The big up - W7 to W10 and HDD to SSD at once

cormie

Hey,
Following on from this and this, my SSD is currently in transit so I want to be prepared now for arrival to do an efficient upgrade but I'm going to be upgrading from W7 to W10 at the same time, so looking to do a fresh install of W10 on the SSD and not have to go through installing W7 and then upgrading as I'm sure it's a lot cleaner and quicker to do a clean install of W10 direct.

• My laptop is a Dell L502x. I'm pretty sure it's 64 bit.
• The SSD I'm getting is a Samsung Evo 850 1TB
• I'm HOPING I haven't missed the deadline for upgrading to W10, but I have the GWXWebWindows.exe file downloaded (only 25.6kb). Do I need to make a bootable installer CD from this?
• I'm not sure exactly what W7 version I have
• My serial number on the sticker on the laptop has completely faded
• I'll be able to take one last clone/backup of the HDD if necessary. My most recent backup was yesterday

So I'm guessing the process will be:
Create W10 install CD
Clone HDD
Replace HDD with SSD
Install W10


I'll then need somehow to get the program files and settings from the clone/backup to the new W10 install. Are these going to be forward compatible from 7 to 10, in terms of installation location etc I wonder? It's really just Thunderbird I have important files for, the rest of the programs it's just the OCD level of custom settings I've put on them.

Once I'm up and running, I guess I can work on customising programs over the next few days, but I need as little downtime between the upgrade and being able to use Firefox/Thunderbird/Openoffice/Rainlendar again as possible and I'll probably need to do it at night time as I use my laptop for work during the day (and night, but I don't get too many calls at night).

I was thinking if I'd need some how to connect the old laptop to a HD caddy, but I guess as long as I can just backup the files to an EXT HD, either through a clone/backup file, or just drag them over and drag them back to the new w10 this should be ok?

Any advice would be great. I just don't want to find out mid way that I've the wrong download file, that I didn't do something on time to activate the Free W10 upgrade, that I don't have the right W7 serial number (I assume the w7 one is used to install w10?) or that I don't have the right w10 upgrade version.

Alanstrainor

Okay, so essentially you are installing W10 fresh. You will have nothing beyond the standard Windows 10 applications and files. You are right to do a fresh install seeing that you have a fresh SSD.

You will not be able to simply copy the program files to the new install and hope the applications run. They will not. You will need to reinstall all applications in Windows 10, which obviously means you'll need the install media/exe/disk etc. This is painful I know, but it's the only way to do it.

I can't see the need of cloning the HDD, you can copy your personal files (photos, documents, music, videos etc) to a USB stick, or any storage that you can access with the newly installed machine; and then simply paste them onto the new install. If you had a SATA to usb adapter, you could also just plug the old HDD into the adapter, and connect to the W10 install and simply copy files.

Your laptop probably has a sticker on the bottom of it that will have the W7 license key, or you can download lots of programs that will tell you your license key also. (There are lots of them, but it's been a while since I've used any, the one I used was magicjellybean or similar)

So, the process should be, provided you don't have a hard drive caddy:

1. Copy user files from old HDD to external storage. You can do this when just booted into your W7 laptop.
2. Prepare your install media. Have a Windows 10 disk, or USB disk even ready to install. Find instructions online if you're unsure.
3. Write down your Windows 7 license key
4. Power off the laptop, remove the battery if possible, and carefully remove the HDD and replace with the SSD.
5. Install the bootable disk or usb drive and turn on your computer. Make sure to select the correct boot option on boot, so it will attempt to boot the USB or disk.
6. Install Windows.
7. Bask in the glory of your lightning fast laptop, and begin installing your programs and copying your files.

Skerries

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Your laptop probably has a sticker on the bottom of it that will have the W7 license key, or you can download lots of programs that will tell you your license key also. (There are lots of them, but it's been a while since I've used any, the one I used was magicjellybean or similar)
.

Belarc Advisor is the one that I used to use for pulling the license keys from OS and software
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

cormie

That's brilliant, thanks a lot for all the help!

