Vista - How to find the operating system bit (x86/x64/ia64)

Hi,

How can one find out the operating system type installed (x86/x64/
ia64) ?

I found an old post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...a1999482d12e63

The above mentioned post describes a way using WMI query on the
Win32_Processor class. Here you need to parse through the output of
the "Description" field of each instance of the Win32_Processor class.
This does not seem to be a very elegant method especially considering
the fact that OS bit-ness is an operating system property and not that
of the processor.

Is there any method by which I can get the bit-ness of the operating
system installed. For ex: On an x64 based hardware installed with x86
windows operating system I get "x86" or "32".

Regards,
Kiran

If you find out via another source, please post here. I'd love the answer
too. Thanks.

"kp" <kiran.r.pillai@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dd1e831c-7d48-4d50-aa75-9e72d68ded30@xxxxxx

Type winver in the run box. OR simply hold the windows logo key+pause/break key.

On Apr 24, 5:38*pm, dinesh <gu...@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote:Hi Dinesh,

If you observe my question is how to find out the bit-ness through a
vb script. I was already aware of the "winver" command. But, I guess I
won't be able to run winver through a vb script and parse the output.
Let me know if my understanding is incorrect here.

Regards,
Kiran

Here is one:

'32 or 64 bit
On Error Resume Next

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
sMsg = "This script will Display if you are running Windows 32 or 64 bit." &
vbCr _
& "It will also Display the date and time the OS was installed and the OS
version." & vbCr & vbCr _
& "Would you like to continue?"

sInput = MsgBox(sMsg, vbYesNo + vbInformation, "Paul's XP and Vista Tweaks")
If sInput = vbYes Then

X = WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Environment\PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE")
If X = "x86" Then

MsgBox "You Are Running Windows 32-bit!" & vbCr & "This script was
downloaded from www.paulsxp.com", 64, "Windows 32-bit or 64-bit"

Else

MsgBox "You Are Running Windows XP 64-bit" & vbCr & "This script was
downloaded from www.paulsxp.com", 64, "Good for You!"

End If

For Each pm in GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}")._
ExecQuery("Select CurrentTimeZone, InstallDate From
Win32_OperatingSystem")
With CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemDateTime")
.Value = pm.InstallDate
MsgBox "Windows Installed: " & DateAdd("n", -pm.CurrentTimeZone,
..GetVarDate) & vbCr &_
"This script was downloaded from www.paulsxp.com" ,64, "XP Installed"
WshShell.Run("winver.exe")
End With
Next
End If



"kp" <kiran.r.pillai@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4a48ec64-d26d-487b-9bfd-b89f746da786@xxxxxx

On Apr 24, 9:34*pm, "PaulM" <N...@xxxxxx> wrote:Hi PaulM,

Thanks for your script.

However, I need further granularity in case a 64 bit operating system
is detected. I need to differentiate if it is as x64 or an ia64
operating system type.

Is that possible with some additions to your script?

Thanks,
kp

Not sure, I would new someone running a x64 or ia64 computer.

"kp" <kiran.r.pillai@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e8c522e5-6846-4923-b1c5-001cafe82a5e@xxxxxx

Kiran,

It turns out that you already have the answer with the script Paul showed if
you just check the value he points to rather than using the post-processing
via MsgBox.

The PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE value contains a string describing how _Windows_
perceives the CPU. if it's AMD64 cpu, you get AMD64. If it's IA64 the value
is IA64. If it's an x86 CPU, OR if you are running 32-bit Windows directly
on an AMD64, you get back x86.

Since you can access the machine key of the registry remotely using WMI,
this is a good test for determining the OS architecture on a network of
machines as well.

"kp" <kiran.r.pillai@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e8c522e5-6846-4923-b1c5-001cafe82a5e@xxxxxx

Reading back, I realize there was one point that I may not have made
explicit: the values represent an OS architecture, not necessarily a
specific manufacturer. So if your system is running a non-Itanium Intel x64
chip - which uses the AMD64 architecture - the 64-bit Windows will return
AMD64 for PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE. As another and very far-fetched example:
suppose a mysterious Eastern European company comes up with a
reverse-engineered Itanium-compatible design tomorrow and markets it as the
SkopjeCPU. Since it looks and acts like an Itanium, the only versions of
Windows that will install on systems with the SkopjeCPU will be builds
compiled as IA64; and if you check PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE on a SkopjeCPU
machine, it will come back as IA64.

"Alex K. Angelopoulos" <aka(at)mvps.org> wrote in message
news:#agRVshxJHA.4776@xxxxxx

On Apr 26, 4:32*pm, "Alex K. Angelopoulos" <aka(at)mvps.org> wrote:Hi Alex/PaulM,

I guess I can get what I want from combining both your answers:
1. Check the registry key ""HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
\Session Manager\Environment\PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE"
2. If it returns "x86" --> It is an x86 operating system that is
installed.
3. If it returns "IA64" --> It is an IA64 windows operating system
that is installed.
4. Else it is an x64 (any of the x64 based ) operating system that is
installed.

Do you think my logic is correct here or do you see something wrong
here?

Thanks,
Kiran