How to tell 32 or 64 bit OS ?

[Road Runner]

Good Evening guys.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1750 with a Windows 7 Home Premium COA.

I get a Bootmgr image is corrupt error. System can not boot.

How can I tell if it is a 32 or 64 bit Win 7 license if I choose to do a reinstall ?

Many Thanks

Road Runner

Beep Beep !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Morrison5891]

Good Evening guys.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1750 with a Windows 7 Home Premium COA.

I get a Bootmgr image is corrupt error. System can not boot.

How can I tell if it is a 32 or 64 bit Win 7 license if I choose to do a reinstall ?

Many Thanks

Road Runner

Beep Beep !!!!!!!!!!

First thing I would look at is the amount of RAM installed. If its less then 4GB. Chances are its a 32-bit OS

Do you have a Win7 repair disk? Have you tried to repair windows 7 startup?

 

[Bryce W]

I have two OEM Win 7 ultimate CD/Cases in front of me. The COD stickers are identical with the exception of the actual Key and the barcode. It seems the only way to tell the difference is the CD itself which says 32bit or 64 bit.
Being a Dell, you probably dont have the CD right?

I guess try looking at the RAM like Morrison said, but a 64bit OS can still be sold with 2gb, so its not 100%

 

[Road Runner]

Went into Bios and found it has two 2gb sticks of ram....500gb HDD...

removed HDD, rebooted and got error saying no bootable drive.

I had a 100gb drive that came out of an Dell 1501 with vista hm 32 bit I believe.

Put it in win 7 machine and it booted...gave me an option to try a repair.

went through the motions and got a Cannot Repair...do you want to send a report to Microsoft.

Yes Sir, I tried win 7 repair cd's in both 32 and 64 bit as per internet research and downloads.

I get a screen saying windows files are loading and then a mouse pointer on blank screen.

I'm sort of leaning toward bad HDD now. Will see if I can find a Western Digital Test Utility for the 500gb drive.

Maybe run dells diagnostics too.

Anything I'm missing ?

many thanks

 

[Elemdee]

Re: 32 or 64 bit OS: Can't you just look it up on the dell website using the service code and see what was originally installed?

 

[Mushin]

Look up the service tag at dell.com

After you enter the service tag you can look up the configuration.

It should tell you if 32bit or 64 was installed.

 

[Morrison5891]

Went into Bios and found it has two 2gb sticks of ram....500gb HDD...

removed HDD, rebooted and got error saying no bootable drive.

I had a 100gb drive that came out of an Dell 1501 with vista hm 32 bit I believe.

Put it in win 7 machine and it booted...gave me an option to try a repair.

went through the motions and got a Cannot Repair...do you want to send a report to Microsoft.

Yes Sir, I tried win 7 repair cd's in both 32 and 64 bit as per internet research and downloads.

I get a screen saying windows files are loading and then a mouse pointer on blank screen.

I'm sort of leaning toward bad HDD now. Will see if I can find a Western Digital Test Utility for the 500gb drive.

Maybe run dells diagnostics too.

Anything I'm missing ?

many thanks

When you get to the "black screen" with pointer, did you try bring up task manager? CTRL-ALT-DEL - Also, i'm thinking you could load the registry hive offline, or use a bootcd like Active@ to load the registry keys, you could look through the registry and that would give some indication of it being either 32 or 64-bit. But i'm pretty sure - about 100% its a 32-bit OS

 

[Alan22]

I'm going to agree with Elemdee and Mushin. Go to the Dell website and lookup the service tag. Along with that you will most likely find that the system is still under warranty. Windows 7 was released in October, 2009 and Dell systems come with at least a 1 year warranty. It is not beneath any of us to call the manufacturer when a system is still under warranty and see what they will do for the customer. If you call Dell they may even provide you with a replacement Win 7 disc.

 

[Road Runner]

No Sir,
Did not try ctrl alt delete at blank screen with pointer. Will do that now.

I have entered the service tag and this is the closest I find

MMJKH SERVICE CHARGE..., OPERATING SYSTEM..., W7HP64, ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., NO-E

I also get similar lines with xp and vista

I dont mind posting the service tag here....I just wasnt sure that was proper etiquette.

 

[Alan22]

But i'm pretty sure - about 100% its a 32-bit OS

It is very difficult to find a Dell Win 7 system that is not 64-bit. I help clients purchase new computers very often and I was going crazy trying to find a Dell Win 7 32-bit system upon the Windows 7 release. You can find 32-bit via the business section of Dell's website, but the Home/Home Office seems to be all 64-bit.