I wasn't sure about where to get the w10 install file, but I ran GWXWebWindows.exe and it lead to getting info about downloading the mediacreationtool so I'm running that now creating an ISO I'll burn to DVD and boot up with that. I just need to get the license key next and I should be good to go once the new HD arrives.

I remember at one stage thinking I missed the deadline for upgrading from 7 to 10 for free but I'm hoping it'll be ok and maybe I was imagining things.

Good idea about just copying the files direct without creating a ghost image. There's not actually that much space taken for program files etc so should be simple enough.

Does W10 generally use the same install paths as 7? I know XP to 7 introduced a Program Files and a Program Files (x86) folder, when it used to be just Program Files.

cormie

SSD Arrived so going to try get this all sorted tonight

Amazon are strange at times. They gave no tracking number on an item worth €300 but do on ****ty little things you get from them sometimes:o

You get crazy excessive packing and protection on the most durable thing and there was only a little bit of packing paper in a small box for the SSD.

Am I right in thinking SSD's are in no way as fragile as a HDD? They are like SD cards and micro sd, yeah? No moving parts and don't take shocks the same way a HDD would? Are there "sectors" that can get damaged like a HDD?

Alanstrainor

cormie wrote: »

SSD Arrived so going to try get this all sorted tonight

Amazon are strange at times. They gave no tracking number on an item worth €300 but do on ****ty little things you get from them sometimes:o

You get crazy excessive packing and protection on the most durable thing and there was only a little bit of packing paper in a small box for the SSD.

Am I right in thinking SSD's are in no way as fragile as a HDD? They are like SD cards and micro sd, yeah? No moving parts and don't take shocks the same way a HDD would? Are there "sectors" that can get damaged like a HDD?

SSDs are incredibly shock resistant, in the same way any flash storage is(USB disks, SD cards etc). That is one huge benefit of them when using in a mobile device. No sectors either! I presume Windows 10 is smart enough not to defrag an SSD... but worth making sure that it's turned off anyway.

cormie

Thanks again!

I managed to install W10 on the new SSD anyway so up and running on that now.

I've a feeling w10 will take a lot of customisation to get it how I want it, but it seems pretty good so far. SSD seems to be much faster too

I got a lend of a SATA usb adaptor from a friend, so I have the old HD ready hooked up to that but it seems to be pretty corrupt as having issues transferring and with recovery ;(

cormie

I was extremely tired last night before going to sleep, but I'm almost sure I left the laptop on and have it set not to go to sleep, so it would continue synching files between the computer and sugarsync (cloud storage). When I woke up, it was at the login screen, so it seemed to have restarted itself (thunderbird etc weren't open so don't think it was just awake from a sleep).

I logged in anyway and then a few seconds later a little thing in the corner came up saying "restart to repair drive errors" :eek:

I googled this and it there seems to be others with the same issue, but didn't see it mentioned whether this is a big problem with the actual hardware. Does anyone know does this mean some of my hardware may be defective? It hasn't appeared again since restarting thankfully, but I'm just afraid

traco

Bumping this to see how it went as I'm about to do the same but I have a few questions.

Current machine is an i5 Toshiba Portege R700, 32 Bit with 8GB, W7 and Office 2010 (have that disk), have no windows disk.
All docs and music etc backed up on 3 seperate USB drives and dropbox pro (I'm parnoid)

Our external IT guy suggested installing W7 and then upgrading that to W10 after that install but I'd rather do a clean install of W10

So questions:
Do I need an upgrade file as mentioned in the thread or can I download W10 install and put on USB, boot from that and the activate with my W7 license key?

Can I just download a copy of W10 from microsofts site?

Any easy way to export all my current drivers to a USB so they can be easily accessed to reinstall later?

Any pointers, advice, do's and don'ts appreciated.

cormie

traco wrote: »

can I download W10 install and put on USB, boot from that and the activate with my W7 license key?

Can I just download a copy of W10 from microsofts site?

Any easy way to export all my current drivers to a USB so they can be easily accessed to reinstall later?

