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Nowadays, I am trying to update my desktop computer, which uses Windows 10 Pro 32-bit version, to Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (By the way, the desktop is eligible for such an operation.). For that goal, I've created a bootable USB stick from Microsoft's official site.

In order to start the conversion process, I plugged the USB flash drive on the desktop and accessed the BIOS interface so that the proper booting device could be selected amongst the others (mainly HDDs) in the priority table. However, the USB stick didn't show up in the table.

Afterwards, I searched possible solutions for the problem on the internet all of which haven't worked so far. Those solutions and what happened after trying them out is listed below:

  1. Changing the first boot device option on the BIOS as either USB-FDD or USB-HDD. Although I tried both ways, it didn't work. Additionally, I changed the second and third options too but the result was the same.

  2. Using a USB stick with USB 2.0 port instead of the 3.0 version. This cannot make difference (And, it didn't.) as in order to test whether the problem was arising from the fact that the USB flash drive has a USB 3.0 port, I plugged another peripheral which was a WD portable HDD with a 3.0 port and it was detected on the priority list.

  3. Changing the BIOS setting from the UEFI to the legacy BIOS. My desktop has already been using the legacy BIOS.

  4. Uploading the boot files from Rufus instead of the official Microsoft website. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with the boot documentation inside the flash drive as when I plugged that USB flash drive on my laptop, which uses the legacy BIOS and USB 2.0 ports, the USB stick appeared on the priority list.

According to the results above, apparently, the problem is about my desktop computer. So, what is the problem and how can I sort it out?

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  • Try turning off (disabling) Secure Boot. Also ask the manufacturer of the computer for a Recovery USB - That will work.
    – anon
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 12:35
  • 1
    The USB stick USB version doe snot matter but it often matters which USB port you use. Usually only those ports attached to the CPU/chipset are bootable. USB ports attached to third party USB chips are usually not bootable. So check your mainboard documentation which ports are routed to what controller.
    – Robert
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 13:09
  • I've tried the onboard USB ports of the motherboard but this also didn't work.
    – Karakoncolos
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 4:40
  • Also, I couldn't find a feature that enables or disables the secure boot, both on the desktop and laptop devices of mine. Because they are using the legacy BIOS.
    – Karakoncolos
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 4:44

1 Answer 1

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After numerous and desperate attempts back in the day, I've finally sorted the whole problem out and successfully upgraded my 32-bit OS to 64-bit. Here is how which may be useful to the people who has been using the legacy BIOS for quite a long time and suffering from that issue:

There is no problem in downloading the intended Windows 10 version via Microsoft's official website. But, after downloading the bootable media creation tool, it becomes essential to form an ISO file instead of directly writing files on the external USB storage device. Because (here comes the main causes of the BIOS not detecting the bootable USB) the format of the storage device automatically becomes FAT32 and there is nothing you can do about it [If you change the format back to normal (mostly NTFS), the content of the device will be erased.]. Also, it is hard to find out whether the partition type is MBR or GPT which is crucial. Consequently, we need a "mediator" to find a common ground between our needs and the way of storage: Rufus.

GUI of the most recent version of Rufus actually hints at which partition type and file system correspond to which interface (legacy BIOS and/or UEFI). As a result, the whole process safeguards the upcoming actions that are going to be taken. AIO Boot's video How to use Rufus to install Windows 10 (UEFI and Legacy BIOS) briefly and visually explains what should be done under what circumstances regarding the system and device of concern.

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