 

[Morrison5891]

It is very difficult to find a Dell Win 7 system that is not 64-bit. I help clients purchase new computers very often and I was going crazy trying to find a Dell Win 7 32-bit system upon the Windows 7 release. You can find 32-bit via the business section of Dell's website, but the Home/Home Office seems to be all 64-bit.

Not many PC manufactures sell a PC/laptop with a 64-bit OS without 4GB of RAM. But, really... nothing really surprises me with dell.

 

[Road Runner]

You folks are pretty nice helping out a wanna be tech on a Friday night

 

[Road Runner]

Downloaded WD diagnostic utility

booted from cd drive and got No HDD found with their utility.....

The pc recognizes if I have the 500 WD installed or not.

The WD utility doesnt.

About to try dell diagnostics and have a beer while running

 

[Alan22]

Not many PC manufactures sell a PC/laptop with a 64-bit OS without 4GB of RAM. But, really... nothing really surprises me with dell.

Are you kidding? They all do. Look at what's being sold pick any retailer (local, national or online), even manufacturer websites. Granted, the majority of systems being sold have 4GB RAM, but there's no shortage of systems with 2GB-3GB RAM and Win 7 64-bit. Just skimming through BestBuy and Newegg these manufacturers have systems with 2GB-3GB RAM and Win 7 64-bit: Toshiba, Compaq, Acer, Dell, HP, Asus, Gateway, MSI, Lenovo, Sony, Asus

 

[Morrison5891]

Are you kidding? They all do. Look at what's being sold pick any retailer (local, national or online), even manufacturer websites. Granted, the majority of systems being sold have 4GB RAM, but there's no shortage of systems with 2GB-3GB RAM and Win 7 64-bit. Just skimming through BestBuy and Newegg these manufacturers have systems with 2GB-3GB RAM and Win 7 64-bit: Toshiba, Compaq, Acer, Dell, HP, Asus, Gateway, MSI, Lenovo, Sony, Asus

All 32-Bit OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...iption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

The point is... not ALL manufactures include 64-bit OS with a PC with less then 4GB

 

[Road Runner]

Ok guys.......I'm thinking of paying for Microsoft Technet Subscriptions......

acess to all win os downloads

when all else hits the fan....I think I have access to a valid install media.....and then I will do data recovery from the old HDD ..pics docs etc.....

what are your thoughts ?

 

[Elemdee]

Ok guys.......I'm thinking of paying for Microsoft Technet Subscriptions......

acess to all win os downloads

when all else hits the fan....I think I have access to a valid install media.....and then I will do data recovery from the old HDD ..pics docs etc.....

what are your thoughts ?

Do it do it do it...you won't regret it...well worth the cost for the number of times you'll need the OS's for reinstalls, or even specific folders for specific versions etc. I had someone with a corrupt spool file in Vista ultimate..piece of cake to rename their current as oldspool, copy a new folder in and voila, fixed. Nice to have all versions of everything on hand.

 

[ProTech Support]

To me, "W7HP64"=Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

In reagrds to the person who said 64 bit is not common, that statement was correct about 3-4 years ago. More then half the newer systems I see are 64 bit, even with 2-3 gigs of RAM. The thing is, the laptop may come with 2g's of RAM, but is expandle to 4,6, or even 8. So putting a 64 bit OS saves the hassle of having to explain migration to an end-user

 

[Morrison5891]

Lets try this again... Not ALL are 64-Bit with less than 4GB RAM. Most home computers have 32-bit versions of Windows. I hardly see ANY 64-Bit mass manufactured computers in my shop or on-site. Besides the PC we build... in the last 2 years i've seen only about 10 home PCs/Laptops with a 64-Bit OS that actually had 4GB or more. And, out of all of them... most were Alienware. With the amount of PCs we get in shop, pretty much all are 32-Bit - how many 64-Bit PCs have you guys really worked on with less than 4GB ram running a 64-bit OS?

 

[Alan22]

Morrison5891, I think you need to re-read the original post. This is about a laptop and how to tell if it has a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7.

Most Windows 7 systems ship with the 64-bit version and it's very difficult to find a laptop (or desktop) with 32-bit Windows 7, but you stated "i'm pretty sure - about 100% its a 32-bit OS". I'd agree if it was XP or Vista, but it's just not so with Windows 7.

Just to show how difficult it is to find a system with 32-bit Windows 7, the link you posted to newegg shows just seven Dell desktops w/ 32-bit Win 7. Hundreds of systems offered for sale, just seven with 32-bit (and not one laptop). Kind of proves my point.

This is not a personal attack on you, just pointing out what's being sold in the marketplace. Most XP and Vista systems are 32-bit, but most Win 7 systems are 64-bit. And, again, the original question concerns a laptop w/ Windows 7.