Upgrade to 64 bit win 10 from 32 bit win 8.1

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?

He has done his research on video card, overclocking i5 cpu, more
memory, water cooler and and a new power supply.

The cost of this will be half of a new gaming computer with similar specs.

HS

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:56:10 -0400, HS wrote:

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?



He will *not* be able to. You can not change the "bitness" of Windows
from 32-bit to 64-bit, or vice versa, by upgrading. The only way to
get to 64-bit is via a clean installation

On 2015-07-04 9:07 PM, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:56:10 -0400, HS wrote:

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?



He will *not* be able to. You can not change the "bitness" of Windows
from 32-bit to 64-bit, or vice versa, by upgrading. The only way to
get to 64-bit is via a clean installation


I have used the same key to install 32 bit and 64 bit windows 8

The work around for him would be to do a clean install 64 bit
windows 8.1, install the programs and then update to win 10.
I have the 64 bit wind 8.1 dvd and the keys.

HS

On 07/04/2015 08:32 PM, HS wrote:
On 2015-07-04 9:07 PM, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:56:10 -0400, HS wrote:

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?



He will *not* be able to. You can not change the "bitness" of Windows
from 32-bit to 64-bit, or vice versa, by upgrading. The only way to
get to 64-bit is via a clean installation


I have used the same key to install 32 bit and 64 bit windows 8

The work around for him would be to do a clean install 64 bit
windows 8.1, install the programs and then update to win 10.
I have the 64 bit wind 8.1 dvd and the keys.

HS




I sure would not do it that way....I'd back up the data then just
perform a clean install of Win10 64 bit

HS wrote:
My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?

He has done his research on video card, overclocking i5 cpu, more
memory, water cooler and and a new power supply.

The cost of this will be half of a new gaming computer with similar specs.

HS

A compromise, is to shift the kernel space/user space split.
I've used this, to allow a 32 bit compiler to use 3GB on a 4GB setup.
Normally, the computer would stop at around 1.8GB to 1.9GB of
RAM, due to the kernel space/user space split.

This gives 3GB user space, 1GB kernel space. This is not without
its issues, but is work an experiment if you want.

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072

And this returns to the default 2GB user space, 2GB kernel space.

bcdedit /deletevalue IncreaseUserVa

A x32 program must be compiled with ImageFileLargeAddressAware,
for this to work and be an advantage. I suspected the compiler
I was using would have this, so I didn't even attempt to use
a diagnostic to check :-) Lots of other regular programs,
aren't set up for this.

That's a pretty lame solution, but you can test that
for fun first, when some of the new hardware is in place.

*******

The conventional wisdom is, going from 32 bit to 64 bit requires
a Clean Install. Going from 32 bit to 32 bit can be an Upgrade
Install, keeping applications and settings. Going from 64 bit
to 64 bit can be an Upgrade Install, keeping applications and
settings.

One of the reasons for this, is 64 bit Windows systems have
two Program File folders. There would be no way to transition
the contents of a 64 bit folder, so it would work on an OS
that had only a 32 bit folder. So 64 to 32 is definitely
broken, and needs the applications to be reinstalled, to
get everything set up right.

On the other hand, going from 32 to 64, the 32 bit programs
can be put in the 32 bit folder of the 64 bit OS. So that
sounds more encouraging. But that doesn't mean the rest of
the OS is prepared to make the transition easy. For example,
the Registry has to be "fixed up" too. There could be
massive changed needed in there for all I know.

So I decided to look up a particular third party program,
and they think 32 bit to 64 bit can be done.

Laplink PCMover, moves user data between computers. In particular,
it moves programs too.

http://forums.laplink.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2638

"I now need to install Windows 7 Home Premium. I'd like
to install the 64 bit version and then use PcMover's Image
and Drive Assitant to transfer my applications, data, and
settings from the XP 32 bit diskimage onto
the Windows 7 64 bit harddrive.

My question is, can I install the 64 bit version of
windows 7 and import the image without causing problems
with the programs?"

"Yes! Image & Drive Assistant was designed for this.
You would only run into possible issues if you were going
from 64 to 32 bit, but since you are not, you should have
no issues."

