It does one thing well: it acts as an electronic replacement for the historic paper search manuals. Cons
: Capability to export diffraction patterns in formats like ASCII, CIF, or Rietveld for use in modern refinement software. pcpdfwin jcpds software 13 install
The original installer uses 16-bit installers (Acme Setup or InstallShield 3). 64-bit versions of Windows 10/11 cannot run 16-bit executables natively. You will need a 32-bit OS, a virtual machine (e.g., VirtualBox with Windows XP/7 32-bit), or a 16-bit emulator like OTVDM (WineVDM). It does one thing well: it acts as
| Error Message | Cause | Solution | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | "Setup cannot run on this version of Windows" | 64-bit OS lacking 16-bit subsystem | Use VM or OTVDM (see Path B). | | "PDF2 environment variable not set" | Missing or incorrect system variable | Manually set PDF2 to the data folder path. | | "Not enough memory to load search index" | DOS memory manager conflict | Run PCPDFWIN.EXE with the /L flag: otvdm.exe pcpdfwin.exe /L | | "Invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.DLL" | Corrupt .IND file | Re-extract PDF2.IND , CHEM.IND , MIN.IND from your CD's \SET13\INDICES folder. | | "Graphics display garbled" | Palette issue with modern GPU drivers | Run in 256-color mode. Right-click shortcut → Properties → Compatibility → Reduced color mode → 8-bit (256). | | "Printer not responding" (when exporting) | Legacy LPT1 parallel port emulation | Install a virtual PDF printer (e.g., Bullzip PDF) named "Generic Text Only" on LPT1: | 64-bit versions of Windows 10/11 cannot run 16-bit
You must have the PCPDFWIN installation media (often a CD-ROM or authorized download) and the licensed JCPDS PDF database files. Setup Execution:
: JCPDS was renamed to ICDD (International Centre for Diffraction Data). If you are looking for newer software, the ICDD now primarily distributes the Sleuth or JADE interfaces for their modern databases.
is a retired, 16/32-bit Windows application from the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) that provides a graphical interface to search the Powder Diffraction File (PDF-2) database. Set 13 refers to a specific release of the PDF-2 database (usually 1993–1995) containing ~50,000 inorganic and organic entries.