Can you run all 32 bit application in a 64 bit system running vista?

kakkalo

New Member
i am kinda newbie to the 64 bit world and i am trying to buy a new laptop which is preloaded with 64bit version of windows vista home premium. but my question is can i run all the apps that i use now on the new machine.
like say i want to use firefox. so can i just go to firefox.com and download and run it. will it run properly? or i need some kind of special version of the software.

so can any of you help me with it before i buy the ladtop. thank you :)
 

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That is a very good question. Hopefully my answer is just as good: yes. Everything should run just fine. I use firefox myself on a 64 bit and it works. All your programs should work just fine. Some may not work too well, and some have 64 bit forms, but 98% should work normally.

Thanks be to the computer gods for backwards compatibility!

~Lordbob
 

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i am kinda newbie to the 64 bit world and i am trying to buy a new laptop which is preloaded with 64bit version of windows vista home premium. but my question is can i run all the apps that i use now on the new machine.
like say i want to use firefox. so can i just go to firefox.com and download and run it. will it run properly? or i need some kind of special version of the software.

so can any of you help me with it before i buy the ladtop. thank you :)

LordBob75 answered your question nicely. The only thing he neglected to mention is that on x64 systems, you cannot run 16-Bit programs, which includes older 32-Bit applications that still use 16-Bit installers.

Other than that, I concur 100% with LordBob75's answer: Most, if not all, 32-Bit programs should run without issues on Vista x64.
 

My Computer

System One

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    Custom Build
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    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
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    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
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    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
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    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
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    SAHARA 21"
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    1600x1200
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    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
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    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
thank you both of you guys. @Dzomlija is there any way to find out if a software uses 16bit installer. like some of my daily uses program are firefox, ms office, vlc player, photoshop,notepad ++, dreamweaver, avg anti virus (free edition) and of course firefox.

does any of those software fave any competebility issue or is there any thing eles that i should keep in mind.. thank you again :)
 

My Computer

I use all of those in my 64 bit system, never had a problem.

@dzomlija: that's why it was 98% not 100%.

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
thank you both of you guys. @Dzomlija is there any way to find out if a software uses 16bit installer. like some of my daily uses program are firefox, ms office, vlc player, photoshop,notepad ++, dreamweaver, avg anti virus (free edition) and of course firefox.

does any of those software fave any competebility issue or is there any thing eles that i should keep in mind.. thank you again :)

Not really, except for the older apps. And I'm talking about those from pre-XP days, up to those of about 2002 - 2003. Other than that, if you're using all recently released applications, they will all probably use the Windows Installer services, which never supported 16-bit anyway.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
There is a caveat - any 32bit application that tried to install a driver that is not 64bit OS compatible will not work (such as some obscure VPN clients, etc).
 

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System One System Two

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    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
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    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
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    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
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    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
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    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
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    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
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    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
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    2 * 1920 x 1080
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    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
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    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
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    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
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    Lenovo
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    Lenovo
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    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
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    Lenovo
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    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
i am kinda newbie to the 64 bit world and i am trying to buy a new laptop which is preloaded with 64bit version of windows vista home premium. but my question is can i run all the apps that i use now on the new machine.
like say i want to use firefox. so can i just go to firefox.com and download and run it. will it run properly? or i need some kind of special version of the software.

so can any of you help me with it before i buy the ladtop. thank you :)

The only thing he neglected to mention is that on x64 systems, you cannot run 16-Bit programs, which includes older 32-Bit applications that still use 16-Bit installers..

I actually got the original Fallout to install on Vista 64, which uses a 16-bit installer. Had to run it in Windows 95 compatibility mode, but it still installed and the game ran fine no problem.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
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    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
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    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX
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    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
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    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
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    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
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    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
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    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
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    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
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    Logitech G11 Keyboard
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    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
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    100Mbps
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    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
i am kinda newbie to the 64 bit world and i am trying to buy a new laptop which is preloaded with 64bit version of windows vista home premium. but my question is can i run all the apps that i use now on the new machine.
like say i want to use firefox. so can i just go to firefox.com and download and run it. will it run properly? or i need some kind of special version of the software.

so can any of you help me with it before i buy the ladtop. thank you :)

The only thing he neglected to mention is that on x64 systems, you cannot run 16-Bit programs, which includes older 32-Bit applications that still use 16-Bit installers..

I actually got the original Fallout to install on Vista 64, which uses a 16-bit installer. Had to run it in Windows 95 compatibility mode, but it still installed and the game ran fine no problem.

I doubt that installer is 16-bit - Vista x64 just does not support 16 bit apps, no matter what compatibility options you choose.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
The only thing he neglected to mention is that on x64 systems, you cannot run 16-Bit programs, which includes older 32-Bit applications that still use 16-Bit installers..

I actually got the original Fallout to install on Vista 64, which uses a 16-bit installer. Had to run it in Windows 95 compatibility mode, but it still installed and the game ran fine no problem.

I doubt that installer is 16-bit - Vista x64 just does not support 16 bit apps, no matter what compatibility options you choose.

Well the forum I read, which helped me to get it working, are saying it is a 16 bit installer and it can only be run in Win 95 mode.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
    Motherboard
    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
    PSU
    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
    Case
    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Other Info
    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
I actually got the original Fallout to install on Vista 64, which uses a 16-bit installer. Had to run it in Windows 95 compatibility mode, but it still installed and the game ran fine no problem.

I doubt that installer is 16-bit - Vista x64 just does not support 16 bit apps, no matter what compatibility options you choose.

Well the forum I read, which helped me to get it working, are saying it is a 16 bit installer and it can only be run in Win 95 mode.

Then you're one of the lucky ones.

I've just done a test with some really old software (Office 97, if you must know), and I got the "This is not a valid Win32 Application" error, no matter what compatibility settings I used.

It doesn't really matter, does it? Since in the rare case when I do have a program that uses a 16-Bit installer, I run in on XP inside Virtual PC 2007.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
I doubt that installer is 16-bit - Vista x64 just does not support 16 bit apps, no matter what compatibility options you choose.

Well the forum I read, which helped me to get it working, are saying it is a 16 bit installer and it can only be run in Win 95 mode.

Then you're one of the lucky ones.

I've just done a test with some really old software (Office 97, if you must know), and I got the "This is not a valid Win32 Application" error, no matter what compatibility settings I used.

It doesn't really matter, does it? Since in the rare case when I do have a program that uses a 16-Bit installer, I run in on XP inside Virtual PC 2007.

Well I might be wrong anyway, and it might just be a 32 bit app as I read in the readme file that there was problems with running Fallout on Window NT systems, so that forum might just have been wrong, as at first when I read it was sceptical myself to it actually being 16 bit.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
    Motherboard
    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
    PSU
    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
    Case
    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Other Info
    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
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