Windows 7 64 bit system running all my programs as 32 bit

[syzergy]

This always happens to me whenever I get a new computer and I start to freak out if everything isnt perfect.

I was having to do a ctrl+alt+delete to shut down itunes and noticed that all of my processes were running 32... example firefox*32.exe which is not how it was before. I dont know what could have caused this but I'm not super tech savvy and dont understand how this could have happened. Any suggestions?

 

[ickymay]

if i include windows processes more than half of mine running are still 32 bit, this seems normal to me as 64bit windows is comparatively new in common use so the third party programs have yet to be written in 64bit

re-firefox 64 bit known as minefield this has been around since the middle of this year 2009 but if you have it alongside 32bit it might just be a matter of starting the right executable ?

 

[kemical]

As ickymay points out this is perfectly normal behaviour and windows 64bit will run in a kind of 'virtual' 32bit to allow certain apps to run.