32-bit OS system build

Okay Ladies and Gents on here, I have a major freaking problem with a works machine
So I thought I'll go look for a 32-bit pre-built system somewhere easy to get to and that won't cost the earth - that's how we ended up the i3 - yeah it's great but hmm won't run the lovely CMS video software or rather not the version we need to work with the product - the older version installs no problem as it doesn't need .NET 1.1 but of course it doesn't see the newer DVR :|
It is a nice Intel i3 530 with windows 7 64-bit it works well enough the issue I have is with some software that at current isn't going to be re-written to work with a 64-bit OS why because it relies on for some reason some part of the .NET 1.1 Framework which may install on a 64-bit OS but it also uses .NET 3.5 which of course is 32/64 bit and which comes pre-installed with Win 7 and I can see no way to force it to install in 32-bit mode on Win 7 so I can get this software to run, I know the software will install fine on Windows 7 32-bit as this is what is on my personal laptop and it was say "yes" to the install where as the other one couldn't detect the .Net 1.1 :|

I've looked again and all I'm seeing is Win 7 64-bit installs
Now I have seen a few AMD processor ones and a quick look on the AMD site would seem to suggest that they will work in either 64-bit mode or 32-bit mode, where as the i3 is a 64-bit chip and doesn't appear to have a downshift to 32-bit available.. I knew I loved AMD for a reason :D

Any ideas people on the hardware...
Quick spec for client pc is this
Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
2Gb Ram
320Gb HD
512Mb Nvidia Gforce 8/9 Card or equivlent - I think they don't like ATi with dual display
Network T100 min / T1000 recommended

If we need to go Multi-PC Server then the spec goes up but hmm don't think we'll need that just yet and well I don't know of any 32-bit OS that supports a Quad Core and 4Gb of ram and well loads more HDD space like a 1Tb.

Let me see if I understand this right. You bought a prebuilt I3 system with Win 7 64bit preinstalled and the software you want to use will only work on a 32 bit system.

I have no experience with the new I systems but I've been installing 32 bit OSs on 64 bit systems all the way back to the original AMD64 chips. Win XP and Vista 32 bit will run on Intel quads such as the Q6600 and Q9300. I also ran the Win 7 beta on a Q6600 for a while with no problems. It will also run on the AMD Phenom series. Granted you're limited to 2.75 GB of memory but I have not found a problem with that. You are using a 64 bit processor but only using 32 bit of it's capacity. This is only a problem if you need to run 64 bit software. The only place I've seen it make a difference in the real world is some Boinc projects.

As a suggestion, I would install a spare HDD and try a Win 32 bit installation. Will your software run on Linux? If so then that might also be an option.

Yeah but the thing is I don't think the i3 will play nice with win 7 32-bit also according to the "tech on the phone" you couldn't put 32-bit win 7 on a 64-bit machine as unlike previous incarnations of Windows, 7 comes with both on the disc so 1 disc does either 32 or 64 bit depending on what it sees.
No linux wouldn't work only way I can think is a VPC but that would be rather stupid.. I do know the AMD 2 X2/3/4 support 32/64 bit architecture but the i3 only say it will support a 64bit architecture... meh!

Also there was no where on the website or in store that said specifically it was Win 7 64bit apart from on the tiny sticker on the PC itself which I spotted after the fact as I didn't go for the machine personally.

I agree with BigRed, I've not read anything that says you can't still install a 32bit OS on a core I system. Try doing it in a VM perhaps?

What I thought as well of course, there was no win 7 cd given for this machine, darn pre-builds although I'll try and see what I can't do with the recovery partition (if allowed to)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gopher_yarrowzoo

What I thought as well of course, there was no win 7 cd given for this machine, darn pre-builds although I'll try and see what I can't do with the recovery partition (if allowed to)

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I have never heard of an x86 processor not allowing a 32bit OS to run. You could easily verify this by booting the machine from a Linux 32bit live-CD and if it boots, the problem isn't the CPU, it might be the OEM versoin of Windows 7. They may have just bundled the 64bit only version with your package.

DP I'll try that all though the New Intel chips do seem strange :P it's an ACER PC so god knows what's on it, can't reboot to the recovery partition just yet system needs to be running 24 / 7 right now.

So what was the outcome?:umm: