20110502UU -- 32-bit Ubuntu With 64-bit Win7?

[Bill Stanley]

On 05/02/2011 09:17 AM, Tony Pursell wrote:
> On Mon, 2011-05-02 at 05:54 -0500, bmacasuru wrote:
>> Greetings --
>>
>> I have recently purchased a laptop which (UNfortunately!) has Windows 7
>> Home Premium, 64-bit Edition installed by default.  Basically, I think
>> that this is STUPID -- but it is the case I must work with.
>>
>> I would like to install Ubuntu 11.04 32-bit.  I would REALLY like to
>> simply "virtualize" my Windows installation (because I have one
>> application which pretty-much demands a Windows environment).  In the
>> absence of any installation-media (although I have "recovery" media) for
>> Windows, is this possible?  If so, how do I do it?
>>
>> But the second-best alternative is to dual-boot.  Do I really NEED to
>> use Ubuntu 11.04 in 64-bit or can I use 32-bit?  If I get to use 32-bit,
>> are there any special "gottcha" conditions that I should be aware of?
>>
>> THANKS for your insights!!!!!
>>
> There is no problem dual booting 64 bit Windows and 32 bit Ubuntu.
>
> There have been some problems with the 64 bit Ubuntu, e.g. with Flash,
> but it is catching up now.  However, sticking to 32 bit Ubuntu is OK
> unless you have a real need for 64 bit, like massive amounts of RAM.
> The normal max RAM for 32 bit is 3GB, but the PAE extensions will give
> you more.
>
> Tony


The memory issue is the big difference between ALL 32 bit and 64 bit 
operating systems.  Without some  sophisticated tricks, a 32 bit OS 
can't handle more than 4 GB of RAM.   I am in the same boat as you are 
and I dual boot 64 bit Win 7 and 64 -bit Unbuntu.  Most of the time I 
use Unbuntu and even have a virtual machine (V-box) running with Unbuntu 
as the Host and Win 7 as the guest.  If I installed the 32 bit version 
of Unbuntu I doubt if I could run the 64 bit Win 7 as a guest.   RAM is 
not the only advantage of running a 64 bit OS but you need a 64 bit 
computer to do so.

There are others on this forum that might know if there is a way to run 
a 64 bit guest on a 32 bit host.  I do know that it cant be done 
efficiently.

Bill Stanley