Resolving STEP 7 V5.5 Installation Failures on 64-bit Windows

Problem Summary

Engineers provisioning a new 64-bit engineering workstation frequently hit a circular installer block when deploying Siemens STEP 7 V5.5 (also marketed as STEP 7 Professional Edition 2010) or any of its service packs. The failure pattern is consistent:

1. The original STEP 7 V5.5 DVD (6ES7810-5CC10-0YA7) refuses to launch the setup executable on Windows 7 / Windows 10 64-bit because parts of the legacy InstallShield 16-bit shim cannot resolve under WoW64.
2. Engineering then attempts to deploy Service Pack 2 directly, only to receive the prerequisite error: "STEP 7 V5.5 or higher must be installed before this Service Pack can be applied."
3. The user is now stuck in a loop — the base installer won't run, but the upgrade that contains the 64-bit patch requires the base product to be present.

This article documents the supported Siemens escape paths from that loop, the correct order numbers for each variant, the prerequisites that must be satisfied before setup will run, and the verification steps that confirm a healthy 64-bit install.

Root Cause Analysis

STEP 7 V5.5 was originally released against the Windows XP / Windows Server 2003 baseline. The original installer was compiled with an InstallShield 2009 runtime that, on first ship, contained 16-bit DOS extender stubs in the bootstrap loader. On Windows Vista 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit those stubs fail to allocate the low memory block the installer expects, causing a silent rollback to the "This program has known compatibility issues" dialog or a hard crash with 0xC000007B (STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_FORMAT).

Siemens addressed this in two discrete updates:

• STEP 7 V5.5 + SP1 — replaced the 16-bit bootstrap with a 32-bit InstallShield runtime, added the Win7 x64 catalog, and updated the MPI/TCP driver signing keys to be SHA-2 compliant.
• STEP 7 V5.5 + SP2 (the last V5.5 release, dated 2012) — finalized Windows 7 x64 support, refreshed the S7-PCT (Port Configuration Tool) and SIMATIC Logon components, and bundled the iMap/S7-Graph/S7-SCL add-ons against the new runtime.

Because the SP2 package is published as an upgrade distributable (not a full ISO), and because it strictly checks the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\InstalledComponents\STEP7\Version for 5.5.0.0 or higher before it will unpack, it cannot bootstrap a clean machine on its own. The supported resolutions require either (a) obtaining a DVD image that already has SP2 integrated, or (b) staging the install on a 32-bit host and migrating the license.

Required Order Numbers and Software Identification

Use the following matrix to identify the exact media to procure. Do not attempt to substitute a TIA Portal DVD — the project formats are not backward-compatible without a STEP 7 V5.5 base install on the engineering station.

All floating-license variants ship on physical DVD media and are not normally available as a direct download. If your organization held an active Software Update Service (SUS) contract at the time of SP2 release (June 2012), the DVD should already have been delivered automatically. If not, contact your Siemens regional sales partner or the Siemens Industry Online Support ordering portal to procure the media at list price (historically in the €25–€60 range for the standard DVD variant).

Three Supported Installation Paths

Pick exactly one of the following paths. Do not mix installers from different release tiers — registry contention between SP1 and SP2 bootstrap fragments is the most common cause of "SIMATIC Manager missing from Start menu after reboot" complaints.

Path A — Preferred: Order the SP2-integrated DVD

1. Order 6ES7810-5CC11-0YA7 from your Siemens representative or via the Siemens Industry Mall.
2. Insert the DVD. The autorun menu launches Setup.exe with the corrected 64-bit-capable InstallShield runtime.
3. Accept the license terms, enter the License Key from the supplied Certificate of License, and let the installer proceed end-to-end without cancelling.
4. The DVD title shows "SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.5 incl. SP2" on the welcome screen — this is correct and is the integrated media, not the base release.

Path B — Base DVD + SP2 download upgrade

This path is only viable when the engineering workstation can boot a 32-bit OS long enough to land the base V5.5 install, then is reimaged to 64-bit and upgraded.

1. Install V5.5 base on a 32-bit Windows XP / Windows 7 32-bit host.
2. Activate the license and confirm SIMATIC Manager opens.
3. Download the SP2 upgrade package from the Siemens KB article Entry ID 57026339.
4. Apply SP2 on the 32-bit host to bring the registry up to 5.5.4.0.
5. Use Automation License Manager → Backup to extract the license key file to a USB drive.
6. Reimage the host to 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 (or Windows 10 1809 LTSC with the documented compatibility caveat) and install Automation License Manager only.
7. Reinstall STEP 7 V5.5 base on the 64-bit host — this will now succeed because the SP2-fixed bootstrap is detected via the cached MSI catalog.
8. Apply SP2 download over the top.
9. Restore the license via ALM → Restore.

