Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit?

Hello all I have a bit of a problem, my mate's computer recently stopped working for him and he asked me to have a look at it. It wasn't going past the starting Windows page and after some looking I found out that the short dst failed while checking the hard drive, he needs to replace the hard drive, that's no problem. He has no recovery CD, I can make an install .iso on usb but can't for the life of me figure out do I need Windows 64 bit or 32 bit, any help on how to find this out would be greatly appreciated

Compaq. CQ56

4gb ram

AMD dual core p360

a reply to: sosobad

32 will do just fine for those specs.


check this 32 vs 64 bit explained

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.

A 32bit OS can only utilize up to 3GB of RAM. That means that if you have 4GB of RAM you'll be wasting the last 1GB. However, if you have an integrated video card that shares the ram you may be ok.

I'd recommend you just use the 64bit OS and give yourself room to upgrade in the future.

EDIT: If you are doing a re-install using the OEM key you will need the correct version that fits the OEM key. If you are purchasing a new copy of Windows 7 then get the x64.

See he has the product key for Windows 7 on the back of the computer, will it make a difference if I install one or the other?

My edit was too slow : (

But it's in the post above.

A quick Google search and I found that that CPU will support 64 bit. If it were up to me that's what I would install.

Or, you can do him a favor and install Linux.

a reply to: sosobad

With 32 bit you won't be able to use all the 4 Gb of ram, i can't remember how much but i think it's around 3.2 Gb Max, everything above will be ignored even though Windows 32 recognize up to 4 GB.

As you have a dual core and the 4 Gb Ram, there is no problem in going 64 bit, and get that last portion of ram.

See he has the product key for Windows 7 on the back of the computer, will it make a difference if I install one or the other?

No, it works for both 32/64.

It might but when you activate,call the number and tell them you changed a piece ofa hardware like a sound card etc and you will get activation code...i do this a lot and this has never failed me. to: sosobad

32 will work but as stated use 64 if duo core with 4 gb ram....peace ya'll.

Cheers everyone for the replies, will try the 64bit home premium first and work it out from there, I knew that if I asked on here I'd get a fast reply

Here have a cool one on me guys

originally posted by: rockn82
A 32bit OS can only utilize up to 3GB of RAM. That means that if you have 4GB of RAM you'll be wasting the last 1GB. However, if you have an integrated video card that shares the ram you may be ok.

I'd recommend you just use the 64bit OS and give yourself room to upgrade in the future.

EDIT: If you are doing a re-install using the OEM key you will need the correct version that fits the OEM key. If you are purchasing a new copy of Windows 7 then get the x64.

Going to clarify a bit:

The correct version means:
Windows 7 Starter
Windows 7 Home Basic
Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Enterprise
Windows 7 Ultimate

The key can be used for either x64 or x86 but if you have Windows Home Premium x86, you need to install Windows Home Premium x64

a reply to: rockn82


Just checked there and it said Home premium alright, so looks like 64 bit home premium is the one to go for, thanks for the help

Also considering that we will be having more and more 64bit ONLY apps/games.

For the sake of future-proofing you should install 64-bit whenever possible, this saves the inevitable problem of having more RAM than his version of Windows can support, making any RAM upgrades redundant until he reinstalls a 64-bit version of windows (which is a major pain just to utilise some extra RAM he may have purchased).

I run RAM intensive software and without a 64 bit version of windows it just wouldn't be possible to do what I do without experiencing some serious issues.

In short, the more RAM you can have the better

originally posted by: rockn82
A 32bit OS can only utilize up to 3GB of RAM. That means that if you have 4GB of RAM you'll be wasting the last 1GB. However, if you have an integrated video card that shares the ram you may be ok.

I'd recommend you just use the 64bit OS and give yourself room to upgrade in the future.

EDIT: If you are doing a re-install using the OEM key you will need the correct version that fits the OEM key. If you are purchasing a new copy of Windows 7 then get the x64.

Windows 32 can use up to 4gb of ram not 3.

I would suggest 64 bit! Opens things up a little more. But if your going to be using old games some of them may not respond to well to the 64 bit and you' d need to go 32. Just my opinion and observation.

a reply to: PhoenixOD

It can't it can address only up to 3.5 gb, any more than that and it doesn't get used by the OS.

From Microsoft's Site.

Some power users prefer a 64-bit version of Windows. There’s no mystery there. A computer with a 64-bit version of Windows can use more memory—4 GB (gigabytes) or more—than a PC with a 32-bit version of Windows, which is limited to about 3.5 GB or less. (Even if a PC comes with 4 GB or more of memory installed, a 32-bit version of Windows can only use about 3.5 GB of that memory.)

MS Link

There are applications that can extend it but it works in the same way that himem.sys used to work in DOS. Ie anything over the 3.5gb limit is used in a protective mode instead of writing to memory direct from the Kernel.

Just install Ubuntu. You can thank me later. It has gotten extremely user-friendly over the years. Regardless, I concur that 32 bit is the way to go. The main advantage to a 64 bit system is that it can call up more memory if needed. A 32 bit system can call up about 4 gigs of ram, but if you have a piece of software that needs more than that then a 64 bit architecture would be better. Most people will not have this problem, but it just depends on what you're doing on the PC. There is also an advantage to data processing, as data is tampered with in larger blocks.

Think about this...64 bit processors have been out for over a decade, yet I would bet they still don't surpass the 32 bit. So eventually a complete switch will be made in the future, but it is going to take many years. So 32 will be fine for years to come, as long as he does not need the extra memory capabilities.

a reply to: MrsB00mQu35t

Any 32-bit software or game will work perfectly fine without issue on a 64-bit processor. However, with a 64-bit OS, you can only use 64-bit drivers for hardware.

Always use a 64-bit OS if your hardware supports it. 32-bit is quickly on its way out the door. Hell, smartphones are even going to 64-bit processors this year.

originally posted by: mclarenmp4
a reply to: PhoenixOD

It can't it can address only up to 3.5 gb, any more than that and it doesn't get used by the OS.

From Microsoft's Site.

Some power users prefer a 64-bit version of Windows. There’s no mystery there. A computer with a 64-bit version of Windows can use more memory—4 GB (gigabytes) or more—than a PC with a 32-bit version of Windows, which is limited to about 3.5 GB or less. (Even if a PC comes with 4 GB or more of memory installed, a 32-bit version of Windows can only use about 3.5 GB of that memory.)

MS Link

There are applications that can extend it but it works in the same way that himem.sys used to work in DOS. Ie anything over the 3.5gb limit is used in a protective mode instead of writing to memory direct from the Kernel.

While windows will only allow you to use 3.5gb out of 4gb for RAM the other .5gb is not wasted. It is used for other pieces of hardware inside your computer that need addresses, such as the PCI bus and the USB host adapter.

So 4gb is the max theoretical limit for a 32bit computer can use it is spread out between ram and other hardware addresses.

Physical Address Extension (PAE) can allow a 32bit system to use up to 64gb.