How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

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ChrisEric1 CECL
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How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

NOTE: You will see a lot of stuff copied and pasted from the (my) website. The website for updated or more info is from:
https://ce1cecl.github.io/32to64/

If something is not clear, please let me know!

Also, this post will only show the Upgrade to 64-bit method because it may be to long for BetaArchive. Some things may be on the site, some may not. One more thing, the screenshots are not here because i want them in a specific order and could not figure out how to.

I didn't know if i was supposed to put the iso links there but did it anyways, if its not, please remove them.

NOTE: [#] Means there a note about something, scroll to the bottom of the page to see the note.

WARNING: When you downgrade from 64-bit to 32-bit, you MAY loose 64-bit programs and it is NOT recommended to do so. Do that at your own risk!

NOTE: Don't Ask about the older Windows 7 and earlier setup, this trick doesn't work on it as Windows 7 uses checks after clicking on it (similar to Windows 10). And no, you can't copy the "$WINDOWS.~BT" folder over as it knows the Hard Disk ID Number.

Prerequisites: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.0[1] ! Windows 10[3] and Windows 8.1[2] Does NOT work at the moment unless you are able to downgrade with/out lossing data !

If you have XP 64-bit or x64 (SP2), you may need to find another runaround as there is no SP3 for those versions. There might be a registry hack but i don't know what to change! (it would be nice for Windows NT/2000 with KernelEx as well but its unlikely for 9x/ME)

Downloads[4]:
ShowHideControls (Required): https://ce1cecl.github.io/32to64/ShowHideControls.exe
Windows 8 Build 7955 (Required): https://ia800901.us.archive.org/2/items ... 0m2%29.iso
Windows 8 Build 7963 (if upgrading to 64-bit from 32-bit):
https://ia800903.us.archive.org/11/item ... US_DV5.iso
Source for Windows 8 Build 7955 & Windows 8 Build 7963 (OSVault) in Windows BETA Repo:
https://osvault.weebly.com/

! WARNING ! I am not responsible for any damage or any data loss that occurred. Use this method at your own risk. THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL Its also worth mentioning that these 2 Windows 8 downloads are BETA builds, meaning it should not be used on primary systems! These builds also have a timebomb, but for me, they were broken.

Known Bugs (as far as Windows XP)[5]: Firefox doesn't want to load any web pages, it will just say "your tab just crashed" The wallpaper gets reset as well as the profile pictures, and thats all i know!

Set the BIOS date to (recommended) 2011-06-30 00:00:00 [6]

Windows 8 BETA product key (if you cant open product.ini or just lazy)

D4F6K-QK3RD-TMVMJ-BBMRX-3MBMV

Upgrade to 64-bit method:

Step 1 (maybe optional):

Enter your computers BIOS, and set the date to 06/30/2011 (BIOS key will very depending on computer, vmware workstation uses F2, the time can stay the same but I would set it to 00:00:00) [6]

Step 2[8]:

Boot up the computer and make a new folder on the C drive (it doesn't have to be labeled different from default unless you want to)

Step 3[8]:

Create A "sources" folder inside of the New Folder

Step 4[8]:

Copy install.wim from the 7963 iso inside sources to the sources folder inside New Folder on the Hard Drive

Step 5 (optional)[8]:

Copy ShowHideControls.exe to the sources folder inside New Folder on the Hard Drive

Step 6[8]:

Copy "boot, efi, langpacks, support, upgrade, autorun.inf, bootmgr, bootmgr.efi, setup.exe" (NOT "sources") from 7955 to the New Folder on the Hard Drive

Step 7[8]:

Copy Every File And Folder inside sources (EXCLUDING "install.wim") from 7955 to the sources folder inside New Folder on the Hard Drive

Step 8[8]:

Open "product.ini, ShowHideControls.exe, installprep.exe" from the sources folder inside New Folder on the Hard Drive

Step 9[8]:

Copy The Ultimate Product Key into the Windows 8 Type Setup Screen, Click Continue and Accept the Agreement.