Any pointers, advice, do's and don'ts appreciated.

On the first two, yep, you can just download the clean install version from MS site, it guides you through which to pick if you want to clean install or upgrade, just go with clean install. I think I burned mine to a CD instead of booting by USB, then I just used my w7 license key and no issues so far

I'm unsure about the drivers etc. Sick at the mo so too tired to think about anything else

traco

cormie wrote: »

On the first two, yep, you can just download the clean install version from MS site, it guides you through which to pick if you want to clean install or upgrade, just go with clean install. I think I burned mine to a CD instead of booting by USB, then I just used my w7 license key and no issues so far

I'm unsure about the drivers etc. Sick at the mo so too tired to think about anything else

Cheers - pulled W10 down to USB and have all my licence keys so we will see. Worst case scenario I just put the original drive back in and off I go.

traco

Update - not going too well.

Went to MS site and created USB media install files as per instructions.
Put in new drive, booted from USB
Input W7 code - didn't accept it so continued without product key.
Installed W10 - all working but cannot activate with W7 product Key??

Any suggestions - some threads saying that the W7 key is linked to the hardware and that you have to upgrade the existing W7 to W10 and that gives you a new W10 key. Others stating that the process I followed should work.

Any ideas??

ZENER

Did you download the 32bit or 64bit version ? Your original is 32bit so your licence may not work on the 64bit version.
Given you have 8GB of RAM the 64 bit version is preferable otherwise you will only use under 4GB of your RAM.

Ken

traco

Just checked - its the 32 bit that is installed, its running and I'm on it at the moment but not sure how long I can use it.

I've been reading the MS site and it seems that 10 is linked to 7, so I imagine that you can only have one OS on that licence key. That would mean that upgrading the existing 7 to 10 makes sense as I imagine you essentially deactivate the W7 version.

I was hoping to keep my original HDD intact with W7 so I could jump back if I experienced any hardware issues with W10, this machine is a 2011 Laptop but decent spec.

Not sure what to do now?
Upgrade original HDD to W10, get the new key and input that on this new SSD drive - that would seem the simplest.
Buy W10 but that's €279.00
Say sod it all and install Ubuntu

GarIT

traco wrote: »

Just checked - its the 32 bit that is installed, its running and I'm on it at the moment but not sure how long I can use it.

I've been reading the MS site and it seems that 10 is linked to 7, so I imagine that you can only have one OS on that licence key. That would mean that upgrading the existing 7 to 10 makes sense as I imagine you essentially deactivate the W7 version.

I was hoping to keep my original HDD intact with W7 so I could jump back if I experienced any hardware issues with W10, this machine is a 2011 Laptop but decent spec.

Not sure what to do now?
Upgrade original HDD to W10, get the new key and input that on this new SSD drive - that would seem the simplest.
Buy W10 but that's €279.00
Say sod it all and install Ubuntu

Windows 10 upgrade doesn't use keys at all. MS has activation servers which know all devices that are entitled to use windows 10. If you're on the list once you install windows 10 it will activate itself. To get on that list you have to run your hardware through the upgrade process from windows 7 to 10, once that is done a fresh install will work.

An alternate method for you would be to:
1. Switch to your new hard drive
2. Install windows 7 on the new hard drive with your licence key
3. Upgrade that copy of Windows 7 to Windows 10 (Your laptop will now be registered with Microsoft as owning windows 10)
4. Format the new hard drive (removing windows 10 upgrade)
5. Clean install Windows 10 (It will activate itself from MS servers)

traco

I've already installed W10 on the new SSD so therein lies my problem.

So is there anyway I can activate this version?

I guess the old HDD is going to have to go back in no matter what, either to create a W7 install media so I can install it on the SSD, then do the upgrade from W7 to W10 on the new SSD.

What do I do then? Create a new W10 USB media, boot from the USB, format the drive and reinstall W10?

Where does that leave my original W7 HDD, is it now essentially "unactivated"

GarIT

traco wrote: »

I've already installed W10 on the new SSD so therein lies my problem.

So is there anyway I can activate this version?

