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Windows Server TechCenter > Windows Server Forums > Setup Deployment > Install 32-bit version on 64-bit hardware

Answered Install 32-bit version on 64-bit hardware

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      Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:32 PM
       
       
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      I am a web developer.

      I made the MISTAKE of buying a 64 bit box, and IIS has since been a nightmare.

       

      My os was windows server 03.

      I updgraded to Server 08 RC 64bit.

      It solved some IIS Issues.

       

      But the headache of maintaining both 32 bit and 64 bit apps on the same machine is a very painful tasks.

      Things that worked in 32bit mode break.

      SImple things and installed 32 bit components.

       

      Our box is very hefty..

      3.0 Quad COre, dual processor.

      12 MB Ram.

       

      still im having a @#$)* time making it all work.

      It works fine on my vista development box.

      I cannot install MySQL 64 and the support is sparse.

      ODBC drivers from one bit to the other are a pain.

       

      To make a long story short.

      Can i download the 32 bit version on Windows Server 2008 and install it on my 64bit Dell PowerEdge?

       

      Thanks in advance.

      Please feel free to contact by email also

       

      Franky

       

    Answers

    • Sunday, February 17, 2008 3:18 AM
       
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      32-bit OS runs fine on 64-bit hardware.  No problems at all because the 64-bit chip contains the 32-bit instructions. 

       

      An individual process cannot exceed 4 GB of RAM (2GB user space and 2GB system space, or 3GB user space and 1GB system space if using the 3GB switch).  That is still true in 32-bit.  But that is for an individual process.  Even 64-bit Windows Server 2003 would support 64GB of physical RAM.  In order to do that, you need to use the /PAE switch in the boot.ini file.  This tells the operating system to make use of the Physical Addressing Extended capabilities of the underlying hardware.  This adds four bits to the 32-bit address so 64 GB of memory can be managed by the machine.  Also, some programs in the 32-bit world, such as SQL Server, make use of something called AWE - Address Windowing Extension - which allows mapping multiple 4GB chunks to be used by a single process.  Not all applications can exploit this capability, but having more than 4GB of physical RAM still helps if you are running lots of processes.  That means that they can reside in memory, each with their own 2GB user space, without being swapped out to the page file.

       

      I don't understand your statement about IIS 7 not being out yet.  It is part of Windows Server 2008, both the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.  IIS 7 also gives you the ability to run in IIS 6 compatibility mode so you can continue running your IIS 6 environment as you move to IIS 7.  You have to have the two installation on different machines, though (or use Hyper-V to give yourself an IIS 7 environment.)

       

      A PID is that 25 character product ID that you enter during installation.

       

      tgc

       
    • Monday, February 18, 2008 10:01 AM
       
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      Hello,

       

      I agree with Tim, there should be no problem to install 32-bit operating system on 64-bit hardware.

       

      However, there's a bit of change if you want the 32-bit Windows Server 2008 system to use more than 4 GB of physical memory. The boot.ini has been replaced with Boot Configuration Data (BCD). So you have to use "BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable" command to set the pae boot entry option.

       

      For more details, please refer to:

       

      Physical Address Extension:

      http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(VS.85).aspx

       

      BCDEdit /set:

      http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906211.aspx

       

      Best regards,

      Chang Yin

      Microsoft Online Community Support

       

    All Replies

    • Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:36 PM
       
       
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      You can download the RC1 from Microsoft.

       

      How did you purchase your system?  There is no cost difference between 32-bit and 64-bit.  If you have a volume license, you can simply use the 32-bit PID to install 32-bit.  If you purchased it as an OEM copy from a reseller, you may want to go back to the reseller and see if you can trade it back in.

       

      tgc

       
    • Sunday, February 17, 2008 1:24 AM
       
       
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      I purchased it from dell.

      Wanted windows 08 because of IIS 7 but its not out yet.

       

      We figured 64 and 32 run the same.

      Had no idea it was so complicated.

       

      So to get this straight, If i download windows 08 32 bit, i can install it on my 64 bit machine and it will work fine?

      i know it will run in 32 bit and have memory limits.

       

      Whats funny is that the 32 bit versions of windows 08 support way more ram than windows server03 . 

      I thought 32 bit processors cannot exceed 4gb ram.  How can microsoft offer more on their 32 bit systems.?

       

       

      thanks in advanec for the two questions.. frank

       

       
    • Sunday, February 17, 2008 1:25 AM
       
       
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      and what is a PID?

      sorry confused.

       

      not focused with saving money now.

      just want it to work in 32 bit mode for everything,

       

      frank

       
    • Sunday, February 17, 2008 3:18 AM
       
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      32-bit OS runs fine on 64-bit hardware.  No problems at all because the 64-bit chip contains the 32-bit instructions. 

       

      An individual process cannot exceed 4 GB of RAM (2GB user space and 2GB system space, or 3GB user space and 1GB system space if using the 3GB switch).  That is still true in 32-bit.  But that is for an individual process.  Even 64-bit Windows Server 2003 would support 64GB of physical RAM.  In order to do that, you need to use the /PAE switch in the boot.ini file.  This tells the operating system to make use of the Physical Addressing Extended capabilities of the underlying hardware.  This adds four bits to the 32-bit address so 64 GB of memory can be managed by the machine.  Also, some programs in the 32-bit world, such as SQL Server, make use of something called AWE - Address Windowing Extension - which allows mapping multiple 4GB chunks to be used by a single process.  Not all applications can exploit this capability, but having more than 4GB of physical RAM still helps if you are running lots of processes.  That means that they can reside in memory, each with their own 2GB user space, without being swapped out to the page file.

       

      I don't understand your statement about IIS 7 not being out yet.  It is part of Windows Server 2008, both the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.  IIS 7 also gives you the ability to run in IIS 6 compatibility mode so you can continue running your IIS 6 environment as you move to IIS 7.  You have to have the two installation on different machines, though (or use Hyper-V to give yourself an IIS 7 environment.)

       

      A PID is that 25 character product ID that you enter during installation.

       

      tgc

       
    • Sunday, February 17, 2008 3:20 AM
       
       
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      Whoops.  I meant even 32-bit Windows Server 2003 would support up to 64 GB of physical memory.  I think Enterprise is 32 and Datacenter is 64.

       

      tgc

       

       
    • Monday, February 18, 2008 10:01 AM
       
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      Hello,

       

      I agree with Tim, there should be no problem to install 32-bit operating system on 64-bit hardware.

       

      However, there's a bit of change if you want the 32-bit Windows Server 2008 system to use more than 4 GB of physical memory. The boot.ini has been replaced with Boot Configuration Data (BCD). So you have to use "BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable" command to set the pae boot entry option.

       

      For more details, please refer to:

       

      Physical Address Extension:

      http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(VS.85).aspx

       

      BCDEdit /set:

      http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906211.aspx

       

      Best regards,

      Chang Yin

      Microsoft Online Community Support

       
    • Thursday, July 17, 2008 4:35 AM
       
       
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      I tried insalling Windows 2003 32 bit version on 64 bit hardware (Dell T3400 Intel Core Duo) but got "blue screen" during initial installation.  Has anyone exprerienced this?  Per my understanding this should work?  Also, I tried installing Windows 2003 from Vista but got a error message saying that win32.exe access is disabled due to compatiability.  Let me know some has any workaround this.