Moving From Win 7 Home Premium X86 To Win 10-Pro 1909 X64

I have a 64 bit PC presently running Win 7 Home Premium X86 that I want to transition to Win 10-Pro X64 1909. As can be expected, the apps currently installed on this PC are X86 versions for which X64 versions mostly do not exist. I also have a new Win 10-Pro x64 install disc and a never used Win 10-Pro COA/key. The transition will be much easier if I can avoid having to reinstall the x86 apps from scratch. I also have a Win 10-Pro 1909 X64 ISO disc, X86/X64 backup software and a very large external backup disc.

Any advice on how best to achieve this transition as I am 82 and my Windows skill level is not that of a much younger and/or more knowledgeable person. Also, are there any unusual pitfalls in such a transition I need to pay special attention to? Thanks, in advance, for advice, guidance, pointers to appropriate tutorials, warnings, or anything else

Hi,
Transfer all personal files to removable media
Clean install
Reinstall all apps....

Henrik37 said:

I have a 64 bit PC presently running Win 7 Home Premium X86 that I want to transition to Win 10-Pro X64 1909. As can be expected, the apps currently installed on this PC are X86 versions for which X64 versions mostly do not exist. I also have a new Win 10-Pro x64 install disc and a never used Win 10-Pro COA/key. The transition will be much easier if I can avoid having to reinstall the x86 apps from scratch.

I'm afraid you cannot upgrade from a 32-bit Windows to a 64-bit one. Your only option is to clean install the 64-bit Windows 10. That means you will have to reinstall all your apps.

32-bit apps will run in a 64-bit Windows 10. If all your x86 apps are 32-bit then you will be able to install and use them. Only old 16-bit apps will not run on an x64 system.

An alternative would be to upgrade your x86 Windows 7 Home Premium to x86 Windows 10 Home, which you can still do for free. This would keep all your documents and installed apps (as long as they are compatible with W10, most are). This would give the PC a digital license for W10 Home.

Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for Free

If you really need Pro, then you could upgrade from x86 W10 Home to x86 W10 Pro just by entering your Pro key. A Windows key is valid for both 32 and 64 bits. This would get the PC a digital license for W10 Pro, meaning you could do a clean install of x64 W10 Pro later without needing a key.

A lot of software on 64x computers is 32x.

Consider the following strategy:

It seems your priority is maintaining the existing programs.
It's unclear whether you will make significant improvements by moving 86x to 64x.

Perform a free upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10.
Once that has been accomplished you can reevaluate the computer performance.

The following links may be useful:

Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Help Forums
Windows 10 - Test & Try with No Risk, No Install - Windows 7 Help Forums
Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for Free
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...anuary-14-2020
Moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10: Everything you need to know - CNET

Many thanks to all three responders. I hear you loud and clearly: there isn't a direct way to get from X86 to X64. As I believe I still have all of the installation media for the X86 apps for which there are no X64 versions, I'll have to take the long road of a clean Win 10-Pro 1909 X64 install followed by reinstalling all of the apps.

Thanks, again, to all three of you for such clear advice.

Hi,
You don't count the short version

Henrik37 said:

... I believe I still have all of the installation media for the X86 apps for which there are no X64 versions, I'll have to take the long road of a clean Win 10-Pro 1909 X64 install followed by reinstalling all of the apps...

Make sure you also have any keys needed to do the reinstall. For example, older 32-bit versions of MS Office will install and run in x64 W10 - but you will need the key to do the reinstall.