Changing from Win 8.1 64 bit, to 32 bit version.

TAPlank

I have the Win 8 Pro 64 bit & 32 bit update discs. I am presently running the updated 64 bit version, updated to 8.1 but would now like to change to the 32 bit version so that I can then run some of my older software.
What is the easiest way to do this changeover? Is there an 8.1 version of this also?

Fysh

Any particular reason you want the 32-bit version? If you've got >4GB of RAM you won't be able to use it under 32-bit Windows.

There's no migration path, really - if you've got a Win8 key and media, you'll need to do a clean 32-bit Windows 8 install, then upgrade to 8.1 through the store. (You could try doing a clean install with 8.1 media, but there's no guarantee your product key would work correctly...)

beauf

TAPlank wrote: »

I...would now like to change to the 32 bit version so that I can then run some of my older software....

Perhaps changing the compatibility settings might get them working. Or even a VM?

Capt'n Midnight

even in the Linux / BSD world it's hard to upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit.

going the other way just ain't going to happen , at best you are exporting some settings that would be used during a clean install to get something like you started with

VM is probably the best option for older SW if you can't get it running in compatibility

dual boot is messy , if you have to ask re 32/64 you probably aren't ready for that