Hi, Boon.

is there some way to tell whether a 32 bit app (not
advertised as compatible) will work with Win7 64?

I don't know. You'll have to ask a techie. I haven't tried every program
out there, of course, but I've been running Win64 (WinXP x64, Vista x64 and
now Win7 x64) for about 5 years and everything I've tried has worked - with
just a couple of hassles, both from Adobe. First, Photoshop Elements 4.0 (I
later updated to 6.0 and now 8.0, which are compatible) would not work well
during the Vista beta, but that was ironed out by the time Vista went RTM in
late 2006; I don't recall if the incompatibility was with Vista itself or
with x64. Second, as I may have mentioned and as widely reported, Adobe's
Flash Player will work in 32-bit IE on Win64, but not in 64-bit IE.

Is there any chance of
damaging the system by installing a 32 bit app to see if it works?

Again, you'd have to ask a techie to be sure, but I don't think so. My
understanding is that the only apps that might not work are those that deal
with hardware (and need 64-bit drivers) and utilities that work on stuff
"under the hood", down in the guts of Windows. (And Flash, as I said.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"Boon" wrote in message
. 161...
RC,

Thanks for you excellent clarification of the two folders.

Some 32 bit apps work fine with Win7 64 bit, especially if they are
advertised as compatible. Some apps seem to work fine even if they aren't
advertised as compatible. Occasional I see something like this: "I tried
xyz legacy program on Win7 64 bit, and it works for me."

Two questions: is there some way to tell whether a 32 bit app (not
advertised as compatible) will work with Win7 64? Is there any chance of
damaging the system by installing a 32 bit app to see if it works?

Thanks again for helping us to understand.

- Dave Boon