32x apps in XP 64x

Hi there
Do 32bit apps, such as a password cracking applications run at a 64bit
'mode' when installed and run in a 64bit environment?

I have a dual core 2GH laptop and have installed Windows XP Pro 64bit on it
to speed up the password crunching process but the application is not
specifically designed for a 64bit environment. Am I clutching on straws?

Thank you
LifeOnMars

 

You won't see any improvement, I'm afraid. 32-bit applications run in the
WOW64 layer, which is a very thin shim that allows 32-bit programs to work
in a 64-bit OS. Some operations do see some improvement from the 64-bit OS
(I/O operations, mostly, IME), but others see a slight slowdown, which tends
to balance things out. Overall, I'd say there's no difference in speed,
UNLESS the application is memory bound, and the availability of a larger
virtual memory address space (4GB per process, instead of 3GB per process)
is able to be used.

 

Thank you Charlie, all makes sense now, I can confirm the app is running at a
slightly higher speed but that may well be because of the physical and
virtual memory available. The Task Manager shows both processors 50%!

Many thanks

 

Thank you Charlie. There is no improvement in app performance well not worth
noticing anyway. But something worth mentioning I thought was that Task
Manager shows both processors at 50%

Many thanks