switched from 32 bit to 64 bit, windows rating went down

did you get any drivers from window update,

 

The access is denied error sounds like a permissions problem. Hope you haven't used any third party setup thing on the computer, many of those just stuff things up! On a purely clean install, the first thing any computer savvy person does is disable the UAC completely, its not as bad with Windows 7 but still a pain in the rear! Doing so, you should have proper administrative access, so installing drivers etc shouldn't be a hassle. Just remember to install the latest drivers, preferably from the main drivers website. For instance, don't worry about the brand of the graphics card or the brand of the computer (if its a mainstream prebuilt computer like Dell, HP etc), if you have an AMD or Nvidia based video card, download the drivers directly from AMD or Nvidia. If you have a Realtek based sound card, download the Realtek drivers and so on.

The CPU performance score shouldn't have gone down though, keeping in mind however you can't compare Vista to Windows 7, and you probably shouldn't compare 32 bit to 64 bit either. The only processor I can think of that would go down is the last of the Pentium 4's, they were a woeful processor and had a disgusting implementation of 64 bit, so much so they were slower in 64 bit mode whereas the AMD's and Core 2's etc perform better in 64 bit.

 

That was your first mistake.
There are plenty of real internet comparisons for 32bit and 64bit speed, so no need to mention it again here.
Google for real tests, not just marketing hype passed along with the koolaid.

Having the memory and needing to use the memory are two totally different things.
The vast majority of Windows "7" users will never have a need for more than 3 gig of memory.

64bit used today, is much more of a future marketing ploy than any actual need to have today.
You buy 64 bit, they sell more memory, modern compatible hardware, and more 64bit software.
So of course, manufacturers push 64 bit like it is a must have, and most just drink the koolaid and fall in line.

 

I agree with RobsTV ... having "4gb ram" is no overwhelming reason to jump from 32bit to 64 bit o/s.

I recently bought an Acer Aspire laptop that came with 4gb ram, and Win7 Premium 64bit pre-installed.

The 1st thing I done, was format with clean 32bit Win7 (to get rid of Acer junk)... and install my favourite applications.

Theoretically, 64bit is a must have, but in reality, 32bit has many compatibility benefits.

 

Lotsa vmwares. lotsa ram. i just love my 64 bit setup.

 

I do think 64bit is better, but to get the most from it where available install 64bit drivers, especially sound and video. The extra RAM does help especially in Gaming and Graphics software, plus make sure you do a clean install do not upgrade from installed Vista as this does not work very well at all

 

If you are referring to the windows experience rating dont worry. My my memory went from 5.9 to 7.7 without me doing anything except rerunning it one day. I have not been able to find anyone that knows what exactly the benchmarks mean. I upgraded to a SSD drive and the score went down?!?
However I have found that x64 to be great with a brand new system using 4 gigs of memory

 

The contrast happened here! My ratings went up when I moved from 32 bit version of Windows 7 into 64 bit.
Don't know how to explain it though (smile).
May be you are using 32 bit drivers for your hardware!

 

I have multiple systems running on a KVM. If I start a rating & switch to another PC I ALWAYS get a better result.
Usually by .1. The rating doesn't really make a difference to your windows experience.
As for 64 bit, if you've got heaps of older printers that don't have updated drivers then stick to 32bit. A lot of our older laser printers don't work under 64bit
but have support under 32.
Look at adobe products. CS5 is 64bit only. New hardware is so cheap these days & all have rock solid 64bit driver support.

 

yea, don't worry about it dude. That normally happens to a lot of ppl unless you let it run automatically which it will. I think it has something to do with the fact that if your computer is busy doing something the rating program does not stop that operation and thereby slows everything down more and thinks your hardware is at such rating but it is really not accurate. The best way I noticed to get an accurate reading is to leave it alone, leave your computer alone for like an hour or so and then go back to it and you will see the score is there.

 

Cheap SSDs are actually worse than HDDs (expect in access times)

CS5 is fully 32bit. Only Photshop have 64bit version along with 32bit.

Anyways relying to ratings only isn'y good idea, you should test with other programs and make sure you used same drivers.

 

Assumptions!!!

Because you have no need for more than 3 gigs of memory does not mean, "The vast majority of Window "7" users". And sure you don't have to have 64 bit now, but then if you were going to buy a computer now you expected to be still running programs 2 years from now, 64 bit is the way to go. Also do your post really need to have the conspiracy crap with them. Should post your experiences or knowledge but keep your opinions in check.

 

I agree also! That person has no clue about the history of 64bit oS. A "future marketing ploy" LOL.....

 

This was written a while ago so perhaps he just didn't know better then but there are near zero compatability problems with windows 7 64 bit today. I run hundreds of programs that are not designed for 64bit but run fine on 64 bit. I have yet to find a single device that with a little work could not work with the 64 bit version. Outside of some old printers that is, but then if your printer will not run under 64 bit then buy a new printer don't downgrade your computer. Really unsure why people think that for some reason going 64 should make anything old completly incompatable, why should a program care if it has 64 bit processing available, just use the 32 bits of it you are suppose to and go on.

On another note, how can you tell when a person knows jack about what they are talking about..... They start the sentence with "Theoretically"....

 

There's an unofficial kernel patch (discussed in the 1/10/2010 thread "Windows 7 x86 with full 4 GB or 8 GB RAM support") that re-enables the use 4+ GB RAM. Even with the overhead of PAE, it's still faster than 64-bit for my purposes.

 

I just wanted to +1 that 64-bit is better if you have 4GB+ of RAM, and to disregard the Windows Experience Index. To the person who suggested that you were using 32-bit drivers. Impossible. They won't even install on 64-bit Windows. There's no way to even force it.

As long as you are getting your drivers from the actual manufacturer's website, and not Microsoft Update (only if absolutely necessary).

I was using 64-bit Windows with 4GB of very fast RAM and loving it. I was definitely able to do more multitasking/gaming/VMWaring, et cetera, with the additional ~800MB of RAM available to me.

However, I didn't have cable TV at the time. When I once again got cable TV, and I can't afford/justify buying a new TV tuner for my computer, and since it's older there's only 32-bit drivers available for it, so I had to go back to 32-bit for now in order to use Media Center with the TV tuner. That's absolutely the only reason I'm back to using 32-bit Windows 7. And I would definitely consider a dual-boot 64-bit/32-bit installation if I ever could take advantage of the extra power/memory (Some huge new game, or video/audio encoding).