32bit backup to 64bit os?


  1. Posts : 44
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 Build 19045
       #1

    32bit backup to 64bit os?


    hi, i need some advice please. i have two notebooks.
    notebook A has win10 home 32bit. i made a full system image backup of the hdd with macrium.
    notebook B has win10 pro 64bit and enough free space to accommodate the backup from A, in fact it only has the os and some minor apps.
    can i restore the backup made from A to B?
    will the backed up data recognize 64bit or will the backup in some way revert back to 32bit?
    must i reinstall any programs/apps?
    will i loose any data (stupid question but i ask anyhow)?
    the reason behind all this is that i want the os to recognize the extra ram i have installed, under 32bit i am limited to 2gb, i have installed the max of 8gb - old notebook
    thanks for reading all the way to here
    God bless
    gabriel
    the win ver of B will be the latest one i can update it to
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 8,111
    windows 10
       #2

    You can restore the image to the other laptop which will wipe the drive so you loose everything. The problems you may have is the partition type if the image is uefi gpt disk and the other isn't uefi or set wrong it won't work. The licence must be the same type is home or it won't activate. If it's a different mb there may not be drivers windows is good at finding things but it's not certain. It's possible it won't activate
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 31,682
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #3

    gabrielsmit said:
    ....the reason behind all this is that i want the os to recognize the extra ram i have installed, under 32bit i am limited to 2gb, i have installed the max of 8gb - old notebook
    A 32-bit OS can only address a maximum of 4GB, that is the highest address possible using a 32-bit word. In practice a significant part of that 4GB address space will be used to map the video RAM into the 4GB address space, typically 1GB or more.

    That will be shown in Task Manager as 'Hardware Reserved'. There is no point in installing more than 4GB RAM in a machine with a 32-bit OS, nothing above the 4GB maximum could ever be addressed. The usable installed RAM will be less than the 4GB theoretical maximum by the amount set aside as 'Hardware Reserved' so in practice only about 3GB is available for use.

    With a 64-bit OS the theoretical amount of virtual address space is 2^64 bytes (16 exabytes). The video RAM can be mapped to appear above the installed RAM, with just a very small 'Hardware Reserved' (typically less than 100MB) for communication.

    For comparison, here is what I got with two clean installs of W10 2004, one x86, the other x64. Both installs were on the same 4GB machine, System Two in my specs below.

    x86 - total physical memory available for the OS or the user = 2.93GB, available RAM with Windows running 1.8GB.





    x64 - total physical memory available tor the OS or the user = 3.93GB, available RAM with Windows running, 2.5GB.

      My Computers


  4. Posts : 44
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 Build 19045
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Samuria said:
    You can restore the image to the other laptop which will wipe the drive so you loose everything. The problems you may have is the partition type if the image is uefi gpt disk and the other isn't uefi or set wrong it won't work. The licence must be the same type is home or it won't activate. If it's a different mb there may not be drivers windows is good at finding things but it's not certain. It's possible it won't activate
    tx samuria. from what i gather the whole operation is a risky one - and i thought 32 to 64 bit would be less complicated. i have rummaged the net and there seems to be no clear-cut solution...

    - - - Updated - - -

    Bree said:
    A 32-bit OS can only address a maximum of 4GB, that is the highest address possible using a 32-bit word. In practice a significant part of that 4GB address space will be used to map the video RAM into the 4GB address space, typically 1GB or more.

    That will be shown in Task Manager as 'Hardware Reserved'. There is no point in installing more than 4GB RAM in a machine with a 32-bit OS, nothing above the 4GB maximum could ever be addressed. The usable installed RAM will be less than the 4GB theoretical maximum by the amount set aside as 'Hardware Reserved' so in practice only about 3GB is available for use.

    With a 64-bit OS the theoretical amount of virtual address space is 2^64 bytes (16 exabytes). The video RAM can be mapped to appear above the installed RAM, with just a very small 'Hardware Reserved' (typically less than 100MB) for communication.

    For comparison, here is what I got with two clean installs of W10 2004, one x86, the other x64. Both installs were on the same 4GB machine, System Two in my specs below.

    x86 - total physical memory available for the OS or the user = 2.93GB, available RAM with Windows running 1.8GB.





    x64 - total physical memory available tor the OS or the user = 3.93GB, available RAM with Windows running, 2.5GB.

    tx bree, pardon my computer illiteracy, but from what i see there is little difference in performance and the question might be asked if a step like this - with risks involved - is worth the time and money
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 41,480
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #5

    The 64x computer likely has both 64x and 32x software.

    If the computer has 64x and 8 GB RAM you can test any software.
    There is also a Windows troubleshooter compatibility mode:
    Change Compatibility Mode Settings for Apps in Windows 10
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 31,682
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #6

    gabrielsmit said:
    tx bree, pardon my computer illiteracy, but from what i see there is little difference in performance and the question might be asked if a step like this - with risks involved - is worth the time and money
    Basically it boils down to this: if you run 32-bit Win10 then it will only be able to see and use about 3GB to 4GB of your installed RAM (depending on how large your video RAM is), no matter how much RAM you have installed.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 15,494
    Windows10
       #7

    Bree said:
    Basically it boils down to this: if you run 32-bit Win10 then it will only be able to see and use about 3GB to 4GB of your installed RAM (depending on how large your video RAM is), no matter how much RAM you have installed.
    Also, there is no guarantee that the restored version will work due to different driver issues. Wiindows 10 is pretty good at handling hardware changes but not perfect.

    In the end, doing this is like replacing a 2 litre engine with a 1 litre engine if using RAM intensive apps. Virtualisation would be a no no etc.

    In the end, just not a good plan.

    A safer approach if laptop 2 can handle it is to create a virtual machine and restore the old laptop to a vm.
      My Computer


 

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