How do you determine 32 or 64 bit architecture of Windows using Java?

Question

How do you determine 32 or 64 bit architecture of Windows using Java?

Answer 1

I don't exactly trust reading the os.arch system variable. While it works if a user is running a 64bit JVM on a 64bit system. It doesn't work if the user is running a 32bit JVM on a 64 bit system.

The following code works for properly detecting Windows 64-bit operating systems. On a Windows 64 bit system the environment variable "Programfiles(x86)" will be set. It will NOT be set on a 32-bit system and java will read it as null.

boolean is64bit = false; if (System.getProperty("os.name").contains("Windows")) {     is64bit = (System.getenv("ProgramFiles(x86)") != null); } else {     is64bit = (System.getProperty("os.arch").indexOf("64") != -1); } 

For other operating systems like Linux or Solaris or Mac we may see this problem as well. So this isn't a complete solution. For mac you are probably safe because apple locks down the JVM to match the OS. But Linux and Solaris, etc.. they may still use a 32-bit JVM on their 64-bit system. So use this with caution.

Answer 2

Please note, the os.arch property will only give you the architecture of the JRE, not of the underlying os.

If you install a 32 bit jre on a 64 bit system, System.getProperty("os.arch") will return x86

In order to actually determine the underlying architecture, you will need to write some native code. See this post for more info (and a link to sample native code)