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

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."