Question installing windows 10 84 bit as virtual machine

Hackiyoff

Reputable
Jun 10, 2015
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4,510
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windows 7 sp1 pro 64/32 bit. system type says 64 bit os but really think its the 32bit that's installed
z97 asus motherboard
12-4000 series cpu
256GB SSD - mbr about 150 GB free
8 GB ddr 4 ram
also have a second similar unformated SSD
Microsoft Virtual Machine installed
Virtualization enabled in bios
csm - launch CSM - enabled
boot device control - UEFI and legacy oprom
boot from network devices and PCI/e - pci - legacy oprom first
boot from storage device - uefi first

what I tried to do is install windows 10 home 64 bit in virtual machine but got error there was no 64 bit cpu or an error system 32 bootloader
tried with 32 bit - got a different error message, and would not install

I need to keep win 7 because i have software that will not run under either win 8 or 10 even in compatibility mode. Most of these were custom built at considerable expense and the writer has died.
others were from companies that required registration to activate and the company is no longer in business. after installing on pure WIN 10 pc, they could not be activated

another reason I wanted to use MS VM is i read a thread that said I could access software outside the VM like MS office. it also said this was not possible with other VM's

the reason for needing win 10 is that certain software companies have announced that new versions of their software will only be supported in win 10 (didn't say that installation on win 7 would be impossible)


I know there is free software to convert a data drive (no os) from MBR to GPT as a matter of fact I can do this in Win 7 using disk management
I have found no free software that will covert an os disk from MBR to GPT

There is Virtual Box - but there is a fee for a version that will covert an OS drive.
there is also Ease-us same thing

does anyone know if either of these work on an OS drive without data loss?

does anyone know of free software that will convert an OS drive to GPT without data loss?

does anyone have any suggestions for how I might install win 10 - either 32 or 64 bit on MS VM machine?

i do have a cd and dvd with iso of win 10 along with a USB flash drive.
 
D

Deleted member 14196

Guest
what makes you think it's 32? if it says 64, it's 64 bit. also, if you can use all 8GB of ram, then it's a 64 bit Windows 7 install.

i would make Windows 10 the Host and host the Windows 7 as a vm

and I only recommend vmwar vmplayer (free for personal use)
all other vms suck. trust me. but you do as you please.

what are you going to do when you machine fails? you are going to lose all those 'precious' registered dinosaur apps anyway! time to move forward. ditch the old. you can't live in windows 7 forever anyway. time to migrate like the rest of the universe.

i think you can use Virtual box to box up your windows 7 to a VM, use that for your old unsupported apps. and keep good full backups of that VM as well, in different places (cloud preferably) and on different media types (HDD, BluRay, Cloud)

installing win10 on an MS vm is no different than any other os install on to a vm, read the manual. too much to cover in a post
 
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