How can I use VBScript to determine whether I am running a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows OS?

Question

How do i detect the bitness (32-bit vs. 64-bit) of the Windows OS in VBScript?

I tried this approach but it doesn\'t work; I guess the (x86) is causing some problem

Answer 1

Addendum to Bruno's answer: You may want to check the OS rather than the processor itself, since you could install an older OS on a newer CPU:

strOSArch = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_OperatingSystem=@").OSArchitecture

Returns string "32-bit" or "64-bit".

Answer 2

You can also check if folder C:\Windows\sysnative exist. This folder (or better alias) exist only in 32-Bit process, see File System Redirector

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set wshShell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )

If fso.FolderExists(wshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%windir%") & "\sysnative" ) Then
    WScript.Echo "You are running in 32-Bit Mode"
Else
    WScript.Echo "You are running in 64-Bit Mode"
End if

Note: this script shows whether your current process is running in 32-bit or 64-bit mode - it does not show the architecture of your Windows.

Answer 3

Here is a pair of VBScript functions based on the very concise answer by @Bruno:

Function Is32BitOS()
    If GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth _
       = 32 Then
        Is32BitOS = True
    Else
        Is32BitOS = False
    End If
End Function

Function Is64BitOS()
    If GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth _
       = 64 Then
        Is64BitOS = True
    Else
        Is64BitOS = False
    End If
End Function

UPDATE: Per the advice from @Ekkehard.Horner, these two functions can be written more succinctly using single-line syntax as follows:

Function Is32BitOS() : Is32BitOS = (GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth = 32) : End Function

Function Is64BitOS() : Is64BitOS = (GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth = 64) : End Function

(Note that the parentheses that surround the GetObject(...) = 32 condition are not necessary, but I believe they add clarity regarding operator precedence. Also note that the single-line syntax used in the revised implementations avoids the use of the If/Then construct!)

UPDATE 2: Per the additional feedback from @Ekkehard.Horner, some may find that these further revised implementations offer both conciseness and enhanced readability:

Function Is32BitOS()
    Const Path = "winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'"
    Is32BitOS = (GetObject(Path).AddressWidth = 32)
End Function

Function Is64BitOS()
    Const Path = "winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'"
    Is64BitOS = (GetObject(Path).AddressWidth = 64)
End Function

Answer 4

Came up against this same problem at work the other day. Stumbled on this genius piece of vbscript and thought it was too good not to share.

Bits = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth

Source: http://csi-windows.com/toolkit/csi-getosbits

Answer 5

You can query the PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE. A described here, you have to add some extra checks, because the value of PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE will be x86 for any 32-bit process, even if it is running on a 64-bit OS. In that case, the variable PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 will contain the OS bitness. Further details in MSDN.

Dim WshShell
Dim WshProcEnv
Dim system_architecture
Dim process_architecture

Set WshShell =  CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set WshProcEnv = WshShell.Environment("Process")

process_architecture= WshProcEnv("PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE") 

If process_architecture = "x86" Then    
    system_architecture= WshProcEnv("PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432")

    If system_architecture = ""  Then    
        system_architecture = "x86"
    End if    
Else    
    system_architecture = process_architecture    
End If

WScript.Echo "Running as a " & process_architecture & " process on a " _ 
    & system_architecture & " system."

Answer 6

Determining if the CPU is 32-bit or 64-bit is easy but the question asked is how to determine if the OS is 32-bit or 64-bit. When a 64-bit Windows is running, the ProgramW6432 environment variable is defined.

This:

CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Environment("PROCESS")("ProgramW6432") = ""

will return true for a 32-bit OS and false for a 64-bit OS and will work for all version of Windows including very old ones.