to 64 bit from 32?

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hello everyone;
i have a (rather) silly question, but given my [very elemental] knowledge of W7 OS, i would like to ask the forum:
background:
my desktop pc (hp dx515x, 250Gb hdd, 4Gb ram) runs W7 home premium 32 bits, an upgrade from XP that i bought from M$. the upgrade came with 32 and 64 bits CDs.
my laptop (lenovo T410, 250GB hdd, 2Gb ram) also runs W7 but the Professional 64 bits OEM installed, when i bought the laptop.
i’m running THE SAME applications in both machines, without any problems.
i have both machines in a home-group network operating and sharing files without any problems.
i’m noticing some better performance of some applications (thunderbird email client is the one where this is more noticeable).
i don’t know if this is because of the professional version or the 64 bit version.
so, the silly question:
i might consider changing the desktop to 64 bit if your advice / comments / warnings led me to go for it, although on the other hand, i have good recollection of (at least) two principles: KISS [keep it simple, stupid]; and “if it works, don’t fix it”.
I’m asking because i confess being AFRAID of fooling my OS.
TIA 2 U all for your replies.

Daniel Rozenberg.

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Usually there’s not much difference in performance between Home Premium and Professional versions unless running programs designed for business which can take advantage of the 64-bit hardware. The 32-bit OS can run on 64-bit machine but not the other way around

A major issue occurs in changing between 32-bit and 64-bit [either direction]. In order to so requires a clean install losing everything on the HDD so a good backup or copy to another drive would be necessary. I go along with your mentioned KISS. As you change or upgrade to newer computers would be the time to change the OS to fit the hardware, i.e. haven’t seen a strictly 32-bit computer lately, most are 64-bit except maybe on tablets.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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These FAQs may help, but basically 64 bit handles large amounts of RAM better than 32 bit.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows#1TC=windows-7

While Win 7 64bit works okay on 2GB of RAM, I think 4GB is better.

The free version of Speccy will give the part number of the module you have installed to match it up, which I suspect is a single 2GB stick, but you can confirm that with Crucial’s System Scanner.

https://www.piriform.com/speccy

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

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Hi Berton & Sudo15;

thank you very much for your comments and guidance.
yes, i realize that a total back up is absolutely necessary before installing the 64 bit version in the pc.
that hassle is just enough for me to ADHERE to the KISS principle…and will remain where i’m now.

btw:
thanks for those links to learn about my system properties and modules.
i would like to contribute with two i have used, one of them is Belarc, and the other , is Everest Profiler.

thanks again

dr.

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Depending on the actual available memory, you can gain some memory by going to 64 bit from 32. This can get your 4 GB RAM almost usable in full by the OS, while the same cannot be said for the 32 bit version.

Whether you can benefit from this or not, that’s another thing, since it depends on what applications you use on a regular basis. This means going 64 bit can actually help with performance, since there is more RAM available, and the use of virtual memory and the associated disk access, can diminish a bit. As I said, though, this really depends on your usage.

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Depending on the actual available memory, you can gain some memory by going to 64 bit from 32. This can get your 4 GB RAM almost usable in full by the OS, while the same cannot be said for the 32 bit version.

Whether you can benefit from this or not, that’s another thing, since it depends on what applications you use on a regular basis. This means going 64 bit can actually help with performance, since there is more RAM available, and the use of virtual memory and the associated disk access, can diminish a bit. As I said, though, this really depends on your usage.

i don’t use applications requiring large use of memory, so i’ll remain with the 32 bit version, and close this issue.

thank you all people for your comments.

danielr2

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