Path C — Virtual Machine Workaround

If a 64-bit engineering workstation is mandatory (e.g., large project files or TIA Portal co-installation), install STEP 7 V5.5 + SP2 inside a 32-bit Windows 7 guest on VMware Workstation or Hyper-V, then map project folders over the network to the host. This preserves the 32-bit runtime that V5.5 expects while letting the host OS be 64-bit. Allocate at minimum:

• 2 vCPU
• 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended for projects > 5 MB)
• 60 GB dynamic VHDX
• USB passthrough enabled for the license key dongle or external hard drive

Prerequisites Before Setup Will Run

Whether you take Path A, B, or C, the following components must be present on the target system before Setup.exe is launched.

Step-by-Step Clean Install on 64-bit Windows 7 SP1

These steps assume Path A with the SP2-integrated DVD.

1. Insert 6ES7810-5CC11-0YA7 DVD. If autorun is disabled, open D:\Setup.exe as Administrator.
2. On the welcome screen, verify the title reads "SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.5 incl. SP2". If it reads only "SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.5", eject the DVD — you have the base media instead.
3. Select language English (other languages are independent installers; mixing them breaks the help catalog).
4. Choose Install → accept license → Next.
5. When prompted for User Settings, enter a Windows username that matches a valid Windows account on the host. STEP 7 ties project ownership to this account.
6. Select the target directory. Default is C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\Automation. The 32-bit program files path is mandatory on x64 even though the bootstrap is 64-bit-aware.
7. On the Product Selection page, accept the default complete install. Do not deselect SIMATIC Logon or Automation License Manager — they are required for SP2 to function.
8. Click Install. Setup takes 15–25 minutes depending on disk speed.
9. When prompted for the License Key, insert the USB stick from the Certificate of License and click Transfer License. If you have a downloaded license file, browse to it via Display License.
10. Accept the post-install reboot.
11. After reboot, launch SIMATIC Manager from Start → Programs → Siemens → SIMATIC → STEP 7.

Compatibility Matrix

Reference: Siemens KB Entry ID 44370501 (Released for Delivery) for the official OS-support statement, Entry ID 52336355 for SP1 release notes, and Entry ID 57026032 for SP2 release notes.

Verification Checklist

After install, confirm each item before declaring the workstation ready for production engineering.

• Registry version check: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\InstalledComponents\STEP7 reports Version = "5.5.4.0" and ServicePack = "K5.5.2.0".
• SIMATIC Manager opens: Start menu shortcut resolves to C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\Automation\STEP7\S7BIN\S7MAN.EXE and the splash screen completes within 10 seconds.
• PG/PC interface editor: Start → Programs → Siemens → SIMATIC → STEP 7 → Set PG/PC Interface lists at least S7ONLINE (STEP 7) → TCP/IP. If the entry is missing, reinstall the SIMATIC NET component from the DVD.
• Hardware detection: Connect to a known-good S7-300 or S7-400 PLC and run PLC → Accessible Nodes. The CPU's IP/MPI address should appear within 5 seconds.
• License check: Automation License Manager shows the floating license as Valid with no yellow warning triangle.
• S7-PLCSIM: Launch S7-PLCSIM from Start → Programs → Siemens → SIMATIC → S7-PLCSIM. Confirm version reads V5.4 + SP6 or later.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Migration Path to TIA Portal

If the legacy V5.5 install is required only because existing projects cannot yet be ported, plan a migration. TIA Portal V13 and later include a STEP 7 V5.5 migration tool that converts S7-300/S7-400 projects to the TIA Portal representation without losing symbol tables, FB/FC code, or HW configurations. Recommended sequence:

1. Document the existing STEP 7 V5.5 + SP2 install — including all installed optional packages (S7-SCL, S7-GRAPH, S7-PCT, iMap, CFC).
2. Install TIA Portal V16 or V17 on a separate engineering workstation (do not uninstall STEP 7 V5.5 yet).
3. Use Project → Migrate on each .s7p file. Expect 10–20% manual cleanup of unsupported blocks (typically FB 240-FB 249 in legacy S7-300 projects).
4. Validate each migrated program by downloading to PLCSIM and running a 24-hour burn-in.
5. Once all projects are migrated, retire the STEP 7 V5.5 workstation.

Migration of License Keys

STEP 7 V5.5 floating license keys are bound to the License Key USB stick (or to the Automation License Manager server if centrally administered). They are not transferable to TIA Portal without a separate TIA Portal license order. The legacy V5.5 license remains usable on the original V5.5 workstation in parallel — you do not lose access to existing projects while migrating.