Sometimes it is necessary to know if a file is a 32 or 64 bit program before running or installing it. The source website does not list the bit depth of the program. Or maybe you have unlabeled applications in your distributions and portable directories, and you need to know which systems you can run them on. Or you just want to make sure, for your own reasons, that the program has one or another bit depth. Whatever the reasons, you will always have two ways to check it.
Note Note: It is quite possible that the installer is 32-bit and the program is 64-bit. The reverse is also true.
EXE 64bit Detector program to determine 32 or 64 bits
There are many ways to find out how a file was compiled. For example, technicians can use hex editors to read binary codes. But, ordinary users this way seems too complicated. Therefore, you can always use a program called "EXE 64bit Detector". This tool is designed to be run on the command line as an administrator. Even if you are not familiar with the command line, don't worry this instrument very easy to use. You can find the developer's site and the program at this link (download button at the end of the page). But, we warn you, before downloading the utility, the site will redirect you several times. Therefore, be careful and careful. Pay attention to which links you click. There is a tendency to keep you longer at the ad units, but, nevertheless, the tool is free and it is enough to download it once. The utility runs in all current versions Windows.
As already mentioned, using the utility is very simple. Open a command prompt with administrator rights and type the following command:
- Exe64bitDetector.exe –f "File for testing"
The "-f" parameter must be specified. And if Exe64bitDetector and the program under test are located in different directories, then you must also specify the full path to the program. Please note that in addition to information about the bit depth, the program also shows whether ASLR is enabled (random allocation of space for modules in random access memory), DEP (additional memory content checks for security), and SEH (a mechanism that gives a program access to exceptions such as division by zero, memory access violations, and others). The figure below shows an example of the program execution:
Perhaps the only problem with this utility is that not everyone wants to mess with the command line. Therefore, we offer you a simpler and not requiring additional software method to determine the capacity of the program.
How to check if a file is 32 or 64 bit the easy way
Despite the fact that in 64-bit Windows there are two directories for programs "Program files" (for 64-bit) and "Program files (x86)" (for 32-bit), the presence of a program in a particular directory is not certain. a sign of the degree of the program. Since you can install the program in any directory. Therefore, it is worth using the following simple trick:
- Click right click mouse on the executable whose bit depth you want to know
- Select "Properties"
- Go to the "Compatibility" tab
- An example of the dialog box that opens is shown above.
- In the "Compatibility Mode" area, check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
- Expand the drop-down menu that lists operating systems. If the list of versions starts with Vista, as shown in the figure, then the file is 64-bit. If the list of operating systems includes Windows XP, then the file is 32-bit.
- Don't forget to uncheck the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
Now, you will always have at hand two ways to find out a 32 or 64 bit program.
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Technical Tips
A simple computer user can for a long time work with the installed Windows operating system and not even think about what bit depth it has. However, time will pass, and he will need to install a program on his computer that can only work with a 64-bit version of Windows, and problems will arise here if the current operating system has a bit depth of x32 or x86. In this regard, the question may arise: how to find out the bitness of Windows? Let's answer it and take a closer look at the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions. operating system.
Table of contents:
Basic versions of the operating Windows systems have been developed for a long time, and with the release of new software options from Microsoft, they have only been improved. In fact, 32-bit (32-bit) operating systems have already become a thing of the past, and they are rarely used, only in cases where the hardware of the computer does not support 64-bit Windows.
The bits themselves, in relation to the Windows operating system, are the way information is processed by the computer's central processing unit. RAM is used as the information to be processed, and 32-bit Windows is able to work with no more than 3.5 GB of RAM, while on 64-bit this limit is about 200 GB. With the development of the power of programs and their demands on RAM, computers began to switch en masse to a 64-bit operating system.
The main disadvantage of a 64-bit system is its demands on the computer's central processor. If your PC has a 32-bit CPU, it will in no way be able to work with a 64-bit version of the operating system, that is, it does not support more than 3.5 GB of RAM.
Many computer users who choose to Windows installation the bitness of the operating system is misleading by the lack of a 32-bit version. This is due to the fact that the 32-bit version of Windows for a 64-bit processor is referred to as x86, not x32. You can figure out what this is connected with only if you study the processes of interaction between the operating system and computer hardware. The user just needs to remember that 32-bit and 86-bit operating systems are practically the same, and only the 64-bit version of the software can handle more than 3.5 GB of RAM.
If the central process of the computer supports the 64-bit version of Windows, then during installation it is necessary to select it. It should be understood that the 32-bit version of the operating system is last century and here are just some of the proofs:
After the release of 64-bit Windows versions, you should install 32-bit only if the processor or drivers for it do not support working with a 64-bit operating system.
How to find out the bitness of Windows installed on a computer?
You can determine the bit depth of the version of Windows installed on your computer using a dozen third party applications. There are ways to find out the x32, x64 or x86 version of the operating system installed on the computer using standard means Windows.
First way
You can find out the bit depth of Windows on your computer through the system information menu:
Second way
Third way
View the bitness of the system through "System Information":
You can see that it is quite simple to find out the bit depth of the operating system, and this must be done if there is a desire to expand the amount of computer RAM. Also, knowledge of the bitness of the operating system will be needed if you want to reinstall the operating system.
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.
Bit depth of the Windows 10 system 
Find out the bit depth of the system in Windows 7 That's all, this method is also suitable for Windows XP. Unfortunately, I was unable to take a screenshot due to its absence. installed version this OS. Remember - Win + Pause and you will know the bit depth of the system. Another simple option that does not require installation of programs is to type systeminfo into
Sooner or later, each user is faced with the question of the capacity of their own processor and operating system. Despite the fact that both are determined quite simply, the issue of choosing the bit depth of the new operating system is very confusing and primarily depends on the requirements the user has for his computer.
What is the difference between 32 and 64 bit
The bit depth of the system, also sometimes called "bit depth", does not necessarily have to correspond to the bit depth of the processor and on modern computers it has only two main types: 32 and 64.
The difference between architecture and bitness
Despite the external similarity of the values 86 and 32, the difference between them is large.
86 is the processor architecture, which is correctly spelled x86 and defines the microinstruction set of the processor. The number 32 is the processor bit depth, which is correct to write as "32-bit". It defines the width of the processor register.
Typically, the x86 architecture is 32-bit oriented, while the x64 architecture is 64-bit oriented. However, this statement is not always true. For example, there are 64-bit processors based on the x86 architecture and 32-bit processors based on a third, completely different architecture. But still, these cases are very rare and you can remember for yourself that x86 corresponds to 32 bits, and x64 is 64-bit oriented.
Difference between x86 and x64
As mentioned above, the architecture of the processor mainly determines its bit depth, and the bit depth determines the width of the register. The width of the register determines the amount of data to be processed at a time, and the amount of RAM that the computer is able to use. A 32-bit register can simultaneously interact with 2 32 addresses (covers 2 32 bits of the information flow, which is equal to 4 gigabytes), and a 64-bit register - with 2 64 (covers the previous information flow squared, which is impossible to implement even on the most powerful computers).