Task Manager indicating processes running as 32-bit. Is this normal?

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  1. Posts : 19
    Win7 Home Premium SP1 32bit
       #1

    Task Manager indicating processes running as 32-bit. Is this normal?


    Hi,

    I have a 2 month old HP Pavilion with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

    The past few weeks, the machine has started acting up - freezing, not sleeping, not waking when it has been sleeping, etc.

    Coincident with these issues, I've recently noticed in Task Manager that a lot of processes are now running with a *32 after their name. I do not believe this was the case when I first started using the machine. But now, the overwhelming majority of processes have that *32 after them.

    For example:
    chrome.exe *32 (there are 8 instances of this process)
    Dropbox.exe *32
    SkyDrive.exe *32
    AvastUI.exe *32
    rundll32.exe *32
    hpsysdrv.exe *32
    HPTouchSmartSyncCalReminderApp.exe *32
    hpwusched2.exe *32

    I think this is especially suspicious because it's an HP computer running Windows (a Microsoft product). I'd think that at the very least, Skydrive (also a Microsoft product) and HP installed processes would know that this is a 64-bit machine and run as such.

    Does anyone know what's going on and why these apps are running like this? Can it be fixed?

    This was a rockin' fast and awesome machine when I got it 2 months ago and after just those 2 months, it's definitely not running the way it was.

    Some additional details:
    HP Pavilion p7-1226s
    6GB
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
    Updates on auto - all have been installed.
    Avast antivirus
    Threatfire

    On another note...a couple of days ago when the machine was especially bad (IE freezing every time I opened it) and the whole machine not sleeping at all, I did a system restore to prior to the last series of Windows updates and that seemed to fix things. But then over night the machine re-installed all of its updates and put me back to where I started.

    Thanks,
    Buck
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #2

    There is nothing wrong...with running 32-bit processes on a 64-bit machine.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #3

    This is quite normal. Win 7 x64 will run 32 bit programs. Your specific case of Chrome having 8 processes is also quite normal. Chrome will have a process for each open tab and for each loaded extension or running plugin. This is part of the way Chrome protects each process from faults in another.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 19
    Win7 Home Premium SP1 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thank you both for your responses. I understand that Win 64 can run 32 bit programs. What I'm questioning is two-fold: 1) I don't remember seeing so many processes running with the *32 designation a month ago, and; 2) I'm wondering if the machine is running the processes as 32-bit in error - shouldn't Chrome be running as 64 bit? Skydrive? I guess I expect that these up-to-date products would have 64-bit versions (which is what would have been loaded on my machine) and as such, shouldn't they be running as 64-bit?

    Basically, I think something happened that is causing my machine to run things as 32-bit when they should be running as 64-bit.

    Thanks again.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #5

    No these are not in error. Chrome is a 32bit program as are the others mentioned. You can tell which are 32bit programs from where they are installed. By default 64bit programs are installed under C:\Program Files and 32 bit programs under C:\Program Files (x86).
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #6

    Added to the fact Windows cannot run a 64-bit application as 32-bit under any condition. The binary data between a 32-bit and a 64-bit application are not comparable.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 189
    Windows 10 Pro / OpenSUSE
       #7

    As others have said, this is totally normal. What I do see you saying is that the computer has become slow following some updates. I would suggest restoring back to before the updates again, and then putting the update setting so that it won't update automatically (I have mine set to prompt me before downloading and installing the updates, as I usually wait 4 to 5 days before installing the updates as they can round some bugs out of them). I would try running the computer without installing the set of updates to see if it will still get slow. If it does, it means the updates are not the issue.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 19
    Win7 Home Premium SP1 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thanks everyone for your responses. Should I then assume that an MS product like Skydrive, for instance, is NOT a 64-bit application? And the HP system software that HP installed on the 64-bit machine that THEY built and installed a 64-bit operating system on, is also NOT 64-bit software? (If that's the case, my mind is officially blown.)

    So when I see a system requirement on a single piece of software (i.e. just one downloadable file, not different versions of same software) that shows the following (which is from Malewarebytes Antimalware):
    Operating Systems: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 with 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) architectures.

    Should I assume that it will automatically install and run as 64-bit on my 64-bit machine? I ask because when I started to install this, it wanted to put itself into the x86 folder (I cancelled install pending answers here).

    Re the update situation, I did roll back some updates using system restore and the machine is again sleeping and waking properly. However, the problems with IE have not been fixed. It's still freezing right and left.

    I looked in Control Panel-Programs to see if I could select IE and do a "repair" but that's not an option since IE does not appear in that list. It only appears in the "Turn Windows Features On or Off" dialog and even there, repair is not an option - only remove. Is there a way to REPAIR Internet Explorer?

    Also, with all the hard reboots I've had to do recently due to all the freezing, I was hoping there was a way to scan Windows itself and repair any files that may have become corrupted or damaged. But I just don't see any way to do that. Any ideas?

    Thanks again.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 19
    Win7 Home Premium SP1 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    So, while the questions and issues outstanding from post #8 above are still active (and I'd still really appreciate answers on them), the machine is acting up AGAIN. This time I have screen caps from Task Manager to show what I'm seeing.

    I have 6GB of RAM, I'm the only logged in user (standard) and the only thing I have open is Chrome with 11 total tabs. I have an Out of Memory error and the machine has slowed to a crawl.

    In addition to what you see in the screen caps, there are 3 full pages of "Services" showing as "running" in Task Manager but since it would be difficult to capture I'm just making note of it here. If you need to see it, I'll have to grab it in 4 separate views.

    Thanks very much in advance for any help you can offer.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Task Manager indicating processes running as 32-bit. Is this normal?-task-manager-applications-tab-capture.jpg   Task Manager indicating processes running as 32-bit. Is this normal?-task-manager-processes-tab-capture.jpg   Task Manager indicating processes running as 32-bit. Is this normal?-task-manager-performance-tab-memory-pegged-capture.jpg  
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #10

    Some where you have a memory leak, finding which application is leaking memory well that is going to be a hard one. Use this tool when you reach this error again and save the results for us.
      My Computer


 
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