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I want to know whether my PC will support 64 bit windows 10 pro or not? Currently I'm using 32 bit widows 10 pro activated with digital license.

settings page

system information app

Powershell sysinfo

I've used coreinfo from sysinternals website and this is what it tells about my processor. "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz x86 Family 6 Model 142 Stepping 9, GenuineIntel"

Well, i'm confused which info is correct shell says my processor is x64 family. Coreinfo says it is x86 family. settings page says under "system type" "x64 based processor" but system information app says under "system type" "x86 based PC" Tell me if i need to provide more information.
I tried asking this in Microsoft community but not much help. Its my first question here.

CopperGolie
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2 Answers2

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You have a 64-bit CPU. The Intel ARK page for your CPU can confirm that it has the "Intel 64" instruction set. (Probably all Intel Core i3/i5/i7 are 64-bit.)

Both labels are technically correct, because "x64" (aka Intel x86_64 or amd64) is actually just a 64-bit variant of the previous "x86" (Intel i386/…/i686) architecture, as opposed to e.g. ARM or Itanium which are completely different worlds.

So it says "X86-based system" because the x64 CPU can run both x64 and x86 variants of Windows – but it cannot run e.g. Windows for IA64 (Itanium), which used to be a source of confusion.

Additionally, x64 systems have the same Windows licensing rules as x86 systems did; however ARM systems have different licensing.

grawity
  • 501,077
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Your PC supports a 64-bit operating system.
You can check this by doing a few different methods.

In Windows 10 and Windows 8.1
Go to the Settings (Win + I). Then System > About.
At the right, under Device specifications, see System type.

In here if you see..,

  • 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor - This means your CPU supports 64-bit and you already have the 64-bit version of Windows.

  • 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor - This means your CPU supports 64-bit, but you have installed the 32-bit version of Windows.

  • 32-bit operating system, x86-based processor - This means your processor doesn't support 64-bit and you have the 32-bit version of Windows installed.

You can also check this by checking your process specification.
Intel® Core™ i7-7500U Processor - https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/95451/intel-core-i7-7500u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-50-ghz.html

  Advanced Technologies           
 ----------------------- -------- 
  Intel® 64 ‡             Yes     
  Instruction Set         64-bit

It is also worth noting that if you're using the 32-bit operating system (OS), it can only handle 4GB of memory. So that means, since you have an 8GB of RAM, you're wasting your resource by using a 32-bit Operating system. So, in your case, it's recommended to use a 64-bit OS. However, to install a 64-bit OS, you have to manually reinstall 64-bit OS. You cannot upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit.

Physical Memory Limits: Windows 10

The following table specifies the limits on physical memory for Windows 10.

+----------------------------------+---------------+--------------+
|             Version              | Limit on X86  | Limit on X64 |
+----------------------------------+---------------+--------------+
| Windows 10 Enterprise            | 4 GB          | 6 TB         |
| Windows 10 Education             | 4 GB          | 2 TB         |
| Windows 10 Pro for Workstations  | 4 GB          | 6 TB         |
| Windows 10 Pro                   | 4 GB          | 2 TB         |
| Windows 10 Home                  | 4 GB          | 128 GB       |
+----------------------------------+---------------+--------------+

Source: Memory Limits for Windows and Windows Server Releases

Related
- How do I check whether my hardware is 64-bit capable in Windows?
- How to check (on Windows) if CPU is 64-bit compatible?
- How much memory can be accessed by a 32-bit machine?

Reference
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15056/windows-32-64-bit-faq
- https://www.howtogeek.com/228042/how-to-switch-from-32-bit-windows-10-to-64-bit-windows-10/
- Memory Limits for Windows and Windows Server Releases

DxTx
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