Some problems relating to 32-bit & 64-bit stuff and RAM

I am certain that it originally had a 64bit OS. I saved a screenshot of my computer's specs two years ago, and it says that it was 64bit. It even ran 64bit programs, which is impossible on a 32bit OS.

When we brought it to the computer shop, the people there decided to simply install another hard drive instead of fixing my old one. I can still try to boot with the old one by pressing F12 on startup, but it still doesn't work. My mom also had them do some other stuff with it; I think one of those stuff is the installation of that additional 4GB of RAM.

"And if Windows 7 Home Basic was preinstalled it is an OEM license and you can't chop and change between 32bit and 64bit."

Yes, my Windows 7 came preinstalled, but I can absolutely guarantee you that it was 64bit before it broke and it somehow turned into 32bit when it came back from the computer shop. I asked my classmate about this, and he also said that the OS shouldn't change like that. Maybe it has something to do with the extra hard drive they installed?

I'll see if I can get my old hard drive to start working again; if not, I guess I have to bring it back to the computer shop.

Also, the error that appears when booting my old hard drive is 0xc000000f. Apparently I need an pecial disc to fix that, but since Windows came preinstalled, I don't have one. Would you know how to go about that without the disc?

To start off, my computer is running on Windows 7 Home Basic. I know it's out of support, but I'd appreciate any help at all.

About a month ago, my computer kinda broke; it wouldn't startup properly for some reason. After trying startup repair and messing around with cmd, I tried backing up my files to a backup hard drive to reinstall Windows on my main hard drive. That didn't work, so we brought it to a computer shop. They installed a new hard drive, and my computer is running again. My old hard drive is still in my computer, along with all the files in it.

I noticed the system type was now 32-bit, but I clearly remember that it was 64-bit. It also says that I have 6 GB of RAM, but only 2.99 GB are usable. These changes didn't bother me too much, but as I tried reinstalling HitFilm, one of the programs I had on this computer before it got broken, the installer wouldn't work. A popup message appears saying "This installation package is not supported by this processor type." Apparently HitFilm can only run on 64-bit computers.

I'll be honest that I know not a lot about tech and stuff, but is there any way to go about this without having to install any physical hardware?

Thanks.

Here are the specs of my computer before it got repaired:

Windows 7 Home Basic

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 CPU @ 3.30 GHz     3.30 GHz

RAM: 2.00 GB

System type: 64-bit Operating System

Here are the specs of my computer after it got repaired:

Windows 7 Home Basic

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 CPU @ 3.30 GHz     3.30 GHz

RAM: 6.00 GB (2.99 GB usable)

System type: 32-bit Operating System

Are you sure that you originally had a 64bit operating system installed or did it say the computer hardware was capable of running a 64bit operating system?

You originally had 2GBs of RAM which was reasonable for a 32bit Windows 7 Home Basic for sale purposes.

Now you have 6GBs of RAM of which you can't use all of that on a 32bit operating system.

If you are using a 32bit operating system, installing more than 4GBs of RAM is a waste of time, as Windows can't use it.

It will use only about a max of 3.25GBs out of the 4GBs anyway and the rest is reserved for hardware, etc.

Microsoft explains that here why it only shows 3.25GB out of 4GB:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/978610/the-usable-memory-may-be-less-than-the-installed-memory-on-windows-7-b

To use 6GBs of RAM, IF you can install 6GBs of RAM on that Motherboard, you will have to install a 64bit operating system.

Windows 7 Home Basic supports up to 8GBs of RAM on a 64bit OS

And if Windows 7 Home Basic was preinstalled it is an OEM license and you can't chop and change between 32bit and 64bit.

So who put the extra 4GBS of RAM in?

The only way you can use the RAM is to clean install Windows 7 Home Basic as a 64bit operating system.

I suggest that you take it back to the shop and find out what work was done on it.

See Bill Smithers's reply and let me add the following:

What computer shop did you take the computer to? They are disreputable (and probably also incompetent), and you should be sure never to use them again.

Here are at least two things they did wrong:.

1. They "fixed" your computer by clean installing  32-bit Windows on a machine that was running 64-bit Windows. That's like bringing your car to a repair shop and having them replace the engine with  one of lower horsepower. And they presumably did this without asking you whether it was OK to do it.
2. They "upgraded" your RAM from 2GB to 6GB on a machine now running  32-bit Windows, even though 32-bit Windows can only use 4GB of RAM.. (Did they they charge you for that extra RAM? Did you authorize them to do it or did they decide to do it by themselves?)

I would also like you to do checks on that RAM.

You can't install any type of RAM you wish to and you are governed by the Motherboards maximum capacity for installing RAM.

In other words, you may want to install 8GBS but your Motherboard's max. RAM capacity may be 4GBs,

Either go to your Computer/Laptop Manufacturer's website > Support/Downloads Section > look up the exact details there.

Or it may be easier for you to download the Crucial Scanner which will tell you what is the matching RAM for your Motherboard and the max. amount of RAM your Motherboard can accommodate.

Crucial System Scanner

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

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The way to fix the new hard drive is to clean install the 64bit operating system.

The way to attempt to fix the old hard drive is this:

Make your own System Repair Disk from the information in this Tutorial or from the prior information:

"How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc"

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

"This will show you how to create a Windows 7 system repair disc to be able to use to boot to **system recovery options** to help recover your Windows 7 installation if you don't have a Windows installation disc, can't find your Windows installation disc, or can't access the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer.

A system repair disc is not able to install Windows 7.

   Note

If you are unable to boot your Windows 7 to create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc, then you could create it on another computer to use on your computer."

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Then use that Disk for the System Recovery Options:

"System Recovery Options"

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

"How to Run a Startup Repair in Windows 7"

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

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