To tell you the truth, I’m a little embarrassed calling it a tutorial (cause it really isn’t!). Alas, so many people have asked me how to tell whether their pc has a 32-bit or 64-bit system.
HARDWARE
As microsoft itself says, The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer’s processor (also called a CPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system.
But what does really mean?
Let’s do some math.
A 32-bit processor includes a 32-bit register, which can store 232 (that is 4,294,967,296) values. A 64-bit processor includes a 64-bit register, which can store 264 (that is 18,446,744,073,709,551,616) values. I guess you can see where this is going. A 64-bit register is not once, nor twice, but 4,294,967,296 times larger than a 32-bit! That’s huge, right?
Plain and simple, it means that a 32-bit prosser can access up to 4GB of RAM, and a 64-bit can access up to 16 exabytes (theoretically). So, a 64-bit processor can compute a lot faster than a 32-bit.
SOFTWARE
Most programs come out in two versions. A 32-bit version and a 64-bit one. As it is expected, a 32-bit program can run either on a 32-bit or a 64-bit system. However, a 64-bit program can oly run on a 64-bit system.
Of course, in order for any program to run, there has to be an operating system (OS). You guessed it right! The OS too, has a 32-bit (you will find it as (x86) )and a 64-bit version.
Note! A 64-bit processor can run a 32-bit operating system, but that is unadvised cause it wouldn’t be using the full extent of its’ capacity.
On the other hand, a 32-bit processor can not run with anything other than a 32-bit OS.
So, to sum up.
- If you have a 32-bit processor, then you’re running a 32-bit OS and 32-bit programs.
- If you have a 64-bit processor, then you’re most likely running a 64-bit OS and both 64-bit and 32-bit programs.
HOW TO FIND IF YOU HAVE A 32-bit OR 64-bit SYSTEM
The most likely scenario is that you have a 64-bit OS, especially if you bout your pc after 2009, but let’s see where you can find out what kind of an OS you have. There are a couple different ways, but the easiest is below
Go to start menu
right-click on the Computer and choose properties
And there you have it, at the “system type”
On a final note, if you have an 64-bit OS you also have an 64-bit CPU, but there are some cases where we can find an 64-bit CPU running an 32-bit OS. In that case in order to examine if your CPU is either 64-bit or 32-bit you can go to:
-Start Menu
-All Programs
-Accessories
-System Tools
and select System Information
There you can check the type of your CPU.
If you are in this category you should upgrade your OS to 64-bit for best performance.
As described before, if you have an 64-bit OS you are able to run 32-bit programs and applications.
If you want to check, upgrade or replace them you can find them installed in the folder “C:\Program Files (x86)”.