Transitioning from 32-bit to 64-bit for first time. What should I expect?

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Undercover_Man

[H]ard Surgeon
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Hello. I am currently in the early stages of building my new computer. I will be using Windows 7 for my OS and i7 CPU. From what I've read, there is a 3GB limitation for 32-bit XP and Vista. I assume that would be the case for Win 7 as well. I'm going to be starting with 6GB and upgrading for more after that.

So here's my question. What issues will I run into with the programs I use now? I remember when 64-bit first came out that ppl were having probs with apps and not many 64-bit versions were being released and stuff. I have seen more and more of both flavors being sold so I don't think that'll be much of an issue anymore with currect programs.

But what about older programs I use or programs that just don't have a 64-bit version? I I can't run 32-bit programs in a 64-bit system, right?

What about things like game saves or saved photo/video sessions. Can I use those saves from a 32-bit system and load them with my new 64-bit?

Are there any big issues I will run into that I should be prepared for when I start installing all my programs from this 32-bit computer to my new 64-bit computer?

THANX
~ Undercover_Man
 
32bit apps run fine in 64bit.

I think the issue in the past was not software but drivers for hardware.

I've been running 64bit Vista since 07, and now 7 64bit since August and it's been great. everything I play and use has worked perfect.
 
The change should be essentially transparent. A few things to consider:

-Some hardware will have 64-bit driver versions.
-Some programs have 64-bit versions that provide better performance.
-Individual programs can access more RAM under a 64-bit OS.
-16-bit applications are not supported under 64-bit Windows (not a big deal for 99.9% of people).
 
Zepher said:
32bit apps run fine in 64bit.
Click to expand...
Hmmm...what if I installed a 32-bit program if a 64-bit version was not avaliable and needed to upgrade the drivers? I'd have to choose 32-bit drivers. Can I install 32-bit drivers in a 64-bit OS? I would think so seeing as how the 32-bit program has to come with 32-bit drivers in the FIRST place but I just want to make sure.
 
Undercover_Man said:
Hmmm...what if I installed a 32-bit program if a 64-bit version was not avaliable and needed to upgrade the drivers? I'd have to choose 32-bit drivers. Can I install 32-bit drivers in a 64-bit OS? I would think so seeing as how the 32-bit program has to come with 32-bit drivers in the FIRST place but I just want to make sure.
Click to expand...
Why would you need to upgrade the drivers when installing a 32-bit program? Drivers are for hardware, not for software. Programs do not require drivers.
 
Zero82z said:
Why would you need to upgrade the drivers when installing a 32-bit program? Drivers are for hardware, not for software. Programs do not require drivers.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah oh yeah, I'm getting confused with software and hardware. :rolleyes:
Sorry for being retarded for a min there.

Alright I think I don't have anything to worry about. I'm using the latest hardware in my new system so it should all be cool. Thanx for the info.
 
Undercover_Man said:
Oh yeah oh yeah, I'm getting confused with software and hardware. :rolleyes:
Sorry for being retarded for a min there.

Alright I think I don't have anything to worry about. I'm using the latest hardware in my new system so it should all be cool. Thanx for the info.
Click to expand...

Yea, its just the software that is different. And even so, when you download apps and drivers, just pick the 64-bit versions
 
Honestly you won't even know that there is a difference, except for being able to use more than 3.5 gb(I believe) I haven't ran into a problem yet because of 64-bit.
 
Undercover_Man said:
Alright I think I don't have anything to worry about. I'm using the latest hardware in my new system so it should all be cool. Thanx for the info.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind, if you have printers, webcams, scanners, digital camera's, etc. Anything that plugs into the system via USB will need a driver. A lot of older hardware do have at least Vista drivers which will work in 7.

RadXge said:
32-bit virus programs do not run well on Windows 64-bit...
Click to expand...
That's what MSE is for ;)
 
serpretetsky said:
you can not use x86-32 drivers on a x86-64 os.
Click to expand...

how sure are you of this? i just did a clean install of win7 pro on a new laptop, and i went with 64 bit thinking i would be able to just use the 32 bit drivers. I ended up finding most 64 bit drivers but i THINK i may have used a 32 bit driver.
 
What to expect:
1. There won't be as many drivers for your hardware.
2. Your awesome old, old, games like Quake, Doom, and Doom 2 probably won't work.
3. When programs come with the choice for 32 or 64 bit versions, you choose the 64 bit version.
4. You can use more than 4gb of ram.

Aside from that it's pretty much the same. :3
 
actually, if the hardware is recent, there should be exactly as many drivers available for the hardware in 32 bit flavor as 64 bit flavor as pretty much any device made in the past couple years that is going to be in 99% of computers today will have a 32 bit and 64 bit driver......

