Make sure Windows 10 64-bit is compatible with your PC
A 64-bit version of Windows can only be installed on computers with capable hardware. As such, the first thing you need to do is to determine whether your computer has a 64-bit processor.
You can easily get this information from the Settings app.
1. Use the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app.
2. Click System.
3. Click About.
4. Under System type, you will see two pieces of information: if it says 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor, then it means that your PC is running a 32-bit version of Windows 10 on a 64-bit processor. If it says 32-bit operating system, x86-based processor, then your computer doesn't support Windows 10 (64-bit).
Alternatively, you can open System Information to gather the processor information:
1. Open the Start menu, do a search for System Information, and press Enter.
2. Under System Summary, on the right side, look for System Type. If you see x64-based PC,then your computer is capable of running a 64-bit version of Windows. If you see x86-based PC, then you can't install another architecture of the operating system.
Also, even though most current PCs will run Windows 10, if you have an older computer, you'll also need to make sure the processor includes the required features. According to Microsoft's support page in Windows 8.x and later, the operating system requires three essential characteristics, including Physical Address Extension (PAE), No-eXecute (NX), and Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (SSE2). Additionally, Windows 10 (64-bit) also requires CMPXCHG16b (CX16) feature to be present in the processor.
The Windows Setup wizard always checks for hardware compatibility before the installation begins. If these features are not supported by the processor, Windows 10 won't install.
If you want to verify that your computer includes support for these features, you can use a command-line tool called Coreinfo from Microsoft's Windows Sysinternals.
2. Open the folder you downloaded Coreinfo, right-click the zip folder, and select Extract all.
3. When the Coreinfo folder opens, click on File, and select Open command prompt.
4. Type the command coreinfo and press Enter.
5. Coreinfo will now list the processor information and make sure PAE, NX, SSE2, and CX16 are present (you can use Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut to open the find command). If the four features are present, then you can upgrade to Windows 10 (x64).
Make sure there 64-bit versions of device drivers
Also, you also want to ensure that other components in your system, such as video and sound cards are 64-bit compatible, as 32-bit versions of drivers won't work.
If your computer is only a few years old, it's more than likely that there are 64-bit drivers available. However, older components may not even be supported anymore. Before switching from a 32- to a 64-bit version of Windows, check your manufacturer's website to see if there are 64-bit drivers available.
Make a full backup of your PC
You will be doing making significant changes on your computer, as such it's a good idea to make a full backup of your system before upgrading.
You can use our previous guide to make a full backup of Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and even Windows 7.
Remember that you will also need to backup your personal files to an external drive or OneDrive, as they will be deleted during the installation process.
Make a clean install of Windows 10
Because there is not a direct path from 32-bit to a 64-bit version of Windows 10, the only solution is to make a clean installation of the operating system.
Quick Tip: Before making a clean install, it's a good idea to make sure your copy of Windows 10 is properly activated. You can view this information on Settings > Update & security > Activation.
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