Step 10[8]:

Go the the ShowHideControls Window, click the Refresh Button (its actually in russian and i couldn't find or make an english version)

Step 11[8]:

Click the show (first) button on ShowHideControls, Mouse over the Don't keep anything button until you see "Keep user accounts, personal files, and programs" and click, then Click Continue on the Windows 8 Type Setup Screen, and then click Install, and wait for it to upgrade, until its done.

Step 12:

Done. Step 12 is not really a step but you did it!

{1} Windows 8.0 IS the last known working version to downgrade because of (see [2]).

{2} Windows 8.1 RTM or later downgrading to Windows 8.0 RTM or earlier is known to cause the following issue (see photo)

{3} Windows 10 build 9841 (TP) or later does not let you use the ShowHideControls trick for whatever reason (see video) It it known not occur on build 9870 because its just a windows 8.1 setup named "installprep.exe" instead of "setupprep.exe"!

{4} You don't have to use these 2 specific builds in the downloads section, these just only work with Windows XP, but if you on something like Windows 7, You can probably use Windows 8 Consumer or Dev preview as these work just find at least for Windows 7/8.

{5} The wallpaper from downgrading from Windows 8 Consumer preview to Windows 8 Dev preview didn't change and its only noticed in XP, its probably because Windows XP didn't come with an "AppData" folder while Windows vista and Up did, and it doesn't redirect, while "Documents and Settings" was changed to "Users", it actually has a "symbolic link".

{6} They all go together and are just repeated.

{7} If you are just going from 32-bit to 32-bit or 64-bit to 64-bit, the steps are pretty much the same.

{8} These photos are Windows XP SP3 (which is 32-bit only)

It is also worth mentioning that you CANNOT upgrade windows 8.1 (10) 32-bit to 64-bit / 64-bit to 32-bit without downgrading first as it just goes to the "choose keyboard layout" instead of the "preparing your pc" screen. While you might be able to downgrade a couple of Windows 10 TP builds to 8.1, it would be useless anyways.

Also, you should NOT put a 1703 (EXAMPLE) install.wim file into a 1709 (EXAMPLE) iso, as it will 1. rollback the install. 2. Get stuck somewhere at the end and you might need to reset.

Whats Next: Windows XP SP2 (INCLUDING X64-64BIT) and earlier and Windows 8.1 and later support (INCLUDING WIN10).

AlphaBeta
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by AlphaBeta »

The big-ass Comic Sans caption on your page made me bleech my eyes, but here I come back stronger than before with a pretty important question:

Did you even confirm that it performs an actual upgrade?

The thought of Setup happily upgrading across architectures after merely unhiding/enabling the responsible radio box with a window message during the initial "collecting information" phase leaves me rather anxious about this whole thing.
AlphaBeta, stop brainwashing me immediately!

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johndoe123
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by johndoe123 »

While it may have upgraded, it may have done a clean upgrade which means files, apps and settings are removed.
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ChrisEric1 CECL
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

@johndoe123, files, apps and settings are NOT removed, I just don't have good screenshots to show the apps staying.

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by johndoe123 »

Please post your screenshots. I want proof that it actually works.
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is that a discord mention?
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Lucas Brooks
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Lucas Brooks »

I would like to see a video of the upgrade showing how all applications are kept. I don't think anyone in this community bothered to try this out and if you can prove that it indeed works, then it would be great.


computerfan9000
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by computerfan9000 »

Sorry for the bump, but I tested this method by upgrading a VMware virtual machine from Windows 7 SP1 32-bit to Windows 8 RTM 64-bit, and can confirm that OP's method actually does work. I took the Windows 8 RTM 32-bit ISO and replaced the install.wim in it with the one from the 64-bit ISO, then used ShowHideControls to force the selection of the Keep Windows settings, personal files and apps button. While the OS was completely usable and most installed apps continued to work, there were several issues:
  • Most settings from Windows 7, like the desktop background and power options, were lost during the upgrade process
  • All drivers were lost, since 64-bit Windows uses completely different drivers
  • The user account from Windows 7 survived fully intact, even keeping the same password as before the upgrade
  • The start menu remained intact, however some shortcuts for 32 bit applications didn't properly update their paths from Program Files to Program Files (x86). Most applications did, however
  • Internet Explorer's home page was reset to msn.com, however all bookmarks remained intact
  • MSI based apps like Microsoft Office and Windows Live Essentials were partially to completely broken after the upgrade. Any attempts to repair or uninstall them resulted in failure. Uninstalling them before the upgrade and reinstalling them afterward worked fine, though
  • All 16 bit apps were broken due to the lack of an NTVDM in 64-bit Windows, however they could be fixed by installing OTVDM/WineVDM: https://github.com/otya128/winevdm
I have screenshots and VMs to prove this if interested. I was also subsequently able to upgrade the VM to Windows 8.1 64-bit, and through the various versions of Windows 10 all the way to the 64-bit only Windows 11 :D