FYI, Windows 7 x64 is really really good at finding its own 64bit drivers for 99% of your recent hardware, you might have to go find a sound card driver or something like that, but even then, unless you are running something really off the wall or old, you will find a 64 bit driver for it anyways with little to no issues

probably the most common hardware to be difficult to find drivers for x64 tends to be printers/scanners/all-in-one's.....because people dont replace them often, so worst case you have a several year old printer that needs to be replaced probably anyways

short answer is, you wont even know you are running x64, just dont forget that you are when installing drivers and software, thats all
 
Vista/W7 64 bit support is waaaaay better than XPs ever was.

Pretty much all of my hardware now has 64 bit drivers for W7. I simply used the Vista ones until the W7 drivers came out.

As others have said, you more than likely will not even notice a difference.

Just remember, 32 bit programs go in "Program Files (x86)" 64 bit in "Program Files". (The software knows and will pick the right spot. Just wanted you to know the different folder structure when it comes to 64 vs 32 bit.)
 
Undercover_Man said:
From what I've read, there is a 3GB limitation for 32-bit XP and Vista. I assume that would be the case for Win 7 as well.
Click to expand...
This isn't a Windows limit, its a limit in all operating systems. A 32-bit OS can use 2^32 bits of address space, or ~4 GB. In practice the upper limit for RAM is ~3.5 GB.

So here's my question. What issues will I run into with the programs I use now? I remember when 64-bit first came out that ppl were having probs with apps and not many 64-bit versions were being released and stuff.
Click to expand...
Maybe back in the 64-bit XP days... I moved to 64-bit Vista the day of its consumer launch and I've never run into compatibility issues with 32-bit software. 32-bit applications run natively on 64-bit Windows.

Deadgye said:
What to expect:
1. There won't be as many drivers for your hardware.
Click to expand...
Any hardware listed as Vista or 7 compatible should have 64-bit drivers.

2. Your awesome old, old, games like Quake, Doom, and Doom 2 probably won't work.
Click to expand...
Undercover_Man said:
Ok, is this a contradiction? Or does he mean DOS type games?
Click to expand...

Just use jDoom/Doomsday to load the .wad files, it works fine. ;)

To clarify this issue: 16-bit applications don't run on 64-bit Windows. If you frequently need to run old DOS-Windows 95 era software (why?) you can run DOSbox or a 32-bit version of Windows in a virtual machine.
 
If you are using Windows 7 64bit you're not going to have much problems. Your build will run better, finally able to use and address more than 3gb of RAM. I made the jump last year won't go back to 32bit OS.
 
Just use jDoom/Doomsday to load the .wad files, it works fine.
Click to expand...
I'll have to check what I'm using then, because whatever it is it doesn't work on win7 64bit :/

q3a and q3a RA work just fine, however punk puster has issues.
Click to expand...
Quake 3 isn't Quake though. I don't think I can even run quake above 480x360, can't get ir to work on my 64 bit machien either. :/
 
Zero82z said:
The change should be essentially transparent. A few things to consider:

-Some hardware will have 64-bit driver versions.
-Some programs have 64-bit versions that provide better performance.
-Individual programs can access more RAM under a 64-bit OS.
-16-bit applications are not supported under 64-bit Windows (not a big deal for 99.9% of people).
Click to expand...

I was where you were not quite two years ago (transition was from Vista Ultimate 32-bit on as P4 Northwood-C to Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my current rig). Here's the breakdown:

1. Most hardware (especially new hardware) is directly supported by 64-bit drivers. (Your motherboard driver CD should have 64-bit drivers for Vista, if not 7 itself.) In most cases, once you get the motherboard and networking drivers running, you can get the remaining drivers from the IHV, if not via Windows Update.

2. There are some applications that are directly available as 64-bit applications; further, Office 2010 is available in a fully-64-bit beta version. (I run it myself, and utterly refuse to go back to a 32-bit version of Office.) The same applies to system-protection utilities (such as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Diskeeper 2010).

3. The issue with compatiblity (with games and applications) is usually not the game or aplication itself, but the installer; no 16-bit installer works in a 64-bit Windows operating system. However, that still leaves a large number of older games quite capable of making the jump (including every game from EA newer than Windows XP Service Pack 2 OR XP MCE 2005, Steam itself and all Steam games, every MMO from 2005 and newer, Blizzard's Starcraft: Anthology [the repackaging of Starcraft BattleChest], etc.) Oldest game I've run: Forsaken (game installs fine; however, add the 1.01 patch to play [the patch is available from http://www.fileplanet.com]).

Lastly, there are some folks that insist that 64-bit versions of Windows (especially Vista and 7) require 4 GB of RAM or more. Don't believe it!
While the 64-bit versionsd of Vista and 7 can certainly use 4 GB or more, depending on your application mix, they can run comfortably in as little as 512 MB of RAM (however, multitaskers should run any version of Windows with no less than 2 GB of RAM; I run 7 64-bit with 3 GB, and I multitask all the time, and that's on the rig below).
 
