I have an Inspiron N5030 (Model 5030-8277) which says it runs Windows 7 as a 64 bit OS. When I looked in the System Properties it confirmed it was a 64 bit OS.

However, upon trying to load the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (through VM Ware 8 - which has worked on my other 64 bit system so its not the file which is corrupt or the wrong VM Ware) the OS doesn't load in the virtual machine due to my system apparently being 32-bit and therefore incompatible with a 64-bit .iso file...

I have updated my BIOS to the most recent version available for my model.

So am I actually running on 64-bit or do I need to download specific drivers?

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated!