Possible to clone 32bit to 64bit?

[WinSpecToR]

I have a 32bit hard drive that I need to clone. Can I install the 64bit OS and somehow still clone the program files?

[newpball]

Nope!

[Bjs]

True

The answer is you will need to reinstall all applications requiring registry entries or they'll fail to operate

[WinSpecToR]

Ok well I guess I will just clone the hard drive to 32bit.

Can I initiate it from the NEW comp and transfer from the old old comp?

[roma_turok]

You cannot clone hard drive to 32bit, you can clone hard drive as it is

manually copy important files with Usb flash drive or External usb hard drive
or connect old hard drive to NEW computer with sata connection

[Krispy Kritter]

You can't clone from PC to PC. Even if you could, it wouldn't work unless both computers were identical as the source installation would have drivers for the hardware in the "old" computer and not any hardware drivers for the new computer. The same applies to moving a bootable HDD from one computer to another.

If you simply want to save/move important files, you can network the computers, use any type of removable media (ie: CD, DVD, USB drive, external HDD), or install the "old" HDD into the new computer as a secondary drive.

[WinSpecToR]

Why am I not able to clone pc to pc? I've taken a hard drive with programs installed and stuck it in a totally different pc and it detected the new hardware just fine.

[nic2k4]

I have a 32bit hard drive that I need to clone. Can I install the 64bit OS and somehow still clone the program files?

Why am I not able to clone pc to pc? I've taken a hard drive with programs installed and stuck it in a totally different pc and it detected the new hardware just fine.

You seem a bit confused on the meaning of cloning a drive. Cloning is copying a drive "bit for bit", so even if you install a 64 bit OS on that drive and then clone the 32 bit drive over, the drive will end up being a copy of that 32 bit OS and the 64 bit OS will be gone.

Your last statement is correct to a point. If your new hardware is compatible (similar) with the older one Windows might be able to run enough to be able to detect the new hardware and install proper drivers for it. Your mileage may vary, I wouldn't hold my breath going from AMD to Intel ...

What you want to do is to clone your old 32 bit system to the new drive, pray Windows recovers from the hardware change, then upgrade Windows to the 64 bit version.

What you really should do is uses the Easy Transfer Wizard on your old PC to save your data and settings to an external drive (make sure to only select stuff from the C drive), fresh install your 64 bit OS on the new PC and transfer your user with the wizard.

[newpball]

I don't get it, people ask for advice, they get it, they don't like it, they question it and likely will do whatever they please anyway.

What's the point?

If you have a new computer which is not an exact hardware copy you have to do a clean install!

[Krispy Kritter]

It sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't. XP was more forgiving than Vista+ But you end up with a more bloated registry and a bunch of drivers that are no longer used. It can and most often will (with Vista or newer) trigger the Windows registration required. If the computer/HDD in question is an OEM PC (ie: HP, Dell, etc.), the registration will never succeed as the OEM License is tied to the original motherboard and the OS cannot legally be moved to another computer.

The recommended procedure when upgrading the OS would be a fresh install. So it doesn't matter if you can move the HDD or not. Simply install the 64bit OS onto the new HDD and leave the old computer as is.

[bevills1]

I installed Win8.1 64 bit to dual boot with WinXP by selecting new install instead of upgrade option during setup and then selecting custom in setup which allows you to choose where to setup the new OS because I have some programs that will not run on a 64 bit system, and I can boot either OS as needed.