32 or 64 bit determination

[Jan]

Am researching upgrading XP to W7 - hardware specs are different for 32 and 64 bit for the processor, RAM, and hard drive. How am I able to determine which is being used? Do I need to know to upgrade? Any feed back is welcomed. Thanks!
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How am I able to determine if the processor, hard drive, or the RAM is 32 or 64 bit? Not finding it. Do I need to know this in order to upgrade XP or Vista to W7? The specs are different.
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Merged duplicate threads

 

[TrainableMan]

I guess my first feeling is, if you have older hardware then I wouldn't consider upgrading from XP. Unless you absolutely need W7 then it is an expense and generally some hassle to upgrade; if I had to do it over again I would wait till I got a new machine that had W7 already installed. Now from Vista to 7 I would say go for it, minor issues; but from XP it was probably a 3 month learning curve for me. And I had issues getting my old trackball to work and many that pop in here for help have issues with old printers and old software or games.

But if you decide to go forward then, turn on all your devices, printers, joysticks, etc and Download, install, and run W7 Upgrade Advisor. Then, unless it gives you a reason why not, you should go 64-bit. One reason right off the top of my head you might not go 64-bit is if you have under 2GB of RAM. Microsoft specs say 64-bit minimum RAM is 2GB & 3GB is recommended, 4 is better; 32-bit min is 1GB w/ 2GB recommended.

You might also read over this 64 vs 32-bit thread.

And you can also look up specific hardware & software for compatibility at the W7 Compatibility Center.

 

[Super Sarge]

Use something like SIW to find your processor and MB and post it here
download the free version
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html
Your HD and Memory have nothing to do with 32 or 64 bit

 

[Digerati]

32-bit is going away and will hold you to the past. 64-bit is here to stay (until taken over by 128-bit) and will allow you move into the future.