Questions about 32-bit vs 64-bit

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pc nerd

I just got my first laptop with 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I've been on the
'net for hours trying to find 64-bit versions of 3rd-party anti-virus,
anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, & personal firewalls. I haven't had much luck. I
know that 64-bit Vista will run 32-bit programs. Say, for example, that I
have a choice of 2 anti-virus programs that are identical except for 1 thing.
One is 32-bit & one is 64-bit.This is my main question. Does it really make
any difference whether I install a 32-bit or 64-bit antivirus, antispyware,
antirootkit, personal firewall program? Does the 64-bit program offer more
"protection" than the 32-bit? One of the first things that I did after I got
my laptop was to set up a standard account. I did install a 3rd party
antivirus program in the standard account. When it comes to antivirus,
antispyware, antirootkit & personal firewalls, should I install them in the
administrator account or the standard account?

Thank you.
David
 
pc nerd said:
I just got my first laptop with 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I've been on
the
'net for hours trying to find 64-bit versions of 3rd-party anti-virus,
anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, & personal firewalls. I haven't had much luck.
I
know that 64-bit Vista will run 32-bit programs. Say, for example, that I
have a choice of 2 anti-virus programs that are identical except for 1
thing.
One is 32-bit & one is 64-bit.This is my main question. Does it really
make
any difference whether I install a 32-bit or 64-bit antivirus,
antispyware,
antirootkit, personal firewall program? Does the 64-bit program offer more
"protection" than the 32-bit? One of the first things that I did after I
got
my laptop was to set up a standard account. I did install a 3rd party
antivirus program in the standard account. When it comes to antivirus,
antispyware, antirootkit & personal firewalls, should I install them in
the
administrator account or the standard account?

Thank you.
David
Click to expand...

Thirty two bit AVs will run perfectly well under 64 bit Vista. I'm using
Norton Internet Security 2008, and I can tell you it runs faster in Vista
64 than XPPro. Even the update downloads install more quickly. If
you install the AV in the administrator account, (the preferrable way),
it should be available to all accounts.
 
pc nerd said:
I just got my first laptop with 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I've been on
the
'net for hours trying to find 64-bit versions of 3rd-party anti-virus,
anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, & personal firewalls. I haven't had much luck.
I
know that 64-bit Vista will run 32-bit programs. Say, for example, that I
have a choice of 2 anti-virus programs that are identical except for 1
thing.
One is 32-bit & one is 64-bit.This is my main question. Does it really
make
any difference whether I install a 32-bit or 64-bit antivirus,
antispyware,
antirootkit, personal firewall program? Does the 64-bit program offer more
"protection" than the 32-bit? One of the first things that I did after I
got
my laptop was to set up a standard account. I did install a 3rd party
antivirus program in the standard account. When it comes to antivirus,
antispyware, antirootkit & personal firewalls, should I install them in
the
administrator account or the standard account?

Thank you.
David
Click to expand...


All the free antivirus and antispyware programs for Vista x64 are 32bit
programs. Such programs have to be compatible with Vista x64 but they do
not themselves have to be 64bit programs. Avast and AVG are popular
programs folks run on Vista x64 without issues. There is no reason to
specify that a program be 64bit.
 
pc said:
I just got my first laptop with 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I've been
on the 'net for hours trying to find 64-bit versions of 3rd-party
anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, & personal firewalls. I
haven't had much luck. I know that 64-bit Vista will run 32-bit
programs. Say, for example, that I have a choice of 2 anti-virus
programs that are identical except for 1 thing. One is 32-bit & one
is 64-bit.This is my main question. Does it really make any
difference whether I install a 32-bit or 64-bit antivirus,
antispyware, antirootkit, personal firewall program? Does the 64-bit
program offer more "protection" than the 32-bit? One of the first
things that I did after I got my laptop was to set up a standard
account. I did install a 3rd party antivirus program in the standard
account. When it comes to antivirus, antispyware, antirootkit &
personal firewalls, should I install them in the administrator
account or the standard account?
Click to expand...

Assuming there exists a 64-bit and a 32-bit version of an anti-virus
package, firewall, or the like, they should offer the same protection and
the 64-bit version should be faster. How much faster?

Perhaps two milli-seconds per century.

A 16-bit anti-virus program can easily keep up with whatever's coming in
over the wire or being read from disk, with 90% of the CPU cycles going
idle.

As to administrator vs. standard, I don't know.
 
HeyBub said:
A 16-bit anti-virus program can easily keep up with whatever's coming in
over the wire or being read from disk, with 90% of the CPU cycles going
idle.

As to administrator vs. standard, I don't know.
Click to expand...

The OP cannot run 16-bit programs on his 64bit Vista. 16bit software is not
supported on x64.
 
John said:
So we've now moved from what is quicker between a 32-bit and a 64-bit
version of an AV checker, to a statement that all AV programs (even
old 16-bit AV programs) are just so damned efficient that you
wouldn't even know they are there. You ever used Norton AV? eSet?
Kaspersky? All of these will slow down your machine somewhat.
Click to expand...

Ah, your point is well-taken. I stand corrected. I SHOULD have said a
well-constructed 16-bit AV program should run faster than the data could be
presented for checking.

Still, I suggest the difference between a 32-bit Norton and a 64-bit Norton
(if such a thing existed) would be virtually undetectable. Both, however,
would be slower than the growth of a carrot.
 
John Whitworth said:
OK...that was my confusion then. But I guess my comment still stands that
the '64-bit' version, which is actually 32-bit code, is modified from the
original '32-bit' version, as it interacts with the kernel differently.

Therefore, if there is a '64-bit' version, then it's most likely a
modified version of the '32-bit' version that resolves compatibility
problems with the 64-bit OS. So it's preferable to use the '64-bit'
version on a 64-bit OS.

JW
Click to expand...

All that is needed is that the part of the program that interacts with the
OS (and hardware) be 64bit. Those parts of the app can be found in the
Program Files folder but the rest of the app is in the Program Files (x86)
folder. Take a look at your AV app.
 
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