32bit better then 64?

Frostmourne said:

When a BSOD happens on any system - x86 or x86-64 - its the users fault. 64-bit is stable and 32-bit is heading the way of the dodo.

I respectfully disagree. What about hardware issues - memory going bad, a power supply failing, a video card going bad? Not to mention bad drivers and bad coding in programs.

Agreed. I did have driver problems with an NVidia card that was supposed to be compatible with Seven. I finally got another card and problems were solved. It may not have been the drivers; it may have been the card itself, although Windows reported the card was fine.

Product FRED said:

Maybe it's just me, but at this point running Windows 7 x86 just seems unecessary.

Perhaps for you it's unnecessary. However on my work laptop, I have to run the CheckPoint Secure Connect VPN client to connect to work and it absolutely, positively does not run under 64-bit. So, 32-bit is very necessary for me.

Jonathan_King said:

The truth is x64 uses more resources, and has a lot more problems, especially driver issues.

Unless I have 4GB or more of RAM, I install the 32-bit version. I don't see any sense risking BSODs, using more resources, and having the few incompatible programs when I only have 2GB.

Jonathan, I agree that with 4GB or less of RAM, I still recommend the 32-bit version for most people. You will always find a 32-bit driver for your hardware, but 64-bit can still be hit or miss. And while the big name 64-bit players like Nvidia or Radeon have solid drivers, some of the other 64-bit drivers just aren't all that great for the more obscure hardware that a lot of us have.

I haven't had issues with drivers on my home desktop running the 64-bit version of 7, but that box has 8GB of RAM to support multiple virtual machines so using a 64-bit system was a requirement there.

Frostmourne said:

Isn't it time to find a new working VPN client that supports 64-bit?

Perhaps, but this requires my company to switch out all of the VPN concentrator devices across our global network and this is a costly proposal.

Frostmourne said:

So the software is older along with the hardware? Hmmm, interesting decision.

Yeah, a lot of this network equipment can be extremely expensive...so when purchased it's usually used for a number of years before you can justify the replacement of the equipment. Unfortunately, we are not near the point where we can justify a hardware replacement to support a few 64-bit systems.

Frostmourne said:

CarlTR6 said:

Agreed. I did have driver problems with an NVidia card that was supposed to be compatible with Seven. I finally got another card and problems were solved. It may not have been the drivers; it may have been the card itself, although Windows reported the card was fine.

That may be hardware. You could have run Furmark to stress the card.

You are right; but I ran out of patience and time. I needed my 'puter up and running - and it was an excuse to upgrade.