Questions about 32-bit vs 64-bit

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

My questions still haven't been answered. Please answer my questions.

Thank you.
David

"John Whitworth" wrote:

>
> "pc nerd" <> wrote in message
> news:46A6EEB7-4EF0-4C4A-9FC6-...
> >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?
> >
> I haven't tried 64-bit version for a while...last time my efforts were
> thwarted solely by Netgear.
>
> A lot of 32-bit software can run on Vista 64, using what I think is called
> WOW64 - Windows on Windows 64. It's basically emulating the 32-bit part of
> the OS. There are certain pieces of software, however, which just delve too
> deep into the OS to be viable for emulation of any kind. Basically, those
> 'deep delving' pieces of software are just the ones you have identified! ;-)
>
> Not sure if AVG Free is available for 64 bit yet. I know that when I was
> trying out 64-bit, I used Avast, but AVG would have been my preference.
>
> JW
>
>

"pc nerd" <> wrote in message
news:46A6EEB7-4EF0-4C4A-9FC6-...
>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

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" <> wrote in message
news:46A6EEB7-4EF0-4C4A-9FC6-...
>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


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 nerd wrote:
> 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?
>

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" <> wrote in message
news:...
> 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.
>

The OP cannot run 16-bit programs on his 64bit Vista. 16bit software is not
supported on x64.

John Whitworth wrote:
> "HeyBub" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> 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.
>
> 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.

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" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" <> wrote in message
> news:65C86750-ADE0-4ABF-B54B-...
>>
>> 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.
>
> 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

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.