I guess the old HDD is going to have to go back in no matter what, either to create a W7 install media so I can install it on the SSD, then do the upgrade from W7 to W10 on the new SSD.

What do I do then? Create a new W10 USB media, boot from the USB, format the drive and reinstall W10?

Where does that leave my original W7 HDD, is it now essentially "unactivated"

Just delete it

No

When you have run the laptop through the upgrade process once you can then do a clean install on any hard drive and it will activate itself

Yes

I believe your install of windows 7 will continue to function assuming you haven't overwritten or erased it.

traco

GarIT wrote: »

Just delete it

No

When you have run the laptop through the upgrade process once you can then do a clean install on any hard drive and it will activate itself

Yes

I believe your install of windows 7 will continue to function assuming you haven't overwritten or erased it.

Thanks - guess its back to the old drive now so and start again.

Out of interest - did I do something fundamentally different to the OP, perhaps his worked due to the cloning of drives?

traco

What a PITA!

I have no W7 pro disc as it came via OEM preinstalled and I can't seem to locate it on the HDD. I can make a recovery disc so that looks like the only option at present.

I did find it on the MS site but it requests a valid key - tried that and no joy. A search on google suggests that these downloads are now only accesible to those that purchased a version of W7 and not one that came installed. Apparently it is possible to get W7 for OEM install by means of a small fee.

Think I will park the plan for the moment and see if I can get a disc version of W7 Pro 32 bit and just use that.

GarIT

traco wrote: »

Thanks - guess its back to the old drive now so and start again.

Out of interest - did I do something fundamentally different to the OP, perhaps his worked due to the cloning of drives?

I'm not exactly sure

traco

Latest update

Got a version is W7 Pro. Installed on new SSD drive. Input licence and it accepted. Up now but monitor, Wifi etc all crap or not working so off to find relevant drivers for same.

Time to hardware into the router and get online to start searching for same. Might need some refreshments to get through this!!!

BTW - it's bullet fast now but not sure if that's the SSD or the fact that I only have the barebones OS running???

cormie

Sounds like you're running into more complications than I did.

I didn't really have time to read all the above, but just some points to note:

I didn't have w7 anywhere near my new SSD. I just went from old HDD with w7, downloaded w10 install files from here, burnt onto CD, out with old HDD, in with new SSD and CD, boot, install, input key, done.

Are you sure you were using the right product key?

Also, my w7 was ultimate I think, but it WAS OEM from Dell at the same time I think. My machine is 64 bit. I'm running w10 pro now.

traco

cormie wrote: »

Sounds like you're running into more complications than I did.

I didn't really have time to read all the above, but just some points to note:

I didn't have w7 anywhere near my new SSD. I just went from old HDD with w7, downloaded w10 install files from here, burnt onto CD, out with old HDD, in with new SSD and CD, boot, install, input key, done.

Are you sure you were using the right product key?

Also, my w7 was ultimate I think, but it WAS OEM from Dell at the same time I think. My machine is 64 bit. I'm running w10 pro now.

I did exactly the same but my W7 would not activate W10, what some of the guys have posted above is also confirmed on various sites.

I got W7 last night and installed it, downloaded some of the drivers as had no lan and screen res was all wrong. Still have a load of drivers to install but started doing all the windows updates. On my 7/8 reboot at this stage with updates and I now see the upgrade to W10 in the tray.

I'll continue to run the updates, install all the remaining drivers then upgrade from W7 to W10. Then I'll make an install media boot from that, format the drive and install W10 clean and with a bit of luck that will work.

Lot of time but I just let it off and come back to it. Surprised there is no MS guide for this process

traco

Update:

Now 18:20 and I have 10 fully working and activated. W7 would not work as the new SSD hardware change messed it up.

Contacted MS tech support, they called me back, explained new SSD and they generated a new W10 key that is linked to this new hardware config.

Can't understand why my upgrade was so complicated compared to Cormie (OP) one.

cormie

Yeah that's very strange. Mine was a total breeze thankfully, only complication to mine was restoring **** from the old dying HDD.