How to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows?

Question

So, I need to do just that before I move the program to 32bit machine and experience a spectacular failure. Is there an easy way to do this?

Answer 1

A simple method is to run it (assuming you trust it) and take a look at the process tab in task manager. 32bit processes will show "* 32" at the end of the process name. If it's not something your willing to run on your computer you can try EXE Explorer. It will show a whole bunch of info on executables including if it's 32 or 64bit.

Answer 2

The SDK tool dumpbin.exe with the /headers option includes this information, compare these two (I've added bold for the key information)

PS [64] E:\ #4> dumpbin /headers C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 10.00.40219.01
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.


Dump of file C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe

PE signature found

File Type: EXECUTABLE IMAGE

FILE HEADER VALUES
            8664 machine (x64)
               6 number of sections
        4CE798E5 time date stamp Sat Nov 20 09:46:13 2010
               0 file pointer to symbol table
               0 number of symbols
              F0 size of optional header
              22 characteristics
                   Executable
                   Application can handle large (>2GB) addresses
[...]

and

PS [64] E:\ #5> dumpbin /headers C:\Windows\syswow64\cmd.exe
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 10.00.40219.01
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.


Dump of file C:\Windows\syswow64\cmd.exe

PE signature found

File Type: EXECUTABLE IMAGE

FILE HEADER VALUES
             14C machine (x86)
               4 number of sections
        4CE78E2B time date stamp Sat Nov 20 09:00:27 2010
               0 file pointer to symbol table
               0 number of symbols
              E0 size of optional header
             102 characteristics
                   Executable
                   32 bit word machine
[...]

Answer 3

The 64-bit version of Process Explorer can tell you. Simply run the executable and open the process's properties window. On the main tab there's an entry which says "Image:32 Bit" or "Image:64 Bit".