How to determine how many bits are 32 or 64. How to find out the bit depth of the operating system and processor in Windows. How to find out the bitness of installed Windows

If you don't know what bit depth operating system installed on your computer, this will be discussed in this article.

Typically, users do not often ask this question. Most often, find out the bit depth of the operating Windows systems may be required if you want to install any program, game or driver on your computer.

Beginning with Windows versions XP, operating systems can have different types of bit depth:

32-bit OS – x32(can be designated x86);

64-bit OS – x64.

The main feature of 64-bit operating systems is that they are capable of working with large volumes of random access memory. Even if your computer or laptop has 4 GB of RAM installed, then everything running applications on 32-bit systems they will use no more than 3 GB. Therefore, if you have 4 GB of RAM or more, it makes sense to install a 64-bit Windows operating system.

It should also be noted that if you download a program for a 64-bit OS, but you have a 32-bit OS installed, you will not be able to install it on your computer. In the event that everything is the other way around: you downloaded it for a 32-bit OS, but a 64-bit OS is installed, the program will be installed and will work.

Let's summarize. A 32-bit operating system does not use more than 3 GB of RAM, no matter how much is installed on the computer. And secondly, programs for 32-bit Windows operating systems will work normally in 64-bit ones, but not vice versa.

Now let's move on to the main topic of the article, and consider how to determine the bitness of the operating system Windows installed on your computer.

To find out the bitness of the Windows 7 operating system, on the Desktop, click on the “Computer” shortcut right click mouse and select "Properties" from the drop-down menu.

If you don’t have such a shortcut, go to the “Start” menu and right-click on the “Computer” button there. Go to "Properties".

A window will open in which you will see all the basic information about the computer. The “System type” line will indicate the Windows bit depth.

If you need find out the bitness of the Windows 8 system, press the key combination “Ctrl+E”, the “Computer” window will open. Right-click on an empty space in it and go to “Properties”.

There is another way to open a window with basic system information. Press "Ctrl+I" to open the side pop-up panel. Select on it "Computer Information".

In the "System" window in the "System Type" field, the bit depth will be indicated.

An article about that is already on the site. You can view it by clicking on the link.

Most fast way, which will help you find out the bitness of the operating system - press the key combination Win+Pause. It works in all mentioned versions of Windows.

Now you know how to determine the bit depth of the Windows 7, 8, 10 operating system and can choose the right one software, applications and drivers that will correspond to it.

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    At the moment, there are two bit depths of the operating system:

    32 bit;
    64 bit.

    How are they different, because they look the same ?! Their main differences are "hidden" in the processor architecture. Speaking in an accessible language, 64-bit systems can use twice as much operational data per cycle, which does not play any role for ordinary users. There is another difference that already deserves the attention of users. The fact is that a 32-bit system supports a maximum of 3 GB of RAM, and a 64-bit one will see 16 GB of “RAM”.

    My personal advice, if you have no more than 3 GB of RAM on your computer, then don't even "bother" and use a 32-bit system. It works more stable, at least Windows XP. Well, if you have 4 GB of “RAM” and higher, then you should already think about switching to a 64-bit system.
    In this case, you will have the question "how to find out if the system is 32 or 64 bit"? There are a lot of ways, so we will consider only a few of the simplest ones.

    Click Start - Run. In the window that opens, type the command "cmd" and press the "Enter" key.

    A window will open on a black background with a command line. There, type the command “systeminfo” and press the “Enter” key. You will see a set of system information about your computer, there will be quite a few interesting things, up to the date of installation of your operating system! In the top half, look for the line System type. It is in it that the answer to your question "how to find out a 32-bit or 64-bit system" lies. If the number x86 is there, then you have a 32-bit system. Well, if you see x64, it means you are using a 64-bit operating system. In the photo below you can see that my computer uses a 32-bit “piggy”.

    Everything is even simpler here. Click Start. There you will find the “My Computer” item. Right-click on it and activate the “Properties” menu. A window will load, as shown below.

    Look again for the line “System type”. And a 32 or 64 bit system will be written in it.

    Sooner or later, any user of a personal computer needs to determine the bit depth of the system used.

    How to find out how many bits, 32 or 64, for inexperienced or novice computer owners? For advanced users, this is a simple task that can be solved very quickly and without any difficulty.

    To begin with, before we find out whether it is 32 or 64 bits, we determine which operating system is on the device you are using.

    If you have saved the documentation for the device, you will find all the necessary information there, including the bit depth (32 or 64 bits). When you start a computer or laptop or other gadget, the Windows company logo always appears, and at this moment you can read the name of the operating system. Today the following operating systems are relevant: Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, Windows Server 2003. Other products from this company are obsolete and not supported by the manufacturer.

    The likelihood that your device is running an older version of the operating system is zero.

    On the toolbar, click the “Start” button, in the tab that opens, select “Run”. Next, a window will open in which you need to write a command to call up the sysdm.cpl information and click on the “OK” button.

    Then you need to read the name on the “General” tab in the “System” area. If you see the information: “Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition,” it means you have a 64-bit operating system, but if at this point you read: “Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition,” it means 32 bit.

