Upgrade to 64-bit Windows 10

BunnyJ said:

My understanding is that you never need to use a key when you upgrade to 10. I didn't have to use one when I did an upgrade.

That has worked with my several computers when doing the free Upgrade. Haven't needed to do a clean install yet. Basically, if running the 32-bit one gets the 32-bit or if it's 64-bit one gets the 64-bit. And as mentioned a few times, changing from 32-bit to 64-bit or from 64-bit to 32-bit does require a clean install.

BunnyJ said:

My understanding is that you never need to use a key when you upgrade to 10. I didn't have to use one when I did an upgrade.

no not to upgrade to 10 ,but to do a clean install of win10 you do on older computers ..

I think you have a newer computer with the key of you win7 or 8 what ever you are upgrading from In the bios ,,,my 2 computers have keys on stickers on the side of the case ,none in the bios and I had to upgrade first ,and then use the key finder to do a fresh install ,and I have a borrowed newer one with the key in the bios ,and I had to install 8.1 first and then upgrade to 10 ,and then I could do the clean install and win10 found the key in the bios ,,so the clean install worked ,,, but I could not clean install win10 on the older ones ..

ScottXe said:

I have successfully upgraded to 32-bit Windows 10. Is it possible to upg
rade to a 64-bit Windows 10? If so, could you advise how to accomplish it. Thanks!

What you want isn't called an "upgrade," it is called "migration." It is not possible to upgrade from 32 to 64 bits. You can migrate from 32 to 64bits only by clean installing the 64 bit version. Your computer is already a registered Windows 10 device so you can do the migration without a product key. You can download the media creation tool from

Windows 10

You may need to download the tool on a computer running 64-bit Windows. I am not certain of that. Others will no doubt jump in and clarify. To do a clean install, start the computer with the media and follow the prompts.

Backup all your data first. You will have to reinstall all your programs so be sure you have the installation media for them, if needed, on hand.

BunnyJ said:

I would just upgrade the 10 32bit to the 10 64bit...
My 2c and as usual..YMMV

Just install 10 like BunnyJ suggests. You can't keep anything anyway, so why bother with 7? It would be a waste of time to install 64bit 7 when what you want is 64bit 10 anyway.

I've tried twice to skip updating Win8.0 to Win8.1 then doing the Free Upgrade to Win10 only to get an error message that it wouldn't work so I then updated Win8.0 to Win8.1 through the Store and then the Win10 Upgrade worked fine. I've also Upgraded Win7 w/SP1 to Win10 without much trouble, only had to get Bluetooth drivers from Dell on one Notebook. I'm doing a second Notebook Upgrade to Win10 today, did one yesterday, up to 11 so far.

Berton said:

I've tried twice to skip updating Win8.0 to Win8.1 then doing the Free Upgrade to Win10 only to get an error message that it wouldn't work so I then updated Win8.0 to Win8.1 through the Store and then the Win10 Upgrade worked fine. I've also Upgraded Win7 w/SP1 to Win10 without much trouble, only had to get Bluetooth drivers from Dell on one Notebook. I'm doing a second Notebook Upgrade to Win10 today, did one yesterday, up to 11 so far.

If you're referring to your question about whether or not to go back to 7 before migrating to 64bits, its not the same thing. Here you have already upgraded to 32bit 10 and that is the only time you need to upgrade to get the free copy. What you asked in this thread is about migrating from 32bits to 64bits and that requires a clean install anyway. So just clean install 64 bit 10. You shouldn't need to do anything but install 64bit 10. If asked for a product key do not enter one. Just click SKIP or DO LATER and keep going. Windows 10 uses device activation. This is a new licensing technology. It doesn't work like activation did in 7. Not at all.

NavyLCDR said:

Respectfully, and I know it's just that you don't have the proper information, but your post is completely erroneous regarding Windows 10 keys.

From Microsoft:
Installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool - Windows Help




I will explain this again. There are two ways to get Windows 10 to activate on a computer for the first time. The first, and most common way, is to upgrade from a previously activated Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. Windows 10 will read the activated status of the previous operating system using the program gatherosstate.exe found in the sources folder of the Windows 10 ISO or ESD and saving an xml file generated from that program. The previous license for the previous OS is used to activate Windows 10. The second way to activate Windows 10 for the first time on a computer is with a unique Windows 10 product key that is either provided in bios by the manufacturer of the computer or purchased from Microsoft. The key in bios will be for Windows 10, not for Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.

Now, most people are doing the free upgrade from a previously activated Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. Once Windows 10 reads the activated state of the previous OS using the program that I pointed you to, it contacts Microsoft's activation servers and provides that license information. In addition, it provides a unique Installation ID - which is created by a combination of a generic Product Key, which is exactly the same for the same version of Windows 10 that everyone gets when upgrading. All home versions from upgrades have the same key, all pro versions from upgrades have the same key, etc. In addition to that same generic product key, a hardware ID is generated by Windows 10 from a bunch of different factors related to the hardware of the computer. The unique hardware ID + generic product key generates a unique installation ID. The previous license information generated by the program is used to push the installation ID onto Microsoft activation servers.

This installation ID is stored on Microsoft activation servers during the first activation. Now...here's what happens on a clean install. During a clean install Windows 10 generates an installation ID based on two factors. The hardware ID created by the specific hardware combination of the computer - which will be the same if it is the same computer - and a product key. If no product key is provided - and a user should never provide a product key unless it is one that they have purchased - the generic product key will be used by Windows 10 automatically. This creates the same installation ID that was created before on that computer. That installation ID is sent to Microsoft activation servers. Since there is no license information from a previous OS, because it is a clean install, the installation ID is not pushed to the Activation server, it is used to search the Activation server. If it was pushed previously, the installation ID matches a previously stored one, and Windows 10 is activated. Unless the manufacturer has put a Windows 10 key in bios - Windows 10 will not push, nor retrieve any keys from bios.

The most important fact, in summary is a user should NEVER enter any key for Windows 10 unless they have purchased a unique key for Windows 10.

These are the generic product keys that Windows 10 produces when a free upgrade is performed:
RTM:
Generic Windows 10 Home TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
Generic Windows 10 Home Single Language 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
Generic WIndows 10 Pro VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
Generic Windows 10 Enterprise NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43

Everybody that has done an upgrade from Windows 7/8/8.1 has the same keys. They can (but should not) be used to install Windows 10, but unless there is a matching Hardware ID that has been activated before based upon a previous license for Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, they will not cause Windows 10 to be activated.

ok, I just ran win10 upgrade from a rufus created usb of latest download win10 iso , and I got a new different key compared to the win8.1 ,,and it none of the default keys you have in this post ,,, I think those keys are for the insider preview
I seem to be getting totally new keys ,just for me ,,,


unless I totally misunderstood your post

Cbarnhorst said:

If you're referring to your question about whether or not to go back to 7 before migrating to 64bits, its not the same thing.

Not my question.