Having found out that an older system currently running W7 64 bit can be "upgraded" to W10 if a clean install of W7 32 bit is used, do I have to also install all the upgrades also? I have a valid product key and a 32 bit copy of W7 sp1. Apparently my Athlon 64 X2 4800+ socket 939 does not have the instruction set to run 64 bit W10 but will work with 32 bit W10.
Hi Tinmar,
Have a look at this tutorial,(our w10 sister forum), also check the product key link in it.
Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums[2]=Installation%20and%20Setup
Roy
So you are saying don't bother changing W7 64 to W7 32, just a clean install of W10 32 from an iso will suffice, Microsoft will count that as a free upgrade.
Why did you get 32 bit ?
If it runs Windows 7 64 bit, it will run Windows 10 64 bit, who told you it wouldn`t ?
A message from Microsoft clearly states that the W7 64 cannot be upgraded to W10 because the processor does not have the complete instruction set. Having googled "W10 on socket 939 pc's, somebody says that they can manage 32 bit but not 64 bit.
From what I've found the issue has to do with the CMPXCHG16b instruction.
If the CMPXCHG16b instruction is not supported,
It seems you can't do an upgrade install of W10 x64, but you can do a clean install of W10 x64.
Here's a Google search for Socket 939 on Ten Forums if you want to read/research more:
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=&...pe=&as_rights=
How much RAM do you have ?
If it's less than 4 GB, i suggest using Windows 32 bit.
Is your "valid product key" a readable COA sticker ?
What i would do if i wanted W10 x64 with this hardware
Get the gatherosstate.exe file and save it to a flash stick.
The instructions for this are in the tutorial AddRAM gave you in post #6.
Make sure i can read the COA key.
That way i have 2 options for activating Win 10, the COA key or the gatherosstate, better safe than sorry.
Make a system backup image of the Win 7 partition/drive, save it to an external drive.
I use Macrium Reflect, and it works reliably for me, ymmv.
Remove my current HD with Win7 and replace it with a new/clean HD/SSD.
If you can't do that, then you would have to install Win 10 on your current HD/SSD.
I like having more options for recovery, that's why i use a "clean" HD/SSD when making changes like this.
I have just successfully installed (clean) W10 home 32bit and it is activated using the W7hp product key. I disconnected the W7 hdd and installed W10 on a Corsair Force 3 120gb ssd. It is downloading and installing updates and restarting as I type this. As the socket 939 boards limit is 4gb, I won't try a clean install of the 64 bit.
Athlon X2 4800+
4X1gb ddr pc3200 cl2
Asrock 939A785GMHI128M
Corsair Force3 120gb
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200gb
Built in Radeon graphics using 128mb of onboard memory
Good work and glad to hear you got W10 installed, activated, and working
Now you can use W10 and see how you like it and test that you don't have any issues.
If you find it doesn't work for you can disconnect the W10 drive and reconnect the W7 drive.
I keep the OS BU drive in a drawer until I'm sure i don't need it "as-is" with the prior OS anymore.
Then I clean it and re-use it.
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