32 bit vs 64 bit Comparison

zzz2496 said:

Lordbob75 said:

luckylukevn said:

does 64bit OS mean it cannot be infected by virus because virus is 32 bit ?

Interesting question actually. Not something I ever thought about before.

In general, I would expect hackers to write universal code as much as possible.

~Lordbob

There is a "universal" code, that is by using intermediary runtime, like .net/java. But the downside of that road is the program will rely on that intermediary runtime, and the intermediary runtime MUST HAVE ACCESS to the core OS's functions to do it's harm.

An alternative would be to modify the kernel and segment the binaries, making one binary contains 2 completely different datastreams. This method was used by Apple's Mac OS X in the transition between PPC and x86, one binary package contains two datastreams, one for PPC, another for x86.

The last alternative, this will need you to modify the kernel and set the flag in the binary manually so that when it runs, it will invoke the processor's x86 legacy mode, and run it accordingly, but this has many downsides, too complex to explain...

zzz2496

Thanks for the explanation. I am not sure how they would do it, I just figured they would want it to work on as many systems as possible.

~Lordbob

luckylukevn said:

kucing13 said:

luckylukevn said:

does 64bit OS mean it cannot be infected by virus because virus is 32 bit ?

I don't think so. And mind telling me how do you know certain virus 32 or 64. Just Asking :). Thanks

it's shown in virus's name e.g Win32.Kido, Win32/Pacex. Win32/Conficker

silly me,I never thought of that. Thanks mate

Keep in mind, even if the description said Win32/xxx, it can still infect Win64 (the WoW subsystem). Unless you kill the WoW subsystem completely...

zzz2496

Hoods said:

Thanks, Bob - that's EXACTLY what I wanted to know and clearly and well explained! Kudos ++

This week I accidentally bought a 32-bit copy (!@#@!#%@!) to upgrade from Vista x64 and was considering installing it (because having it is burning a hole on my desk!) but after reading your article I think I'll estrain myself and trade it back for the 64-bit, even though there are no big specials (here) on it at the moment!

Cheers
Hoods

Your welcome.

If you bought the 32bit, the key is the same, you just need a x64 bit disk.

~Lordbob

Hoods said:

If you bought the 32bit, the key is the same, you just need a x64 bit disk.

Aaaaaaaaaargh - wish I'd known that a couple of hours ago when I bought 64 bit. LOL. No harm done, will give the 32-bit to my son.

:)

Hoods

Well, that works

~Lordbob