Windows 10: Converting 32-bit Windows 10 to 64-bit Windows 10

Please be aware that if you've already upgraded to Windows 10 and it's showing that "Windows is activated", you should have no problem with installing and activating 64-bit Windows 10 on the same machine. Due to architecture limitations, you must do a clean install of Windows 10 64-bit to get a working 64-bit OS on your system...

 

No one said anything about moving anything! Go back and reread what I was pointing out. That was that some people around here are under the impression that once 10 is activated on one machine you can take the same installation media to another machine and see 10 activated there which won't happen. I even put that to the test to simply confirm the obvious fact.

And the clean install on the second remote 7 Pro mini tower did activate! That is right after upgrading over the 7 Pro install where that was found activated upon first look in the Settings I immediately rebooted into the day older clean install and found that activated. From there I can opt to revert the upgrade back to 7 or simply nuke the second primary extend the first back where it was originally and see a full clean install of 10 replace 7 entirely.

The smart move is to opt to save the 64bit 10 download to a folder in ISO form and then go back a second time to see the flash drive or dvd option used to create the media. Or you can opt to use a 3rd party program like the free trial version of UltraISO for example to make up the media with that. Here I downloaded both editions in both flavors first seeing to the 64bit as well as the combo for Pro. Later I went after the two for the Home edition for a few 8 laptops I may have to upgrade sooner or later.

The one thing to note about going back more then once however is the message you can run into saying you have to restart the system. When going to run the tool now hopefully on another non 10 machine first right click on the MC tool and select the "run as admin" option.

 

I must say that my simple question was not so simple. I have already upgraded to 32-bit Windows 10 for free and the product is genuine and activated. Are you telling me that I can change it to 64-bit Windows 10 for free?

 

When buying the upgrade or retail media for previous editions you would find both the 32bit and 64bit upgrade or full install dvds included in the package. Likewise you can download the 64bit iso and opt to create the installation media or let it download to a folder of choice for installation at a later time if opting to use a 3rd party to make up the media. From there a simple reformat will see the 64bit go on clean and activate.

 

You can now clean install Windows 10 64bit for free. Just "skip" or "do this later" when it asks for a product key. It will activate after it is installed.

 

Thank you for your straightforward answer.

 

I am not buying anything. I have already done that when I purchased 32-bit Windows 7 Professional for INR9000/- (US$150/-). Now it is upgraded to Windows 10 Professional for free. I want to convert this to 64-bit Windows 10 Professional for free.

 

No one said you had to buy anything. To download the 64bit flavor of 10 however you may find it a bit when going to run the MC tool while booted into 10 since the downloads are intended as upgrades and will detect already being installed. But even on 7 when going back I would have to make a few separate attempts so I have a complete set.

For you on the other hand only going for one flavor of one edition the choice will be whether or not to save the 64bit download as an ISO image file to be saved in a folder you can use multiple times in case you have to make up the media more then once or simply choose the dvd burn or usb option and allow the tool to see that done.

Remember you can replace the 32bit installation following the steps for a clean install without reformatting or repartitioning the drive. To have everything literally fresh however some will clean the drive off entirely to see a brand new primary OS partition go on for a fresh clean install of the OS which happens to be the swapover to the 64bit now that you have 10 activated from an upgrade.

In reference to the previous statement about when going to buy that was in regards to how the licensing works where you can choose to nuke the 32bit flavor in favor of seeing the 64bit go on or vice versa! MS isn't concerned about how many times you reinstall the same version, same edition of Windows over and over again as long as the hardware remains the same. Swap brands of memory some time and you will end up needing to call MS! Been there before. *Roflmao2

 

It still really is just that easy.... *Wink

 

Downloading from Windows 10 shouldn't be an issue. I did several downloads once upgraded. The Media Creation Tool will give you what ever you ask for / select. The only time it auto selects is when you use the Upgrade This Pc now option.

 

Product Keys are valid for 32 bit or 64 install, it's your choice. If you already have an activated Windows 10 32 bit install your all set. Just reinstall with the 64 bit install media. Just make sure to install the correct version. If your current install is Home, install Home. If its Pro install Pro.

 

And when did you do those? During the first few days with everyone going after 10 things didn't go that smoothly as well as the storage drive issue. Each other time I ran the tool still while booted in 7 not 10 I would get the need to restart system prompt when not able to download mainly due to the initial failed attempts since 10 never came by the updates. And neither did the 3rd email either notifying that 10 was ready to go on. Suddenly the next day I could get the next download going and after a few more finally got both flavors of Home.

The initial activation will work just as if you had a retail key and both 32bit and 64bit Windows setup dvds in a box. The activation at this time is instantaneous compared to the hectic moments in the few days when the activation servers tended to be bogged down considerably. He shouldn't have any problem there and can verify activation as soon as he arrves at the desktop for the first in the 64bit install. All he has to do is click the Skip button when the enter product key screen appears.