32 bit Win 7?

Jeffsounds · 02-21-2015, 07:42 PM

I'm looking at refurbs on Walmart.com and every one of them seems to be running Win7 32-bit. Where are all the 64-bit machines???? Or am I missing something?

foxAsteria · 02-25-2015, 02:34 AM

if they come with a windows product key you can just reinstall 64-bit. the machine itself is neither 32 nor 64 bit.

Xenakios · 02-25-2015, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PooFox

the machine itself is neither 32 nor 64 bit.

Practically all new computers these days actually have 64 bit CPUs which can run 32 bit code. There was a period in time when there existed both 32-bit only CPUs and 64/32 bit CPUs, but those times are long gone...You'd need to look back something like 10 years in time for a 32-bit only computer. (Which might be a warning to the original poster to be careful not to get a really old refurb machine!)

foxAsteria · 02-25-2015, 02:57 AM

you're right. but thanks for quoting me so i can't erase my blunder. bed time.

Sound asleep · 02-25-2015, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffsounds

I'm looking at refurbs on Walmart.com and every one of them seems to be running Win7 32-bit. Where are all the 64-bit machines???? Or am I missing something?

32 bit windows can't recognize 4gb ram. My laptop had 4Gb of ram in the machine, but only 32 bit windows. I figured that putting 64 bit windows on there would give me that extra ram, but it didn't.

I think one of the Gb of ram was somehow allocated to onboard video, or there was something about the motherboard that wouldn't let me access the extra Gb.

My computer nerdiness is limited, but I'd be wary of buying a 32bit windows pc of relatively recent era, because that means it wasn't original sold with working 4Gb of ram, and there may be a bottle neck somewhere that won't let you overcome that without updating hardware.

Jeffsounds · 02-25-2015, 10:21 PM

Thank you all for your responses! Much appreciated!

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do but no matter what, it WILL be Win7 64-bit!

I have a guy who is looking into building a machine for me. I'm waiting on a price.

Thanks again, guys!

JHughes · 02-26-2015, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sound asleep

I think one of the Gb of ram was somehow allocated to onboard video, or there was something about the motherboard that wouldn't let me access the extra Gb.

That's what happens. You can usually change the amount of RAM dedicated to the GPU in either the BIOS or the driver settings in Windows.