So in theory at least, a person could do a Win10 x64 clean
install, then use Laplink PCMover (which has a per-seat
charge for the service), to move Win 8.1 x32 programs
and user data, to the Win10 x64 setup. It's going to cost
money, and as far as I'm concerned, isn't the lowest
risk option. I would recommend clean install, just
to remove as much "cruft" as possible, rather than
transporting all the "cruft" from one machine to the
other. Re-installs like this, give an excellent chance
to clean up. I don't really know, now many PCMover
customers are happy customers. What laplink is doing,
is not the easiest thing to design in the world, and
reports are, it takes hours for the process to finish.
It chugs forever. But if you want to prove everyone
else wrong, then pony up the cash :-)

Paul

On 2015-07-04 9:44 PM, Paul wrote:
HS wrote:
My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?

He has done his research on video card, overclocking i5 cpu, more
memory, water cooler and and a new power supply.

The cost of this will be half of a new gaming computer with similar
specs.

HS

A compromise, is to shift the kernel space/user space split.
I've used this, to allow a 32 bit compiler to use 3GB on a 4GB setup.
Normally, the computer would stop at around 1.8GB to 1.9GB of
RAM, due to the kernel space/user space split.

This gives 3GB user space, 1GB kernel space. This is not without
its issues, but is work an experiment if you want.

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072

And this returns to the default 2GB user space, 2GB kernel space.

bcdedit /deletevalue IncreaseUserVa

A x32 program must be compiled with ImageFileLargeAddressAware,
for this to work and be an advantage. I suspected the compiler
I was using would have this, so I didn't even attempt to use
a diagnostic to check :-) Lots of other regular programs,
aren't set up for this.

That's a pretty lame solution, but you can test that
for fun first, when some of the new hardware is in place.

*******

The conventional wisdom is, going from 32 bit to 64 bit requires
a Clean Install. Going from 32 bit to 32 bit can be an Upgrade
Install, keeping applications and settings. Going from 64 bit
to 64 bit can be an Upgrade Install, keeping applications and
settings.

One of the reasons for this, is 64 bit Windows systems have
two Program File folders. There would be no way to transition
the contents of a 64 bit folder, so it would work on an OS
that had only a 32 bit folder. So 64 to 32 is definitely
broken, and needs the applications to be reinstalled, to
get everything set up right.

On the other hand, going from 32 to 64, the 32 bit programs
can be put in the 32 bit folder of the 64 bit OS. So that
sounds more encouraging. But that doesn't mean the rest of
the OS is prepared to make the transition easy. For example,
the Registry has to be "fixed up" too. There could be
massive changed needed in there for all I know.

So I decided to look up a particular third party program,
and they think 32 bit to 64 bit can be done.

Laplink PCMover, moves user data between computers. In particular,
it moves programs too.



Hi Paul

Thanks for your post.

I do like challenges but this is way over my head :-)

I will do a clean 64 bit win 8.1 install.

My daughters pictures are on a separate partition.

There are some word documents which will be easy to
transfer to the new installation.

She uses Firefox and Thunderbird.

I have learned that copying the entire thunderbird and Firefox folder
from the user/roaming/ folder of the old windows to the new one
and then doing a fresh installation of firefox and thunderbird
will ensure that that these programs profiles have been cloned.

Our grandson has downloaded some huge games on the computer which
he will have to download again.

Microsoft office will be a problem as she had a key at a reduced
price for teachers which only allows a limited number of installation
and she has probably lost it.

I will have to teach he to use Libre office.

HS

HS wrote:
On 2015-07-04 9:44 PM, Paul wrote:
HS wrote:

Microsoft office will be a problem as she had a key at a reduced
price for teachers which only allows a limited number of installation
and she has probably lost it.

Use a key finder to get the key, assuming Office is not cloud based.
This is a small one that works fairly well:
https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

I will have to teach he to use Libre office.

HS

Hi, HS.

It's not just a matter of licensing. It's hardware, including drivers, dlls
and such.

