32 bit to 64 bit route

Legacy_user

I read recently that a 64bit on your laptop is better than 32 bit, so went through what I believed to be the route to change this. However to confirm it was a success, I clicked on start/control panel/system & maintenance/system and it still shows 32 bit.
So where have I gone wrong?

TonyMMM

Does your laptop have a 64bit processor ?

onomatopoeia99

What route did you go through?

Without saying exactly what you have done it is impossible to determine what you might have done wrong.

kwikbreaks

IMO it's unlikely that a laptop capable of 64bit would be sold running 32bit. It's a marketing point which sfaik costs no more on the opsys side of things.

What do you expect to improve with it running 64bit rather than 32bit?

System

I read in WebUser mag to go to > google.com/chrome and ignore the blue download button. The mag said " you can download chrome for windows 64 bit. Click "windows 64-bit version", run and replace 32 bit with 64 bit. No need to uninstall the old browser and your history,bookmarks and other settings will be carried over to the new version.

Tony, looking at system, it does not say if I have a 64 bit processor, will try and copy it correct.

Intel (R) Core (TM) 2PU T 5500 @ 1.66 GHz 1.67GHz

TonyMMM

So you have upgraded the Chrome browser , not the Windows operating system, so if Windows was 32bit before it is still 32bit.

John_Gray

To run the 64-bit Chrome browser you must already be running a 64-bit operating system!

It would be highly likely that your CPU chip could run a 64-bit OS OR a 32-bit OS; it would depend on which was installed by the manufacturer, or subsequently by you.

Since you say that your operating system is 32-bit, you're more-or-less stuck with that, unless you have a 64-bit installation DVD with Product Key, and are happy to reinstall = start from scratch..

Anyway, there are few advantages of 64-bit over 32-bit, mainly relating to the use of Large Programs, for which you would probably also need large amounts of RAM. (32-bit operating systems can use only 3-3½ GB of RAM; 64-bit can use much more if available.)

System

TonyMMM wrote: »

So you have upgraded the Chrome browser , not the Windows operating system, so if Windows was 32bit before it is still 32bit.

yes.

Why am I on this route?, Well WU said "the 64 bit version of chrome offers improved speed,better memory management, and faster browsing etc"

Hey, have I answered my own question?. Maybe I have 64 bit version of chrome?

I use vista

Cycrow

How much ram do you have in your pc ?

if you only have a small amount, then upgrading to 64-bit may actually be worse, rather than better, as a 64-bit system uses more memory than a 32bit one.

althou you wont be able to use 64bit applications unless you have both a 64bit CPU and 64bit Operating System

System

2.00 gb..............

esuhl

64-bit programs won't run on a 32-bit operating system.
A 64-bit operating system won't run on 32-bit hardware.

Technically, a 64-bit OS can't natively run 32-bit programs, but Windows gets round that limitation so (from a user's point of view) you can run 32-bit software on 64-bit Windows OSes.

If you want to use the 64-bit version of Chrome, you will need to format the hard drive and install the 64-bit version of Vista first.

If you bought the laptop with the OS preinstalled, you (almost) certainly won't have been provided with the 64-bit version too, so you will need to buy a new copy of Windows.

The benefit of a 64-bit OS and software are not huge for most people. In a 32-bit OS, a single program can only access 4GB of memory (including graphics card) at any one time, although most processors use PAE (physical address extension) so that more than 4GB memory can be used by paging unused memory in/out. A 64-bit OS, however, can utilise >4GB RAM within a single program without paging.

Also, 64-bit OSes are more secure for a number of reasons. See here: http://www.howtogeek.com/165535/why-the-64-bit-version-of-windows-is-more-secure/

However, when all's said and done, 95% of users with a 32-bit OS probably wouldn't notice any difference if they upgraded to a 64-bit version of the same OS.

In short, get a 64-bit CPU in your next computer and use a 64-bit OS. Until then, you're best off sticking with what you've got (even if it is Vista -- yuk!)