REST
2009 for 64bit Windows
REST
2009 is a popular bioinformatics tool to analyze relevant gene
expression changes from crossing points (CP) of amplification curves
gathered by a Real-Time PCR (qPCR) experiment. REST was developed by
Michael W. Pfaffl (Technical University Munich) and QIAGEN.
However,
I found REST 2009 (v2.0.13) to cease working when moving from a 32bit
Windows operating system (Windows XP) to a 64bit Windows operating
system (Windows 7). The accepted solution until now was, to install a
VirtualPC software including a Windows XP image optimized to run under
Windows 7 (dubbed Windows XP Mode). Resourcewise it was a disaster, not
to mention the hassle of backing up an entire second system. Also, the
need for additional security software in your virtual image made the
system even slower, remember Microsoft ceased to provide security
updates for Windows XP from the 8th of April 2014. Occasionally your
would need need to install other 3rd party software to complete your
analyses, in my case, I needed to install a PDF printer to be able to
save my REST 2009 reports in a standardazied way. On top of all that,
you always need to cope with net drive assignments, virtual net drives
that will provide access to the underlying OS from inside your virtual
XP and that behave a lot different in XP than Windows 7, as well as
some restrictions regarding the virtual desktop or virtual windows the
VirtualPC software provides. For example, you won't be able to move the
emulated REST 2009 windows to a second monitor.
After
all this complaining about how bad this free functionality in Windows 7
is, I want to present my workaround that has since then worked very
well for me.
Downloads
needed
Patching
REST 2009
The
problem with REST 2009, which was most probably written in .NET is,
that the author missed to flag the code as 32bit code. What happens,
when executing undefined code under a 64bit system is, that the code is
executed as 64bit and thus fails. Under a 32bit system, the 32bit code
works fine.
Using CorFlags.exe, it is
possible to subsequently edit those header flags, making a 64bit
Windows able to correctly identify and interpret the code.
After
the above mentioned software components are installed, CorFlags.exe should reside in
%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\bin
whereas Rest.exe is located at
%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\REST 2009
Using
an elevated command prompt (hit the WINDOWS key, search for cmd.exe,
right-click cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator..."), simply enter
the following command (or paste the code using the right mouse button):
cmd.exe /c ""%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft
SDKs\Windows\v6.1\bin\CorFlags.exe" "%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\REST
2009\Rest.exe" "/32bit+"" & pause
If there is no error message appearing in your command prompt,
everything worked as expected and you might try running the Rest.exe directly under your 64bit
Windows installation.
This
instruction is copyright by Christian Wolf (2015) and may not be
reproduced without written permission, instead you may freely link to
this page to help others coping with the same problem. Last updated: 27.05.2015
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