Upgrading to 8.1 64bit from 7 32bit.

Ducky89

Ducky89

Ducky89

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Hey all,

I'm in the process of upgrading my PC and before I get the bits for it I want to make sure I can do the best I can with the OS.

I currently have a 120gb SSD with Win 7 32 bit installed... I want to get 8.1 64bit on there. Can someone point me in the right direction of how to do this?

I can get a download file through work (reduced rate as I use the home PC for work stuff) for Win 8.1, but am aware it's not a straight upgrade.

Will I have to wipe the drive and then install 8.1 on it? Will my files on my other 500gb HDD still be readable in 64 bit?

Sorry for the noob questions, TIA.

Joe.
 
You do have to wipe the install drive to upgrade from 32 bit, but the files on the other drive will still be readable.
As far as I know you don't need to prepare the drive in any way, just run the downloaded file on your PC, and follow the instructions to burn an install DVD or create a bootable USB stick.
Then boot into your BIOS, and boot from the DVD or USB drive.
The windows install will run, then just select the SSD, and it will sort itself out. If possible, unplug the second hard drive whilst you are installing windows. It isn't necessary, but I do it so there is no chance of accidentally wiping the wrong drive.
 
Best to only have the SSD connected - otherwise sometimes windows writes things to the other HDD and then it needs to be there for windows to run - even though it is not the OS drive. That's what I found!
 
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