downloads for 64 bit when I have 32 bit?

I have a Dell Vista 32 bit computer. Since the OS was restored, I've been getting Windows and Word downloads for a 64 bit computer. Can I just delete them and the programs that are 64 bit?

Today's download was 384.0 MB.

 

How was it restored?

 

At a computer repair shop.

This is weird. When I got it back last Friday, I noticed one or two things mentioned 64 bit but everything else didn't so I assumed they were 32 bit. I didn't pay much attention until I updated Windows today and everything came in as 64 bit for Word 2010. All 384.0 MB of it.

Will this affect the way anything runs, especially Word documents saved via Word 2010 32 bit? Sorry if this is a silly question. And what happens to any 32 bit programs or files there might be around?

 

It probably is a silly question but I have no idea what the difference is between 32 and 64 bit.

 

Check whether they have installed a 32 bit or 64 bit OS by following the simple instructions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827218#WinVista7
dave

 

Many thanks, Dave. Looks like I'm running 64-bit.

Some documents I have were created on XP and transferred to Vista. Will the change affect them?

Sorry, I have no idea what the difference ins between 32 and 64 bit.

 

Will not make any difference to your documents.

Some FAQs about the differences.

 

Dave, you are a sweetheart. (I can't find a kiss image to send you!)

Thanks for that link. I can see I have a better program with 64 bit. It's a load off my mind.

Have a great day.

 

I would not expect 64 bit capable hardware to have 32 bit software installed.

Could that be a dirty trick by some middle-man supplier to sell a computer that has had half its RAM sticks purloined ?

Did the Repair shop happen to include in its bill the supply of extra RAM ?

A computer with an interesting history rolleyes

 

Actually I am happily using a great deal Portable 32 bit software that was used on an XP 32 bit Laptop, Imaged, and the Image restored as a new partition in daily use on Windows 7 x64 bit.

Sorry, I phrased wrongly. To rephrase :-

I would not expect 64 bit capable hardware to have 32 bit OPERATING SYSTEM installed.

REASON :-

Decades ago I was building/designing 8 bit computers with 1028 word single bit width memory chips - 8 of them "side-by-side" for 1028 bytes of RAM.
A few years later we could buy 1028 bytes in a single chip that was 8 bits wide and physically twice the width (two sets of pins 0.6" apart instead of 0.3" apart)

Several Christmases ago I upgraded my 512 MB XP x86 Laptop by unplugging a single 256 MB chip and replacing with a 1 GB 32 bit chip.
32 times wider and 512 times longer that what I first soldered onto a P.C.B.

I WOULD EXPECT,
but am willing to be corrected,
that whilst 64 bit width individual RAM chips may be available in the future,
and possibly even now,
It is quite possible that what Dell designed as a x64 Vista,
could have been shipped with 8 GB of full functional 64 bit RAM with 32 bit width RAM stick(s) in multiples of two - high end and low end
By replacing the x64 Vista with x86, only the RAM stick(s) holding the least significant 32 bits would ever get used,
and the Operating System would then only see 4 GB of RAM.
The other RAM stick(s) intended for the most significant 32 bits would be redundant,
and crafty middle-man then liberates the "redundant" stick(s) to either enhance memory in his own computer or to sell on eBay :-D

 

DDR, DDR2 and DDR3 are all 64 bit. There haven't been 32 bit RAM sticks since SIMMs were phased out a decade ago.

A lot of early Vista PCs shipped with Vista 32 bit because there were not a lot of 64 bit drivers available. Even finding Vista 32 bit drivers for some hardware was problematic.

 

I was not aware of that.

When designing real-time fire/intruder monitoring equipment I used data sheets that specified the function of each connection to the memory device and the internal architecture. Now I am retired I find Google to be an inadequate substitute.

Question, if 32 bit memory was phased out 10 years ago, what was the 1 GB device I bought 3 years ago to upgrade my XP x86 Laptop ?
Was it actually 64 bits with only half the bits utilised ?

It reminds me of Sir Clive Sinclair's use of cheap memory chips - instead of a single functional chip he had two manufacturer's rejects that each provided half of the intended capacity.