    There is also a second way. Also click “Start” and select “Run” again. Only this time in the window that appears, write the following: winmsd.exe and click on the "OK" button. In "System Information" find "Processor".

    If the value that corresponds to the processor starts with "x86", then you have a 32-bit OS.

    If the value starts with "EM64T" or "IA-64", respectively, your device is controlled by a 64-bit operating system.

    Regardless of which version of XP you are using, Professional or Home Edition, the procedure is the same.

    How to find out so many bits for Windows 7 or Vista

    These two operating systems are created on the same base, so their algorithm of actions is absolutely identical. Similar to the first case for OS data, there are 2 ways to find out whether the system is 32 or 64 bit:

    1. Click the Start button, then type “system” into the search box. The search engine will offer you program options in the form of a list, select what you are looking for. In the window that opens, find the section called “System”, carefully look at all the information in this section, in the “System Type” area the number of bits of your OS will be displayed.
    2. Click “Start”, type “systems” in the search bar, and this time find the “System Information” option in the list of suggested programs and select it. In the window that appears in the “System Type” information area, we see a line displaying the characteristics of the OS and the number of bits, including.

    How to determine the number of bits for Windows 8

    This OS can be found not only on desktop computers and laptops, but also on tablets, smartphones, and so on.

    Distinctive feature portable devices is that they are all touch-sensitive and controlled with your finger. Regardless of this, the layout of the main elements of Win 8 is preserved, so whether you use a mouse or a finger does not matter.

    Move the mouse icon to the lower right corner of the screen, then click on the “Search” button. In the search bar, write “System”, then click “Options”, then “System”. Next, find the line “System type”, here it will be displayed whether 32 or 64 bits are used in your case.

    Similar to the first option, we find the search line and write the following in it: “system information.” Next, select the “System” designation, then “Information”. Just as in previous cases, in the “Type” field you will see whether your OS is 32 or 64 bit.

    There is another way. On the desktop, find the “My Computer” icon and right-click on it. In the tab that appears, find the “Properties” item and click on it.

    A window will appear with all the information on the OS installed on your computer, including here you will find the number of bits.

    Hello, dear readers! Today I will tell you how to quickly find out the bitness of your Windows system (32 or 64 bits). Why might this be needed? For example, you needed to download a certain program, but the site offers two versions: for 32-bit Windows and for 64-bit. And you have a logical question: which version should I download? You will find the answer in my short note.

    Let's define the accepted designations for the bit depth of the system. For 32-bit systems, you may see different abbreviations: x86, 32-bit, 32-bit, 32bit. But the main name, most often, is x86. For 64-bit systems, the designation is used x64(x64-bit, 64bit, 64-bit, 64-bit). Now let's get down to business and find out the bit depth;)

    How to find out the bit depth of Windows Vista/7/8/10?

    For all versions of Windows from Vista to 10, you can find out the bit depth in the system properties. Access to these properties may vary slightly depending on different systems, but in general all you need to do is right-click on the icon My computer on the desktop and select Properties.

    I’ll show you using Windows 10 as an example. There are two options to go to system properties. The first is to right-click on the icon This computer on the desktop (if this icon is not there, then it is) and select Properties. The second is to right-click on the button Start in the lower left corner of the screen and select System.

    There is one more universal method— using the hotkey combination Win + Pause/Break. This combo immediately opens a window with system properties in different versions of Windows. And in the section System -> System type you can find out the bitness of your Windows system.

    How to find out the bitness of Windows XP?

    Right-click on the icon My computer and press Properties.

    In the properties on the General tab, in the System section we see the inscription Microsoft Windows XP Professional version 2002 Service Pack 3. This means that the system is 32-bit, since for the 64-bit version of XP the bitness is indicated explicitly next to the name. It looks something like this: 64-Bit Edition, x64 Edition. If this inscription is not present, your version of XP is 32-bit.

    There is also a quick way to open the system properties window using hotkeys Win+Pause/Break. The Win key is located in the lower left (sometimes also in the right) row of the keyboard, and the Windows logo is drawn on it.

    Often, the requirements for an application or game indicate compatibility with a particular bit system. 32-bit applications work on both systems, unlike 64-bit ones. Those only work on 64-bit systems. In this regard, before downloading an application or purchasing it, people ask themselves the question - how to find out the bit depth of the system?

    The answer to this question is simple: in any version of Windows, just press Win + Pause . It happens that the keyboard does not have a Pause button or the keyboard shortcut does not work (for example, due to the fact that in order to use the Pause button, you also need to hold down Fn). Then just go to the explorer (Win + E), right-click on the inscription "This computer". If you have older versions of Windows, click "properties" on the label "My Computer".

    As a result, you will see a window with information about the installed OS, where you will find, among other things, its bit depth.


    Windows 10 system capacity
    Find out the system capacity in Windows 7

    That's all, this method is also suitable for Windows XP. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a screenshot due to its lack of an installed version of this OS. Remember - Win + Pause and you will find out the system capacity. Another simple option that does not require installing programs is to type systeminfo in