What is the real answer? I have a Q9300 Core 2 Quad @ 2.5 ghz and a 32 bit OS. I was told that if I went into my computer/properties/advanced/environment variables I would be avle to tell if my processor would be able to handle a 64 bit OS by if the processor was identified as x86 or x64. I see x86 but Intel lists this processor as being 64 bit ready. What is the real deal befor I spend money to upgrade to the 64 OS.