Microsoft has some good info about 64-bit Windows Operating System. It is worth reading to understand the benefits of 64-bit OS.

How to tell if your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit? Please visit this link:

 

Simply put: 64-bit CPU / OS can handle far more data than 32-bit CPU/OS. With each instruction (command), a 64-bit CPU can process more data than a 32-bit CPU. Thus 64-bit CPU / OS can handle more memory and tends to be slightly faster than 32-bit CPU/OS. Certain applications benefit a lot from 64-bit computing, such as large database servers.

 

The benefit to DriveHQ client software is less significant. However, almost all new CPUs are now 64-bit. Starting from Windows 2008 Server R2, Microsoft no longer ships 32-bit OS. DriveHQ has supported 64-bit operating systems for a long time with our regular 32-bit software. Usually, you can run 32-bit software on 64-bit OS. The software will run in 32-bit mode under Win64. There are a few minor issues with this approach:

 

(1)    You cannot drag and drop files / folders from Windows Explorer directly to DriveHQ FileManager. This is because Windows Explorer runs in 64-bit mode, but FileManager runs in 32-bit mode. To most users, it is not an issue as users can still drag and drop files / folders using DriveHQ FileManager only. You can drag files / folders between the left-hand side and the right-hand side.

 

(2)    You cannot backup and synchronize “open files”. “Open files” mean those files that are being opened by some software for writing. Such files are “locked” and cannot be accessed by other software. DriveHQ FileManager and DriveHQ Online Backup support “open file” backup and synchronization through “Shadow Copy”. However, if you install 32-bit version on 64-bit OS, this feature does not work.

 

(3)    DriveHQ FileManager and DriveHQ Online Backup integrate with Windows Explorer. After you have installed DriveHQ FileManager and DriveHQ Online Backup, you can right click on a folder to start backup or sharing the folder. The feature does not work if you install 32-bit software on 64-bit OS.

 

Other than the above minor issues, the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version software are pretty much the same. The 64-bit version client software solved the above problems.

 

-          You cannot install 64-bit version software on 32-bit version OS; but you can install 32-bit software on 32-bit OS and 64-bit OS.

-          There is no 64-bit version DriveHQ EmailManager. EmailManager integrates with Microsoft Outlook, which is 32-bit now.