Deadgye said:
I'll have to check what I'm using then, because whatever it is it doesn't work on win7 64bit :/


Quake 3 isn't Quake though. I don't think I can even run quake above 480x360, can't get ir to work on my 64 bit machien either. :/
Click to expand...

That is likely a graphics card issue, not a Windows issue, as I've run Quake (the original) on *every* version of Windows from NT 4/95 up. Doom II needs an updated installer; Quake II and III are fine.

With the really old games, the issue will usually be the installer - not the game itself. (An example of this is Microsoft's own Fury3; it uses a 16-bit installer, so it won't install on any 64-bit flavor of Windows. However, it will install perfectly in any 32-bit version of Windows, even in a virtual machine. [Fury3's original "stated" system requirements are for Windows 3.x, 95, or NT 3.5 or newer, a 486DX2-6 or newer CPU, and 8 MB of RAM or more; the game does not require, or use, DirectX at all, as it was an Original Windows 95 Launch Title; further, it will actually run in [don't laugh] *Windows for Workgroups*, or even Windows NT 3.51, on a 386DX-40.)
 
Undercover_Man said:
What issues will I run into with the programs I use now? I remember when 64-bit first came out that ppl were having probs with apps and not many 64-bit versions were being released and stuff. I have seen more and more of both flavors being sold so I don't think that'll be much of an issue anymore with currect programs.
Click to expand...

Those issues that you are talkiing about is Windows XP 64-bit edition. I have that OS and it was trouble in the begining. Now I am using Vista 64-bit and I have no issues with any modern program running in 32-bit and 64-bit

Undercover_Man said:
But what about older programs I use or programs that just don't have a 64-bit version? I I can't run 32-bit programs in a 64-bit system, right?.
Click to expand...

Windows 7 does have a full Windows XP mode that will allow you to run your Windows XP exclusive application.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx



Undercover_Man said:
What about things like game saves or saved photo/video sessions. Can I use those saves from a 32-bit system and load them with my new 64-bit?
Click to expand...

So far I can run all my old Windows XP DirectX 9 games fine, including saved games. DOS games on the other hand, I cannot answer if they will or will not work.


Undercover_Man said:
Are there any big issues I will run into that I should be prepared for when I start installing all my programs from this 32-bit computer to my new 64-bit computer?
Click to expand...

The only issues I had from going from 32-bit to 64-bit is my ancient Sony Vegas 6 will not work properly in Vista 64-bit. I had to get the newer version of Vegas to use it again. But that is to be expected when you make a transition to a new OS. Some of your old programs might need to be updated or need to purchase an entirely new revision of said program to benefit fully from your new 64-bit OS.
 
PGHammer said:
Lastly, there are some folks that insist that 64-bit versions of Windows (especially Vista and 7) require 4 GB of RAM or more. Don't believe it!
While the 64-bit versionsd of Vista and 7 can certainly use 4 GB or more, depending on your application mix, they can run comfortably in as little as 512 MB of RAM (however, multitaskers should run any version of Windows with no less than 2 GB of RAM; I run 7 64-bit with 3 GB, and I multitask all the time, and that's on the rig below).
Click to expand...

When I jumped from Windows XP to Vista 64-bit, I had only 2GB of RAM. Vista 64-bit ran terribly slow with 2GB of RAM. I upgraded to 4GB of RAM and Vista 64-bit became more responsive and apps loaded much faster.
 
Mr Mean said:
When I jumped from Windows XP to Vista 64-bit, I had only 2GB of RAM. Vista 64-bit ran terribly slow with 2GB of RAM. I upgraded to 4GB of RAM and Vista 64-bit became more responsive and apps loaded much faster.
Click to expand...

I've never seen anything like this. The memory footprint of 64-bit Vista/7 is slightly larger than the 32-bit variants, but nothing you would notice with 2GB of RAM.

It sounds like something else was going on with your system.

So far I can run all my old Windows XP DirectX 9 games fine, including saved games. DOS games on the other hand, I cannot answer if they will or will not work.
Click to expand...
DOS games obviously won't work. 16-bit applications don't run natively on 64-bit Windows. You can use DOSBox or a virtual machine for those ancient apps. "XP Mode" is essentially a virtual machine + XP license, but if you have a copy of XP or 32-bit Vista lying around you can do the same thing for free with Sun VirtualBox.
 
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DeathFromBelow said:
I've never seen anything like this. The memory footprint of 64-bit Vista/7 is slightly larger than the 32-bit variants, but nothing you would notice with 2GB of RAM.
Click to expand...


There was no hardware change other than me adding an addition 2GB of RAM and re-installing Windows Vista, with diskpart command to clean all and format my primary hard drive. But this was with Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP1 not SP2. When I made the jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
 
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