Windows 10: 64bit os 32bit 10T external drive

just installed win 10 64bit and now window won't let me access my external harddrive that I used with the old 32bit system

I can access it with glary dist explorer but it limits what I can do with the files and directories, win 10 say d:\ is not accessible, access denied, glary lets me in and recognizes the drive ok

:)

 

32bit to 64bit OS on 64bit PC

Have a 64bit PC with a
32bit OS.

Can I upgrade this way to 64bit OS?

First a 32bit upgrade and
then a clean install with 64bit
OS.

 

32bit to 64bit

You can run 32bit Setup from a 64bit desktop because a 32bit program can run on 64bits so a "down"grade will run.

But you cannot run 64bit Setup from a 32 bit desktop because a 64bit program cannot run on 32bits, so Bilal's reply is correct since the OP is going from 32bit to 64bit.

When, as in your case, you go from 64bits to 32bits you may find you have a Programs (x86) folder, which a 32bit version of Windows should absolutely not have. There are other anomolies. It is because the 32bit installer cannot remove certain 64bit elements
of the old OS.

It is not a good idea to "down"grade the architecture. It is safer to do a clean install of 32bits.

You may have a confused OS. I have done this (back when 64bit Windows first released) and I have no confidence in the results.

 

32bit or 64bit???

Just to let you know VISTA 64 works well.
If you have VISTA 32bit on your system you will need to do a reformat of your hard disc, for some reason VISTA 64bit does not install over 32bit OS.