32 bit vs 64 bit Comparison

[JonM33]

You should mention (as a "Pro") better security for a 64-bit OS.

Reasons? A 32-bit virus cannot infect 64-bit system files or 64-bit processes. It doesn't make you completely immune from viruses/malware but it is a LOT better than 32-bit Windows in regards to security. See link below for some proof.

http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/64-Bit-Windows-More-Secure.html

 

[zzz2496]

Hmm, that article is somewhat misleading, JohM33...

1. There are more than 2 64bit processors. Some are: IBM's POWER architecture, SUN's Niagara architecture, DEC's Alpha, IBM's Cell (it's one little devil that's more of a "fusion" of General purpose cores accompanied by Special function cores, all 64bit), and many others...
2. x86-64 extension doesn't include encryption acceleration. Encryption acceleration is independent of the ISA extension. Core i7 have AES NI encryption acceleration, it will accelerate any AES encryption that invokes proper compiler flag.
3. Processes that uses WoW will run as if it's running natively, so a malware running in WoW might infect a 64 system regardless of the "bitness". Maybe it can't write to a 64 bit process's memory space, but it can still access a whole lot more of devices, say it can write it self to disk, and modify startup parameters so that it automatically ran at startup, etc...

But overall what she said is true, 64bit is safer than 32bit. Windows 64bit kernel accompanied with patch guard, etc... Accompanied by correct processor, it is safer...

zzz2496

 

[JonM33]

Processes that uses WoW will run as if it's running natively, so a malware running in WoW might infect a 64 system regardless of the "bitness". Maybe it can't write to a 64 bit process's memory space, but it can still access a whole lot more of devices, say it can write it self to disk, and modify startup parameters so that it automatically ran at startup, etc...

I didn't say that it couldn't infect a 64-bit OS or even more so if you are running 32-bit applications (such as MS Office, a web browser, etc) which in fact are vulnerable. But a 32-bit virus/malware cannot infect 64-bit processes nor system files.

It is improved security, not complete.

 

[Topi]

Great article Lordbob75!

I have been using Windows Vista 32 bit & 64 bit and Windows 7 64 bit, I have never had any kind of problems using 64 bit system, except once and that was my own fault

 

[Lordbob75]

Great article Lordbob75!

I have been using Windows Vista 32 bit & 64 bit and Windows 7 64 bit, I have never had any kind of problems using 64 bit system, except once and that was my own fault

Thanks!

~Lordbob

 

[esha]

Thanks for all that info

Can I ask for some clarification please?

On my 64bit system, several programs installed themselves into a folder called Program Files (x86). Is it safe to assume that those are 32bit programs? I guess that 64bit software would get installed into the main location.

Now, according to all those explanations, those 32bit programs shouldn't be any faster because they are still 32bit and can only use 2GB RAM, even if I have 6GB in my PC - is that correct?
But some of these programs are definitely faster, especially when handling large amounts of data (which I think is due to the additional RAM). As you said, I shouldn't notice much difference, but I do! Why can that be?
(Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm glad that they are faster now )

 

[Lordbob75]

Thanks for all that info

Can I ask for some clarification please?

On my 64bit system, several programs installed themselves into a folder called Program Files (x86). Is it safe to assume that those are 32bit programs? I guess that 64bit software would get installed into the main location.

No problem.
Yes, those are x32 programs.

Now, according to all those explanations, those 32bit programs shouldn't be any faster because they are still 32bit and can only use 2GB RAM, even if I have 6GB in my PC - is that correct?
But some of these programs are definitely faster, especially when handling large amounts of data (which I think is due to the additional RAM). As you said, I shouldn't notice much difference, but I do! Why can that be?
(Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm glad that they are faster now )

I would guess this is because your system as a whole has more RAM to share out to more programs. This means that each program can have the full 2Gbs.

Hope that helps.

~Lordbob

 

[PhreePhly]

One thning you should mention, although not something one would see too often, is that Win x64 will not run 16-bit applications. This is not an OS issue, but a CPU issue. You can get around this by installing XP-mode (Virtual machine).

This is an issue in the enterprise, because there are 16-bit (usually VB6 or earlier) programs written by system admins to perform simple operations like log file parsing or applying settings to system registries. I have actually run into a few of these and the only way I could continue to use my x64 OS on the network was to re-write the apps.

As of Server 2008 R2, the Windows Server architecture is 64-bit only, but Server 2003 and Server 2008 were available in 32-bit.

PhreePhly

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Great read. Thanks. Cleared a cloudy point.

 

[Vratar]

Integrated Graphics and 4GB limit?

Hello,

Thanks for the great thread! I bought my Win 7 back in November '09 -- the 32-bit version (unfortunately), since my old machine only had 1.5GB RAM in it, and couldn't go beyond 2GB. Now I am about to upgrade my HW to an AMD Phenom II x4 with 4GB RAM. I realize that I will only get just about 3GB usable, and I guess I can live with that.

My question is about the integrated graphics, which I will be using for a while (I'm not much of a gamer...), and how its "shared" memory is allocated. Lets assume I have 3GB of RAM available to Windows. If I allocate 512MB of my system RAM to the graphics, will it come from that 1GB that Windows doesn't "see" (keeping me with the same 3GB usable), or would it come from the usable system RAM, leaving me with only 2.5GB available?

I don't think I'm ready to shell out for a new OS license, so I'm trying to maximize what I've got. Thanks for your help!

 

[Lordbob75]

Hello,

Thanks for the great thread! I bought my Win 7 back in November '09 -- the 32-bit version (unfortunately), since my old machine only had 1.5GB RAM in it, and couldn't go beyond 2GB. Now I am about to upgrade my HW to an AMD Phenom II x4 with 4GB RAM. I realize that I will only get just about 3GB usable, and I guess I can live with that.

My question is about the integrated graphics, which I will be using for a while (I'm not much of a gamer...), and how its "shared" memory is allocated. Lets assume I have 3GB of RAM available to Windows. If I allocate 512MB of my system RAM to the graphics, will it come from that 1GB that Windows doesn't "see" (keeping me with the same 3GB usable), or would it come from the usable system RAM, leaving me with only 2.5GB available?

I don't think I'm ready to shell out for a new OS license, so I'm trying to maximize what I've got. Thanks for your help!

It will take from the system RAM, leaving you 2.5Gb.

If you bought a win7 license, you can install x32 or x64 with the key, you just need the x64 install disk.

~Lordbob

 

[Vratar]

Thanks Lord Bob, that's what I was afraid of...

But you also raise an interesting possibility -- let me see if I have this clearly. I have a license key that I bought, along with a 32-bit physical disk for installation. If I understand you correctly, I can borrow a 64-bit disk from a buddy, use my own license key for installation, and everything will work fine? Would it need to be the same "level" (ex: I have Win 7 Pro, so would the x64 also need to be the Pro version)?

Are there any legal issues at work here? I'm not interested in "getting away" with anything... Hell, I'd be happy to give Microsoft an extra $20 for just the x64 media if my key will work with it...

Thanks for your patience with the questions...

 

[Lordbob75]

Thanks Lord Bob, that's what I was afraid of...

But you also raise an interesting possibility -- let me see if I have this clearly. I have a license key that I bought, along with a 32-bit physical disk for installation. If I understand you correctly, I can borrow a 64-bit disk from a buddy, use my own license key for installation, and everything will work fine? Would it need to be the same "level" (ex: I have Win 7 Pro, so would the x64 also need to be the Pro version)?

Are there any legal issues at work here? I'm not interested in "getting away" with anything... Hell, I'd be happy to give Microsoft an extra $20 for just the x64 media if my key will work with it...

Thanks for your patience with the questions...

That is my understanding, yes. (I am getting confirmation).

Also, I believe you CAN buy another install CD, but there is no reason too if you can borrow one.

~Lordbob

 

[elisedai]

Lordbob,

ummm, not to contradict you on this, my 1st post on this forum, but I am typing this msg on a Gateway GT5040 w/1Gb RAM.... & have been functioning fairly well for a couple/few weeks... Don't worry, I'm getting another 2Gb tonite....

Elisedai

 

[severedsolo]

Thanks Lord Bob, that's what I was afraid of...

But you also raise an interesting possibility -- let me see if I have this clearly. I have a license key that I bought, along with a 32-bit physical disk for installation. If I understand you correctly, I can borrow a 64-bit disk from a buddy, use my own license key for installation, and everything will work fine? Would it need to be the same "level" (ex: I have Win 7 Pro, so would the x64 also need to be the Pro version)?

Are there any legal issues at work here? I'm not interested in "getting away" with anything... Hell, I'd be happy to give Microsoft an extra $20 for just the x64 media if my key will work with it...

Thanks for your patience with the questions...

LB is spot on. Your license is good for both 32 and 64 bit versions. The thing that matters is the "level" (Home Premium, Profesional, Ultimate etc.)

 

[Lordbob75]

Lordbob,

ummm, not to contradict you on this, my 1st post on this forum, but I am typing this msg on a Gateway GT5040 w/1Gb RAM.... & have been functioning fairly well for a couple/few weeks... Don't worry, I'm getting another 2Gb tonite....

Elisedai

I simply listed the requirements from the Windows site. I KNOW it is possible to run on less.

~Lordbob

 

[Vratar]

LB is spot on. Your license is good for both 32 and 64 bit versions. The thing that matters is the "level" (Home Premium, Profesional, Ultimate etc.)

Thanks for the confirmation severedsolo! I'm going to try to get my hands on an x64 Win 7 Pro disk today!

 

[Vratar]

Progress...

Just wanted to follow up with my progress in getting a copy of the x64 media. This is actually information you can find elsewhere on this site, but I thought it would be helpful in this thread as well.

Remember at the Win 7 launch, when MS (through Digital River) had a student promotion where currently-enrolled students could get a Win 7 upgrade for $30US? Do you also remember that it turned into a disaster, because the update files they sold were corrupt? Well, the way they fixed it was to just post .ISO files of the full DVDs, so people could download the media, burn a DVD, and install that way. Those .ISO files are still there. Follow this link for a story and links to the files:

Microsoft responds to Windows 7 student upgrade SNAFU with direct ISO download

Caveat: I have a license from that promotion, so I should have no problem using this media. But, I have no way of knowing if the media will work only with the student promotion license.

I expect to be building my new machine in the next few days. I'll post back and let you know how it went.

 

[Skulblaka]

Hmm, there are many programs that are incompatible with 64-bit, at least for now. I would prefer 64-bit but the compatibility with other programs that require 32-bit would get in my way.

 

[Lordbob75]

Hmm, there are many programs that are incompatible with 64-bit, at least for now. I would prefer 64-bit but the compatibility with other programs that require 32-bit would get in my way.

Well, a lot of us here have been using x64 OSes since Vista, and most of us have very little problems.

Worst case is you try it and cant use a few programs.

~Lordbob