Once booted into 32-bit, there's no way to load the 64-bit support system
except by rebooting from a 64-bit source, such as a DVD, because all the
support system is already geared to 32-bit. (And vice versa: Can't switch
from 64-bit to 32-bit; must reboot from 32-bit media.)

It has been this way ever since I started running 64-bit WinXP more than a
decade ago. Even in a dual-boot system with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows
installed on the same computer, to switch "bitness" has always required a
reboot.

Philo's suggestion sounds like a good idea to me.

RC
-- --
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3528.0331) in Win8.1 Pro w/Media Center


"HS" wrote in message ...

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?

He has done his research on video card, overclocking i5 cpu, more
memory, water cooler and and a new power supply.

The cost of this will be half of a new gaming computer with similar specs.

HS

On 2015-07-04 11:14 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:
HS wrote:
On 2015-07-04 9:44 PM, Paul wrote:
HS wrote:

Microsoft office will be a problem as she had a key at a reduced
price for teachers which only allows a limited number of installation
and she has probably lost it.

Use a key finder to get the key, assuming Office is not cloud based.
This is a small one that works fairly well:
https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/


Hi Paul

Thanks for this information. I do have Jellybean and produkey in my
digital collection.

HS

On 2015-07-05 2:43 AM, HS wrote:

Use a key finder to get the key, assuming Office is not cloud based.
This is a small one that works fairly well:
https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/


Hi Paul

Thanks for this information. I do have Jellybean and produkey in my
digital collection.

HS

Here is the link to ProduKey

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

HS

HS wrote on 7/4/2015 9:32 PM:
On 2015-07-04 9:07 PM, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:56:10 -0400, HS wrote:

My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?



He will *not* be able to. You can not change the "bitness" of Windows
from 32-bit to 64-bit, or vice versa, by upgrading. The only way to
get to 64-bit is via a clean installation


I have used the same key to install 32 bit and 64 bit windows 8

The work around for him would be to do a clean install 64 bit
windows 8.1, install the programs and then update to win 10.
I have the 64 bit wind 8.1 dvd and the keys.

HS

Or simply install win8.1 64bit with no programs (smaller system) and let win 10 upgrade then install your programs while
in windows 10. Why carry all that baggage over during the upgrade?

HS wrote:
On 2015-07-05 2:43 AM, HS wrote:

Use a key finder to get the key, assuming Office is not cloud based.
This is a small one that works fairly well:
https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/


Hi Paul

Thanks for this information. I do have Jellybean and produkey in my
digital collection.

HS

Here is the link to ProduKey

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

HS

Thanks HS. I see it's at NirSoft. They tend to have useful things.

In article ,
HS wrote:
On 2015-07-04 9:44 PM, Paul wrote:
HS wrote:
My grandson has a computer with win 8.1 32 bit 4 gig with a powerful
cpu.

He wants to upgrade this to play more complex games and some of them
require more memory.

How will he be able to updgrade his computer to 64 bit win 10 after
installing more memory?
[ ... ]


The conventional wisdom is, going from 32 bit to 64 bit requires
a Clean Install. Going from 32 bit to 32 bit can be an Upgrade
Install, keeping applications and settings. Going from 64 bit
to 64 bit can be an Upgrade Install, keeping applications and
settings.
[ ... ]

Forget conventional wisdom and third party products.

Microsoft does not support upgrades to different architectures. (Neither
does any of the versions of Linux I've worked with.)

Trying to force the issue or use third-party products will likely result
in an unstable system, never a good thing.

[ ... ]


My daughters pictures are on a separate partition.

There are some word documents which will be easy to
transfer to the new installation.

Before starting any work on your system make a full backup. You can get
external drives iwth backup software for quite reasonable prices, and
they're a wise inventment.


Gary

Forget conventional wisdom and third party products.

Microsoft does not support upgrades to different architectures. (Neither
does any of the versions of Linux I've worked with.)

Before starting any work on your system make a full backup. You can get
external drives iwth backup software for quite reasonable prices, and
they're a wise inventment.


Gary


Hi Gary

I have given her 500 gig USB drive. When we visit her and
I have some free time I will make an image with Acronis image.

I have recently changed over to Macrium.

I cannot trust her to make backups.

HS