64 bit software on 32 bit XP

Claasman · 13-03-2008 11:57am #1

Hi,
I am after getting a 64 bit version of software for a PC with 64 bit XP.Would this software run on 32 bit XP aswell?
Any help appreciated:rolleyes:
Rgds
CM

cormie · 13-03-2008 12:00pm

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you tell whether you have a 32bit or 64 bit machine? Will it say it somewhere in the system settings?

kaimera · 13-03-2008 12:05pm

dual core machines are 64 bit capable.

It'll say in your system props if your OS is 64bit or not.

I'm pretty sure that 64bit sw wont run on a 32 bit OS; prolly wont even install but 32bit sw can run on 64bit OS iirc. I may need to check that.

Claasman · 13-03-2008 12:06pm

Im sure you can check if you right click on My comp and go to properties. Most PC's run on 32 bit XP, however the computer I am looking at has 64 bit for running CFD analysis

ressem · 13-03-2008 12:26pm

Highly unlikely that 64 bit software will run on a 32 bit OS, unless it's written specially to do so.

VMWare provide a small exe which will tell you whether your processor can support 64 bit.
http://download3.vmware.com/software/wkst/VMware-guest64check-5.5.0-18463.exe

If your processor / bios has virtualization and EMT64 enabled you might be able to run your 64 bit software under a 64 bit OS running on VMWARE Server on Windows XP 32.

cormie · 13-03-2008 12:29pm

That's what I see in my system properties, I don't see anything about 32 or 64 bit

but I'm pretty sure my processor is dual core. Would I need a 64 bit version of XP to get full use from my processor?

(I'm using a legit version of XP Pro I bought off some guy from the buyandsell when I bought a laptop off him years ago which is why I have a 2002 version with a new system by the way

)

Anti · 13-03-2008 12:30pm

kaimera wrote: »

dual core machines are 64 bit capable.

It'll say in your system props if your OS is 64bit or not.

I'm pretty sure that 64bit sw wont run on a 32 bit OS; prolly wont even install but 32bit sw can run on 64bit OS iirc. I may need to check that.

Usually windows will throw up an error when tryint ot install 64bit software on a 32bit operating system. But you can sometimes get around this using compatibility mode.

feylya · 13-03-2008 12:32pm

You have 32 bit. 64 bit will say "Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition"

cormie · 13-03-2008 12:35pm

feylya wrote: »

You have 32 bit. 64 bit will say "Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition"

Is that me you're talking to?

Did you see the little edit I Added to the post about the old version of XP I have? Is my processor 64 bit capable, but because I have a 2002 version of XP Pro, I'm not getting the full benefit of what I just bought in December?

kaimera · 13-03-2008 12:38pm

http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/supportissue/fsis2007/before_install_q07.shtml

dxdiag should tell you either.

cormie · 13-03-2008 12:52pm

Ok, all signs point to 32 bit there

But is that what my processor is capable of, or what my version of XP is capable of?

You already said Dual Core processors are 64bit, which I think I have. So is it just a case of having to get 64bit XP pro and it should work fine? Would it work a lot better than 32bit? As in, am I not realising the full potential of my system because the OS can only push it so much? What would be the difference anyway? Would it be twice as fast etc?

-annex- · 13-03-2008 1:05pm

Not all dual core cpu's are 64 bit capable. All core2duo's are 64bit, some Pentium dual-cores are, and then the Core Duo range is purely 32 bit.

Cormie: If you have a 64 bit processor and you want to take advantage of 64 bit architecture, then yes you'll need a 64 bit version of XP. Seems like a lot of hassle though, and costly. It certainly won't be twice as fast, but there are some advantages.

cormie · 13-03-2008 1:09pm

-annex- wrote: »

All core2duo's are 64bit

So I deffo have the hardware needed for 64bit yeah?

perhaps when Vista becomes stable enough I might upgrade to it since I have a license for it from buying the new laptop. I just use my XP Pro though. I don't like Vista at the moment, it seems to be based too much on appearance. I'm using the Windows Classic theme on my XP Pro, I like it clean, simple and to the point.

ressem · 13-03-2008 1:16pm

kaimera: That info is well out of date. (Pre 2003?)

If you have an AMD64 Processor (About 2003), you have a 64 bit processor, but for full support, you need revision D or later I think.
If you have an intel Pentium 4 from 2004 or later there's some chance that your CPU has some 64 bit support, but it's not easy to tell.

Ok: guess providing a direct link to the EXE made you reluctant to download. How about
http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html

No it won't be twice as fast. Some apps will be slower. Only reason to get a 64 bit OS is if you have applications that can demand more than 2GB of RAM. Also some of Vista's security enhancements only kick in on the 64 bit version.

Claasman · 13-03-2008 1:16pm

Thanks for the help people.:D

-annex- · 13-03-2008 1:17pm

cormie wrote: »

So I deffo have the hardware needed for 64bit yeah?

Yes, you certainly do.

Since you have a Vista upgrade licence then you should probably get the 64 bit version if you are given that option. Vista SP1 will be out soon and will make a lot of improvements.

cormie · 13-03-2008 1:28pm

Claasman wrote: »

Thanks for the help people.:D

I apologise

haha

Hmm, it just says on my order confirmation from Dell "Vista business" no mention of 32 or 64 bit. Would it be 64 bit since it came with a 64 bit machine I wonder?

kaimera · 13-03-2008 1:36pm

cormie wrote: »

I apologise haha

Hmm, it just says on my order confirmation from Dell "Vista business" no mention of 32 or 64 bit. Would it be 64 bit since it came with a 64 bit machine I wonder?

No, afaik it's 32bit Vista that comes with Dell.

Mine was anyway. Trying to find if I can get an upgrade to 64bit.

Stephen · 13-03-2008 1:56pm

Don't bother with 64 bit XP cormie, its rubbish (terrible driver and application support). 64 bit support on Vista however is much better.

plodder · 13-03-2008 2:06pm

Just got a new Dell Laptop. I asked for XP instead of Vista, so they provided the 64 bit version of XP. I'll be running various 32 and 64 bit OSes for work reasons, but if I had the choice I wouldn't bother with 64 bit OSes just yet. It doesn't make sense to switch to 64 bit unless your PC has (or can have) significantly more than 4GB of memory.

Though if you have to run a 64 bit application, then you do need a 64 bit OS [edit] and you can of course run 32 bit apps on 64 bit OSes.

Capt'n Midnight · 13-03-2008 11:12pm

Stephen wrote: »

Don't bother with 64 bit XP cormie, its rubbish (terrible driver and application support). 64 bit support on Vista however is much better.

application support

no point in having 64 bit XP if you apps won't run
and if it's a dell it should have drivers, but make 110% sure first

look up the apps on the interweb first , you could be in a situation where you have to run the 32 bit apps in a VM thus loosing any possible speed advantage.

64bit windows XP means you can access more than 3.5GB of RAM,
XP was written back in 2000 and was supposed to run on old hardware even then so they could sell upgrades, so I'll let you guess how many new features on the 64 bit chips it can utilise

64 bit software on 32 bit XP

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