloaded it and saved it to disk and then ran it. It wants to verify that you have a valid license. The easiest way is if you have an internet connection that the installer likes on your machine. Since that would be too easy, I had to do this 5 step process to get a license file emailed to another machine. Make sure you follow the link where the installer tells you how to find your serial number; the serial number on the other machine doesn't work. After having gotten past that hurdle, I installed 5 components:

MSVS 2008 Shell
ifort IA-32
ifort Intel 64
Integrations in MSVS
Integrated docs

At this point we have a working compiler. note that I didn't bother to install MKL.

Problem 2: How do I install Intel Fortran 2013 SP1?

Procedure: The link for the procedure of problem 1 works here, too. Near the top of that scroll box is 2013 SP1, and when you select it there is a download button that gets you w_fcompxe_2013_sp1.5.239.exe . I downloaded that, saved it to disk and ran it, but things were easier now because it found the license file from the procedure of problem 1. I installed 7 components:

ifort IA-32
ifort Intel 64
MKL Intel 64
F95 interfaces for BLAS and LAPACK for Intel 64
Integrations in MSVS
MKL IA-32
F95 interfaces for BLAS and LAPACK for IA-32

This time I installed MKL.

Problem 3: How do I clean up the mess?

Procedure: Testing showed that the IA-32 and Intel 64 command prompts installed under the Start menu by the compiler work. Also Visual Studio successfully built an Intel 64 console application, but attempting to build an IA-32 console application resulted in  LNK1104: cannot open file 'ifconsol.lib' which indicates that at least the library paths for IA-32 builds have not been set up correctly. To fix this I went to Tools->Options->Intel Composer XE->Visual Fortran->Compilers.

The Executables directories looked pretty much OK. I can't recall whether $(FrameworkDir)$(FrameworkVersion) was ther in the first place or if I added it later.

The Libraries directories needed repair and I changed

$(IFortInstallDir)lib\ia32
$IFortInstallDir)mkl\ia32\lib

to

$(IFortInstallDir)compiler\lib\ia32
$(IFortInstallDir)mkl\lib\ia32

I also noted potential problems in the Include directories, so I changed:

$(IFortInstallDir)include
$(IFortInstallDir)include\ia32

to

$(IFortInstallDir)compiler\include
$(IFortInstallDir)compiler\include\ia32

I might also have added $(FrameworkSDKDir)include in the mix as well. After these little changes, Visual Studio can successfully build IA-32 applications with Intel Fortran 2013 SP1 under Visual Studio 8 on Windows XP x64.

Hopefully my problems and procedures have been clarified, Steve. I normally offer solutions to problems rather than pose them myself. It seems to require a different set of communication skills because the person on the other end of the conversation doesn't automatically have context for the discussion in this case.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Ok. Did you select the compiler version on the Compilers dialog before making the changes? Because these are version-specific.

[JVanB]

When I installed the integrations into Visual Studio for ifort 2013 SP1, the installer IIRC threatened to remove the previous integrations (to version 11.1). It seemed to carry out that threat, because when I go to Tools->Options->Intel Composer XE->Visual Fortran->Compilers, the Selected version of suite/compiler only has the choices <latest> and Intel(R) Composer XE 2013 SP1 Update 5 Build 239. Whichever one I select shows Selected Compiler as Intel(R) Visual Fortran Compiler XE 14.0.5.239. So there was only one version to select. Having access to version 11.1 is not significant to me anyway because that's a pretty old compiler by now anyway. I still have the command prompts for version 11.1 if needed. Indeed the problem with LNK1104 was there because Visual Studio was showing the macros valid for version 11.1 for the IA-32 setup, but the value of $(IFortInstallDir) had changed so the macros no longer pointed at valid directories.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Removing integration is not the same as removing support. Only one version can be "integrated", but as explained here, you can select from the current and the previous 2-3 releases using the Compilers dialog.

[JVanB]

Steve, good that you posted that link because I was exactly at the figure entitled 'Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and 2005'. Even the compiler version was the same. But the Selected version of suite/compiler dropdown box only had two choices, as detailed in Quote #16, and they both select the same version of the compiler. As I said this doesn't matter to me, the only issue was that the version of the compiler that I could see required a little tweaking to work under Visual Studio.

Perhaps if you had a minimal project that actually required all of the executables, libraries, and includes directories that the installation is supposed to provide it might occasionally flag issues of this nature (i.e. as addressed in Quote #14 Problem 3) during testing of the installer. I imagine I could compose a little program that needed all the library and include directories, but the executables seem to be needed for functioning of Visual Studio so I'm not sure how to test that part.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

We do test the VS integration with our sample projects every release. I'm not sure what went wrong in your case.