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, yes it would be great to see some screen shots or vids - I'm trying to upgrade an old xp 32 bit machine to 64 bit as the machine runs a bespoke program the we no longer have the install disks for.

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, if anyone has a full "how to" with pics or videos it would be great - we have an old win xp 32 bit box at work running a bespoke program that we don't have the install disks for - I have created a vm from the disk but the program fails to read the data dase on the vm for some reason - I'm going to create a few more vms and see if I can upgrade to vista and then 7 but getting to 64bit with extra ram for the program is the goal - any help on this would be greatly appreciated

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

Math8888 wrote:
Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:17 pm
Hi, yes it would be great to see some screen shots or vids - I'm trying to upgrade an old xp 32 bit machine to 64 bit as the machine runs a bespoke program the we no longer have the install disks for.
Hi there!
The Screenshots and instructions are here http://ce1cecl.xyz/32to64/
The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMtuAerX3g

Make sure you have a backup before you do this
what processor is it
IT MUST BE A x64 COMPATIBLE TO DO THIS (IT ALSO MUST MEET WINDOWS 8/10's REQUIREMENTS TOO, SSE2, NX/XD, PAE, etc)
in other words
send me the Full CPU name!
Are you having any problems when you are doing this?
I am also in the BA discord, so if you need to live-chat i am in there

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, thanks so much for the info - it has a 64bit processor (can't remember off had what it is ath64x2 I think)
I've got a vm of the machine on my laptop that I can play with - I've tried a straight windows backup and then restore to xp64 that was a no go I also tried pctogo and that didn't work either - I want to go from xp32 to xp64 then vista then win7 if I can.

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

Math8888 wrote:
Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:13 pm
Hi, thanks so much for the info - it has a 64bit processor (can't remember off had what it is ath64x2 I think)
I've got a vm of the machine on my laptop that I can play with - I've tried a straight windows backup and then restore to xp64 that was a no go I also tried pctogo and that didn't work either - I want to go from xp32 to xp64 then vista then win7 if I can.
May I ask what is the latest OS you want to install on it
you cant upgrade xp x64 to vista in any way, even with this method, b/c windows 8 requires sp3, x64 only has sp2, and i couldn't get it to work.
You may be able to downgrade to windows 7 from this beta build, but idk if it will work (NTDEV on YouTube tried to do that from 8.1, but 8.1 CANNOT go to 8.0 for whatever reason)
the best route maybe to repack the windows 7 wim with windows 8's info(XML, google WimXML), and add required files that maybe required by win8's installer
so yeah, let me know the latest build of windows you want on this machine, i'll play around with it and go on from there (EX:7601 for 7 SP1)
and i would go the shortest route possible if you can.
my current discord is 'ChrisEric1 CECL#5569' if you want to privetly chat with me, or send the image if you want (ofc, if you are going to send the image, remove sensitive info first if you can)
EDIT: im also in BA discord in case it changes

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, in the video are they going straight from xp32 to xp64 - so why do I need all the windows 8 stuff I thought you couldn't go from xp to 8 - I thought normal upgrade path was xp vista 7 8.

