64-bit Windows 7 on the MBA

[iRun26.2]

Through bootcamp, I installed Windows 7 (64-bit) on my MBA. I only assigned only 34G to the bootcamp partition because I don't have many things I expect to use it for. Now, however, I see that have only about 10G free space left (and I've hardly installed anything...though I've had lots of troubles with Windows 7 crashing doing auto updates)!

My question: Would I have had more space if I installed the 32-bit version of Windows 7 instead? Would the 64-bit version be faster on the MBA?

 

[KPOM]

32-bit saves about 3-4GB of space. If you have the space available, consider using Winclone to resize your Boot Camp partition. I don't think there is much difference between the overall performance of the two version on the MacBook Air.

 

[Psilocybin]

?? I have 10gb left and I'm using 64bit with 25gb partition

 

[iRun26.2]

32-bit saves about 3-4GB of space. If you have the space available, consider using Winclone to resize your Boot Camp partition. I don't think there is much difference between the overall performance of the two version on the MacBook Air.

Please pardon my ignorance...

1) What benefit is there, then, to installing the 64-bit version of Windows 7?

2) All my software works fine on my 32-bit Vista PC. Do 32-bit programs installed on a 64-bit Windows 7 system waist additional hard drive space?

 

[KPOM]

There is much more benefit to using 64-bit Windows on a new MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM than a MacBook Air with 4GB. That said, 64-bit does have some other advantages. First, 64-bit drivers must be digitally signed, so they are less likely to cause the system to crash or contain malware. Second, you do get the benefit of access to the full 3.75GB of RAM. For practical purposes, 32-bit Windows accesses only about 3.25GB even though it theoretically can access 4GB. Windows 64-bit cannot run 16-bit code (e.g. Windows 3.1 applications). While that's a disadvantage to some, it also means that it is immune to 16-bit malware.

 

[iRun26.2]

There is much more benefit to using 64-bit Windows on a new MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM than a MacBook Air with 4GB. That said, 64-bit does have some other advantages. First, 64-bit drivers must be digitally signed, so they are less likely to cause the system to crash or contain malware. Second, you do get the benefit of access to the full 3.75GB of RAM. For practical purposes, 32-bit Windows accesses only about 3.25GB even though it theoretically can access 4GB. Windows 64-bit cannot run 16-bit code (e.g. Windows 3.1 applications). While that's a disadvantage to some, it also means that it is immune to 16-bit malware.

Do 32-bit programs take up more disk space on a 64-bit (Windiows 7) OS?

 

[KPOM]

Do 32-bit programs take up more disk space on a 64-bit (Windiows 7) OS?

No. They take up the same room since they run on a 32-bit "Windows on Windows" environment. It's very seamless, except that there is a separate program folder for x86 (32-bit) applications.

 

[ghostlyorb]

I think it's just a fluke thing. Maybe you need more disk space.. or you should use VMware and that should run smoother.