How do I check whether my hardware is 64-bit capable in Windows?

Question

I'm using a 32-bit operating system. How can I check if my hardware supports 64-bit?

score 32 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 27 '11 at 15:58

32

Install and run Securable, it will tell you. If you get the 64 max bit length, then yes your processor supports it.

http://www.grc.com/securable.htm

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answered Feb 27 '11 at 15:58

Moab

58,769

score 29 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 03 '17 at 15:33

For Windows 7 and above

From https://support.microsoft.com/en-ph/help/15056/windows-7-32-64-bit-faq:

Open Performance Information and Tools: Clicking the Start button and then click Control Panel. In the search box (Ctrl + E), type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools
Click View and print details
In the System section, you can see whether or not you can run a 64-bit version of Windows under 64-bit capable

Example: 64-bit capable

Stevoisiak · Answer 3 · 2025-05-01T18:40:55.370

You can see whether you have a 64-bit or 32-bit CPU in Windows by opening the System Information window.

If your System Type includes x86, you have a 32-bit CPU.
If your System Type includes x64, you have a 64-bit CPU.

_{(Note that having a 64-bit capable CPU is NOT the same as having a 64-bit version of Windows.)}

Opening System Information on Windows 11/10/8

Right click the Start button, then choose Run.
Type msinfo32 and press Enter.

Opening System Information on Windows 7/Vista/XP

Click the Start button, then choose Run.
Type msinfo32 and press Enter

Sources

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

4

Install CPU-Z, run and check out results. If you are unsure, post results (screenshot) to your question. There is no good way in Windows for determining that, except if your Windows is already 64bit. Check out for example this question.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community

1

answered Feb 27 '11 at 13:59

Olli

7,739

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 15 '12 at 18:18

4

Another method to find out if your processor supports 32 or 64-bit:

Click on the Start menu
Click Run (or type run on Windows Vista/7 and press Enter)
Type regedit and press OK
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\SYSTEM\CENTERALPROCESSOR\0

Look at the Identifier, it should say contain "Intel64" or "Intel32".

edited Oct 15 '12 at 18:18

Indrek

24,874

answered Oct 15 '12 at 18:02

Yousuf Alsaiari

41

score 3 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 25 '18 at 07:45

It does not matter what your current OS is - sysinfo, properties, etc., will only tell you what your current OS is. To find out whether your hardware is 64-bit capable, download and run Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

The "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" should give you a full report on whether your system can run 32-bit and/or 64-bit. Any drivers can be downloaded, no issue there. A new Windows 7 package should come with both Windows 7 32-bit disk and 64-bit disk as well.

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Oct 13 '19 at 20:06

I would like to point out "64-bit instruction set" as defined by Intel doesn't guarantee a 64-bit CPU. It refers to Windows 64 compatibility, as I remember IA-32e is not supported after 8.1. due to the hardware NX bit requirement.

This is where confusion reigns because Technet (and MSDN to lesser extent) imply Windows 64 is required to use over 4 GB of RAM, omitting the part about hardware support. It's not clear to end users.

Intel ARK maximum memory specifications are nGB for all 64-bit processors, but for the IA-32 family the "nGB" is replaced with "nbits", e.g. 32-bit support...

One way to find out is look up chipset specifications on Intel ARK. CPU hardware DEP/NX should ensure full compatibility as well.

The "virtual + physical" can translate to pagefile + RAM...it pays to check...