I have 32 bit vista and would like to end up with windows 7 64 bit

Can you give me some clues - did you upgrade xp from 32 to 64

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Oh ok - so there is no way to go from xp32 to xp64 then vista64 to 764

I need to take this machine to 64 bit so I can run more ram basically and hopefully end up with a more reliable o/s
So could I go from xp32 to vista 32 then to vista 64 then ton7 64bit

It's a complete pain the xp box only runs 1 program and I do have installers for that program that will install on 7 64 bit - but the program has had several over the air updates and I don't have installers for the updates ( supplying company long gone bust) - and most of the programs that claim to copy full programs to new machines don't work (zinstall and pc mover) the xp box is a bit old and knackered now and it would be great to get things running on a new machine or VM with loads of ram and a reliable o/s

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

Math8888 wrote:
Sat Dec 18, 2021 1:30 pm
Oh ok - so there is no way to go from xp32 to xp64 then vista64 to 764

I need to take this machine to 64 bit so I can run more ram basically and hopefully end up with a more reliable o/s
So could I go from xp32 to vista 32 then to vista 64 then ton7 64bit

It's a complete pain the xp box only runs 1 program and I do have installers for that program that will install on 7 64 bit - but the program has had several over the air updates and I don't have installers for the updates ( supplying company long gone bust) - and most of the programs that claim to copy full programs to new machines don't work (zinstall and pc mover) the xp box is a bit old and knackered now and it would be great to get things running on a new machine or VM with loads of ram and a reliable o/s
ok,
so, is there a Service pack of vista you want me to use? (SP0/SP1/SP2?)
b/c DISM doesn't work with earlier version of vista AFAIK, so, i need to send custom upgrade iso's
if i send custom iso's, you may or may not need the external program b/c i also found a way to use it without by editing a xml inside the wim, i also found a english version of the app too, but i have to dig it out if you need it
EDIT: also, what Service Pack of xp is on that machine right now?
you may need SP3
EDIT2: how much ram do you have
you may need at least 2GB installed in there if you want to go back to 32-bit, and 1GB if you want to goto 64 IIRC
EDIT3: what edition of windows do you want too, sorry if im asking too much
EDIT4: what model of the machine is it?

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, sorry for the delay in replying (Christmas and all that)
I've got a copy of the physical machine now running on vmware on my laptop
The physical machine is just a generic pc no make or model

Vm processer i3
4mb ram same as physical machine
Running xp Pro 32bit sp3
I would like to end up running windows 7 Pro 64bit (or 8 or 10 really)

I have tried upgrading the vm from xp pro 32bit to vista ultimate 32bit but it's proving quite difficult I keep running into can't upgrade windows boot configuration ( googled it - seems common error when upgrading from xp to vista so far non of the fixes have worked)

5hanjs for your help

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Oh and hope you have a great Christmas and New year 🥳

ChrisEric1 CECL
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

Hello there!
Hope you had a good Christmas!
So, the provided method on the website lets you upgrade to a beta of Windows 8.0, which you can later upgrade to Windows 8.0 RTM, 8.1, and 10, it should work fine!
Is there any confusion on the website that I can possibly re-explain?
If you really want windows 7, let me know! (but 7 has been out of support anyways)

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Just 1 thing really, is it straight from xp pro 32bit sp3 to the Windows 8 64 bit beta

Thanks
Dave m

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

yes it is, you could go to 8.0 RTM when on 7, but if on XP, you have to use this build since its the latest build that works the best (and compared to RTM, the same bugs may apply, like wallpaper may reset)

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, it all went well but the upgrade is stuck in a loop - it says system needs to restart (see pic https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload ... .24368.jpg ) then on restart it asks if I want to continue with Windows 8 installation then continues to the "Windows needs to restart menu".
I think I'm going to see if I can install windows xp over the top of the existing installation to see if it fixes it

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Hi, just a quick update - it worked I'm now running the pre release windows 8 64 bit and the program I needed to run is working fine - just one last quick question what version of Windows did you use to upgrade the pre release windows 8 I've tried straight to windows 10 but that won't let me do an upgrade just a clean install and a retail version of windows 8.1 says this version of windows can't be upgraded.

Thanks for all your help through this process
Dave m

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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by ChrisEric1 CECL »

Try going to windows 8.0 rtm first

Math8888
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Re: How to upgrade 32-bit to 64-bit Windows (or do it reversed)

Post by Math8888 »

Doesn't seem to work - tried upgrade to
Win 8 Pro
Win 8.1
Win 7 ultimate
Win 10 Pro
Nothing seems to work

Did you eventually upgrade your version from pre release to official - I'm going to be gutted if I can't get any further when I'm so close

Regards
Dave M

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