Windows 10: change cpu from 32 to64

When I upgraded to W 10 It wen to32,how do I change to 64.

:)

 

I wish to change from 32 bit to 64 bit in Windows 10

I wish to change from 32 bit to 64 bit in Windows 10.How do I change this? and yes my system has enough ram, storage as well as cpu speed.

[Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Windows settings]

 

Upgrading Windows 10 from 32 bit to 64 bit activation.

I installed Windows 10 on a laptop that had a 32 bit processor (Intel T2250) during the insider preview program and subsequently upgraded to build 10240 32 bit and have permanent activation. I just upgraded the CPU in the laptop to a 64 bit (Intel T7200)
CPU and was wondering if I do a clean install with the 64 bit version of Windows 10 if I still will have the same activation. The motherboard is the same. Only the CPU was changed.

 

If you have 4GB RAM (memory) or less, there is really no need, but if you have more RAM than that, you should change to 64bit. You will need to clean install your computer in order to get it (which deletes everything on it currently). See this:Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

Tip: some people recommend using 64bit even with only 4GB RAM because sometimes 32bit computers do not use all 4GBs. I would say most computers sold ship with 4GB RAM.

 

If you installed 10 as an upgrade, then you must have started from a 32 bit qualifying OS. As mentioned in Post #2, to change "bitness", you have to perform a clean install.

There is a small chance that your hardware supports a 32 bit OS but does not permit a 64 bit one. As you have told us nothing about the hardware, we can't guess whether there'd be a problem. (It's very unlikely.)

 

The same Windows key is valid for either 32-bit or 64-bit of the same version (Home or Pro). It is also valid for foreign languages of the same version, should you also wanted to change the display language. However, as others stated, you cannot upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit. You must backup all your data and clean-install the 64-bit version. If you have up to 4GB RAM, don't bother! You won't see any perceivable performance gain. With 32-bit Windows can use up to 3.25GB or 3.5GB RAM while in 64-bit they'll use 4GB. Not really a big deal. I would install 64-bit only if I wanted to use more than 4GB RAM. Also beware that some applications might not work in 64-bit. Yes, every 32-bit application is supposed to work in 64-bit Windows, but there are a few exceptions, so be careful. If you decide to do it, I recommend downloading all drivers beforehand, since there is a small possibility that you cannot connect to the Internet before installing drivers.

 

Thanks to all of you for your help but it looks as if I am stuck with 32 bit.

 

This is not necessarily bad! 32-bit Windows always have greater backwards compatibility with old devices and applications. In some extreme cases you can use an old device with the Windows XP drivers, while in 64-bit you are out of luck. Also most 32-bit applications work in 64-bit but unfortunately there are exceptions. And no 16-bit application runs in 64-bit while it does in 32-bit. There are advantages and disadvantages. I always prefer 32-bit for up to 4GB for compatibility reasons.

 

Why?

 

Probably he has up to 4GB and too many applications that making a clean install it would take too much trouble for nothing. I agree, it's not worth the trouble if you don't really need 64-bit version for accessing large RAM. Stay with 32-bit version, you should not miss any feature as everything in Windows 10 (except maybe Hyper-V) is available at either 32-bit or 64-bit version.

 

The language I would have used was "I think I'll stick with 32 bit." That would be entirely sensible. However, "stuck" implies that it's not possible to install X64. I don't need to know which way it is, but I'm curious.

 

Actually it is possible to install on 64-bit hardware but not to simply change, requires a clean install followed by installing 64-bit drivers and any programs you will need. Be sure to back up your data, anything you created or that exists nowhere else to other media as a clean install usually wipes everything off the HDD or SSD.

 

Yes, you have to backup everything and then you need to download 64-bit drivers. If some hardware is old, it is far easier to find 32-bit drivers than 64-bit. That's why I avoid 64-bit version, unless the computer has more than 4GB RAM. For up to 4GB RAM 32-bit version is just fine and you won't miss a thing, apart from small exceptions such as Hyper-V. But Hyper-V would hardly work or would be very slow with only 4GB RAM, anyway.