Windows 10: 32bit vs 64bit with 2GB of ram

So, I know the min-specs (1GB&2GB) for 32bit and 64bit Windows 10.

What I'm wondering is: Am I better off installing the 32bit version of windows 10 if I have only 2GB of ram?
That way I'm above the min-spec of 1GB, whereas if I install the 64bit version I'm only JUST hitting the min-spec.

Or it might be better to ask WHY there's a 2GB min-spec for 64bit? Is it just because of the way the os operates, with memory addresses etc? Or is the 64bit version doing 'something else' with the extra GB of ram?

Or to sum it up:
On an old 64bit laptop with 2GB of ram, should I install the 32bit or 64bit version?

:)

 

How to use all 8GB of my ran instead of just 2.92

Hi morgan, the reason you can only use 2GB of your RAM is you have the 32bit version of Windows loaded, you need to load the 64bit version

2^32 = 4294967296 = 4GB

The 32bit version of Windows can only address 3GB RAM

The bad news is you cannot upgrade from the 32bit version of Windows 10 to the 64bit, it will require a clean install of the 64bit version

 

Windows 7 upgrade

I have a Windows 7 64bit Home edition on my laptop. I only have 1GB of RAM. The Windows 10 minimum requirement is 2GB for the 64bit edition, but the 32bit edition only requires 1GB. If I do a clean install of the 32bit Windows 10, will the Windows 7 64bit
product key activate it?

 

You should install and use 32 bit Windows. There's no point in using 64 bit Windows when you have 4 GB or less RAM.

 

Ah right.. Sound!

 

Also, 64bit Windows runs very slow on 2GB of RAM, we suggest 4GB or better to install 64bit Windows.

 

I would probably say less than 4GB not less than or equal really.

 

Yea, I ran my self built desktop on 4GB for the first few months and I never had any issues, even when gaming.

My 32bit tablet has 1GB, and it does tend to get sluggish after a few minutes after I've opened a few apps, although it's still usable, even with Lightroom.

I'm not looking to do anything heavy with the laptop anyway, I'm mainly just going to be using it for in-car diagnostics. Once it's not referencing my pagefile constantly like my previous DDR1 256MB laptop!

'New' laptop has DDR2..

 

Right, 2GB is only the minimum requirement for 64-bit Windows and 1GB is the minimum for 32-bit Windows. Also keep in mind if Upgrading you have to stay with what is installed, if doing a clean install you can change 32-bit to 64-bit or 64-bit to 32-bit.

 

I would use 64 bit if there is 3GB+ more in the system (taking into account system RAM and videocard RAM [if discrete graphics]).

I have even seen 4GB mainboards wasting 2GB+ if x86 is installed even having an integrated gpu. Depending on the chipset, your mileage may vary. I have also seen some mainboards able to use 3.25/3.50 GB with x86.

 

Yea it has an integrated gpu, so shared memory.
It has 1GB installed (2x512), and I have 2x1GB in the post from ebay (4), so I suppose I'l just go with 32bit and an old ssd.

I might get more memory in the future, and maybe upgrade the cpu, if I feel like making a project out of it, but the price difference between 2x1GB and 2x2GB is mad!

Might point out that the laptop hasn't actually arrived yet, I'm just going by the specs. It's an nx7300 I got on ebay for 40.