Doubts about win 7 64 bit

[ajai5777]

Will all the 32 bit softwares and drivers run in win 7 64 bit?
Now I am using win 7 ultimate 32 bit.Can I upgrade it to 64 bit with out a reinstall?
I am gonna change my motherboard soon.Can I remove motherboard components and use the same OS (win 7 ultimate 32 bit) in new motherboard?

[walkmanguru]

I have a similar question....I am using Windows 7 ultimate 32 bit...Now i find out that my proccessor pentium dual core E5300 is 64-bit. Is there any advantage in upgrading os to 64-bit...? Also can i upgrade without reinstalling windows ...

[ajai5777]

32 bit OS cant use more than 4GB of ram.Also in future 64 bit apps going to rule.

[ajayashish]

^^^ just a correction. 32bit cannot use more than 3.25gb ram.

[prasath_digit]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

32 bit OS cant use more than 4GB of ram.Also in future 64 bit apps going to rule.

No ur wrong. Becauz tats were Physical Address Extension (PAE) comes in.

32-Bit (x86) processor hardware-architecture is augmented with additional address lines used to select the additional memory, so physical address size increases from 32 bits to 36 bits. This, theoretically, increases maximum physical memory size from 4 GB to 64 GB. -> From Wiki Page

But Windows XP is an exception, even with PAE XP can support max of 4GB only!

wiki link:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension

Microsoft link:-

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...paedrv.mspx#EW

Physical Address Extension in Win XP (Although its only 1GB RAM ) :-

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by walkmanguru

I have a similar question....I am using Windows 7 ultimate 32 bit...Now i find out that my proccessor pentium dual core E5300 is 64-bit. Is there any advantage in upgrading os to 64-bit...? Also can i upgrade without reinstalling windows ...

Yes definately, a 64 Bit OS would work faster on a native 64bit processor.....
how every make a note an application which is not a 64 bit may not show any improvement even on a 64 Bit OS running on a 64 bit machine. Its just the OS I am talking about which would improve. If you want your applications as well to take that advantage then you got have 64 Bit versions for them as well.......

About upgrade from 32bit to 64bit.....it can be done but its doggy....

you'll need to back up your files and choose the Custom option during Windows 7 installation. Then, you'll need to restore your files and reinstall your programs. Its advisable to go for a complete reinstall......

[ajayashish]

Originally Posted by prasath_digit

No ur wrong. Becauz tats were Physical Address Extension (PAE) comes in.

32-Bit (x86) processor hardware-architecture is augmented with additional address lines used to select the additional memory, so physical address size increases from 32 bits to 36 bits. This, theoretically, increases maximum physical memory size from 4 GB to 64 GB. -> From Wiki Page

But Windows XP is an exception, even with PAE XP can support max of 4GB only!

wiki link:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension

Microsoft link:-

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...paedrv.mspx#EW

Physical Address Extension in Win XP (Although its only 1GB RAM ) :-

hey never knew that. But my comp shows 3.25 gb... Can u tell me what i need to do to see the full 4 gb

[ajai5777]

If I put 8GB in win 7 32 bit, Can I get 7.25 GB available ram?

[prasath_digit]

Originally Posted by ajayashish

hey never knew that. But my comp shows 3.25 gb... Can u tell me what i need to do to see the full 4 gb

What is ur OS & how much RAM u have installed?.

Microsoft's site mentions that all 32-Bit versions of Windows XP cannot use more than 4GB of RAM even with Physical Address Extension enabled. Although I still have no clue of how to enable that.

Let me tell u this, I used to work with Win XP( 32-Bit ) on my old system which had a Pentium 4 1.9Ghz CPU( 32-Bit ) the system properties dialog did not show Physical Address Extension. In 2007 I upgrade to an Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Dual-Core CPU( 64-Bit ), then the same Win XP( 32-Bit ) dialog showed Physical Address Extenion.

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

If I put 8GB in win 7 32 bit, Can I get 7.25 GB available ram?

No....thats not how it works.....32 Bit OS will not utilize over 3.5GB of ram. If you wanna install 8GB, 64bit is the way to go. Although, not all W-7 64bit version can install more than 8 GB. This is how it is...

Win-7 64 bit.....

Starter: 8GB
Home Basic: 8GB
Home Premium: 16GB
Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB

[ajayashish]

i am using xp pro and 2X2gb ram

[prasath_digit]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

If I put 8GB in win 7 32 bit, Can I get 7.25 GB available ram?

.

I think with PAE its possible. If u have a dedicated gfx card then u'll get the entire 8GB right?

---------- Post added at 04:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:03 PM ----------

Originally Posted by ajayashish

i am using xp pro and 2X2gb ram

then the 3.25GB is bcauz the RAM is shared as the gfx memory.

I have 2GB RAM(1x1) on Win XP( 32-bit ). Mine shows as 1.98GB using the onboard graphics which takes 128MB. When I use a separate gfx card, It shows as 2.00GB.

---------- Post added at 04:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------

Originally Posted by sam9s

Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB

tats awesome RAM man

[ajayashish]

NO i dont have any shared RAM as i have a dedicated GPU fitted. I just want to ask if we need to do any tweaking so that Windows uses 4gb complete.

[pushkar]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

Will all the 32 bit softwares and drivers run in win 7 64 bit?

32-bit applications will run fine on 64-bit Windows. 16-bit apps will not run though.

Make sure you find out that all your hardware has 64-bit drivers. 32-bit drivers will NOT run in 64-bit Windows. Additionally, 64-bit Windows 7 requires digitally signed drivers.

Keep in mind that Windows Updates is nothing short of excellent in detecting and installing hardware drivers. If it's a recent computer, I am sure all your hardware will be detected.

Originally Posted by ajai5777

Now I am using win 7 ultimate 32 bit.Can I upgrade it to 64 bit with out a reinstall?
I am gonna change my motherboard soon.Can I remove motherboard components and use the same OS (win 7 ultimate 32 bit) in new motherboard?

You cannot upgrade to 64-bit without a reinstall. Changing the motherboard can also cause problems with Windows. Moreover, Windows will be deactivated on changing the motherboard. You will have to reactivate it.

[ajai5777]

I am gonna change my motherboard next week.What should I do? Uninstall all the motherboard drivers from OS and put new motherboard?

[gopi_vbboy]

jus check these points
--get a 64bitos if ur proci is 64bit.

--a 64bit os can run 64bit app and backward compatible(32,16 bit..works in compatibility mode)

--make sure all your hardware have 64bit drivers on internet on win or vista for them to work in 64bit os

if all ok then go for it

[celldweller1591]

System architecture on Intel x86/32-bit architecture limits virtual memory space to 3 GB, not 4 GB, due to much of the 3–4 GB region being reserved for hardware addressing;called as 3gb barrier. This is not present in 64-bit architectures, which can use 4 GB of memory and more.

[pushkar]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

16 bit..works in compatibility mode)

No, it doesn't work in 64-bit Windows 7 with even compatibility mode enabled. Please enlighten me how you got it work (if you did, which I doubt).

The only way to run 16-bit apps is to run an emulator like DOSBOX or virtualize 32-bit Windows.

[celldweller1591]

@Pushkar : i agree.

[rkneo11]

Most of the 32 bit apps do work in 64 bit version but drivers do not... You need to have a 64 bit edition of the driver only...
A major drawback of the 64 bit edition...

[sam9s]

^^ All major, minor hardware companies have brought a 64 bit version of their driver, unless you have an hardware as old as 1995 or a completely rare product to go with.......so its not a drawback anymore as such.....