Upgrading Windows 7 To 10?

[Waldo 96]

Hi, my friend has an old laptop running Windows 7, and wants to install 10, but on a new SSD.

 

I’ve upgraded my own (Windows 8.1) to 10, on a new SSD, a while ago, and it worked fine, activation all worked just fine.

 

I already have Windows 10 install DVD...

 

Is Windows 10 still a free upgrade?

 

Will it install on a new SSD?

 

[swarfendor437 14]

Why not try cloning the 7 install to the SSD then use the CoA key of 7 to upgrade to 10. No guarantees but this has worked for me at work in respect of using the CoA key to activate 10 form notebooks that had 7 on.

[Waldo 96]

8 hours ago, swarfendor437 said:

Why not try cloning the 7 install to the SSD then use the CoA key of 7 to upgrade to 10. No guarantees but this has worked for me at work in respect of using the CoA key to activate 10 form notebooks that had 7 on.

Thanks Swarfendor.

 

What's the process for cloning look like? I guess put the SSD in a caddy and attach to laptop, then copy files across, or use some kind of cloning software?

 

When I upgraded on my own laptop, all I had to do was install Windows 10 on a fresh drive, and all the licensing stuff magically worked. Presumably Microsoft store the license information elsewhere on the laptop (i.e. not on the HDD it ships with etc)? Would it be possible to make a note of the license key on laptop, and type that in after installing to a fresh drive? If that'll work, it seems a better approach than cloning.

 

Also, if it comes to it, and my friend needs to but a license for Windows 10, what's cheapest way to get a legit one? How much is Windows 10 (home) these days?

[zach 233]

I use Macrium Reflect Free

 

As you say, put the SSD in a caddy and the program is fairly straight forward. Clone from internal to external SSD. Switch everything off and swap them over. I do remove all partitions from the destination drive too but you should be ok without.

 

You mentioned you have a DVD of Win 10, how old is it? It might be better getting the latest version from Microsoft and creating a USB install drive.

 

I can't say if the key will work. If it doesn't, they can be bought very cheap online. My last and fully working Win 10 Pro was £2.95 from Ebay, a retail copy will be nearer the £100 mark...maybe more. The downside with eBay OEM type of key is that it only tends to work on new installs, not upgrades. This sort of brings me on to my next point, without doubt, a clean install of 10 would be better than an upgrade. Is it an option to backup their files and do a clean install then put back their photos and docs etc?

[Ghozer 112]

You can still upgrade Windows 7 to 10 for free,....

Just use the "Media Creation Tool 1909" - and choose "Upgrade This PC Now" when asked...

Follow the instructions, and you're good to go

(ALWAYS make sure to backup any files and documents first)

[Waldo 96]

@zack

 

I've told my friend to make multiple backups of everything of value on the laptop, before we even touch it.  My thinking was to then whip the drive out of the laptop and just save it to one side (can put it back in if he needs Win 7 again for any reason). Then fresh install on new SSD. I think they're happy to do that, and then re-copy any important user data, back to Win 10 once it's on the SSD. Most big files, they have on external storage anyway.

 

Win 10 DVD is maybe a year old now. Can't remember exactly though. Guessing it would auto update though, once installed on the SSD.

 

I think £100 for Win 10 is a lot; esp, as it's only to upgrade an old laptop; maybe an idea to get a new laptop with Windows 10 pre-installed if it comes to that.

 

Thinking on, it could be an idea to just go for a Linux Mint install; it's just that he's using it with some kind of high end professional scanner; that is a bit old itself; and is concerned if using anything new, it won't quite work with the scanner (no drivers etc).

 

@ghozer

 

Thanks mate. Is that option only going to work for an upgrade on a cloned drive (i.e. won't work with a fresh Windows 10 install on a new SSD)?

 

Thanks everyone.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Waldo

[Ghozer 112]

1 hour ago, Waldo said:

@ghozer

 

Thanks mate. Is that option only going to work for an upgrade on a cloned drive (i.e. won't work with a fresh Windows 10 install on a new SSD)?

 

Thanks everyone.

install it over an existing install first, so it 'upgrades' and activates the 7 > 10 license, so Windows 10 is then activated for that PC, at that point you can then reinstall doing a totally fresh start format and install...

 

You MUST upgrade from 7 to 10 first, for the MS Activation servers to recognize the upgrade, and activate Windows 10 etc...

Edited December 16, 2019 by Ghozer

[zach 233]

25 minutes ago, Ghozer said:

install it over an existing install first, so it 'upgrades' and activates the 7 > 10 license, so Windows 10 is then activated for that PC, at that point you can then reinstall doing a totally fresh start format and install...

 

You MUST upgrade from 7 to 10 first, for the MS Activation servers to recognize the upgrade, and activate Windows 10 etc...

You must use the above method to get the free one (I didn't know it was still going)

 

As Ghozer pointed out, it will register the upgrade and give the PC a unique ID. When you do the clean install it should just activate.

 

The way I'd go...

 

Do a couple of backups of files to keep

Clone Win 7 to SSD

Swap old drive and install SSD

Upgrade from 7 to 10

Create an install USB of the latest Win 10

Clean Install of Win 10

Move files back

 

I think you have it covered but keep the old Win 7 drive as we usually miss a file or two!

 

Linux is an option and I use it on older systems. A quick read on this section will show that we all have our own opinions of an OS, for me it would be the upgrade to Win 10. You did say "old laptop" How old is old? Any idea of the hardware specs?

Edited December 16, 2019 by zach

[Waldo 96]

16 minutes ago, zach said:

You must use the above method to get the free one (I didn't know it was still going)

 

As Ghozer pointed out, it will register the upgrade and give the PC a unique ID. When you do the clean install it should just activate.

 

The way I'd go...

 

Do a couple of backups of files to keep

Clone Win 7 to SSD

Swap old drive and install SSD

Upgrade from 7 to 10

Create an install USB of the latest Win 10

Clean Install of Win 10

Move files back

 

I think you have it covered but keep the old Win 7 drive as we usually miss a file or two!

 

Linux is an option and I use it on older systems. A quick read on this section will show that we all have our own opinions of an OS, for me it would be the upgrade to Win 10. You did say "old laptop" How old is old? Any idea of the hardware specs?

Thanks chaps.

 

I think if the upgrade option works; I'll be tempted to just end there, and skip on the fresh install.

 

Not sure how old their laptop is; I need to take a look, make sure it's a SATA connection on the drive etc, and compare with min specs for Windows 10.

[Ghozer 112]

1 hour ago, Waldo said:

Thanks chaps.

 

I think if the upgrade option works; I'll be tempted to just end there, and skip on the fresh install.

 

Not sure how old their laptop is; I need to take a look, make sure it's a SATA connection on the drive etc, and compare with min specs for Windows 10.

I honestly wouldn't skip on the fresh install, it will run much smoother after - always best to Fresh Install where possible, plus it will free up some space as the Windows7 install will remain there (you can use disk clean up though to remove it) as-well as various other system files and such, intended so you can "roll-back" to 7 should you choose... but yea

Also, I have run Windows 10 on an old Dual Core Laptop, with 2GB DDR2 RAM and an IDE (ATA133) HDD - it works fine, and much smoother than 7 ever did believe it or not

Edited December 16, 2019 by Ghozer

[swarfendor437 14]

Yes Ghozer is correct thinking about it; as there was nothing important on the Win7 notebook no longer on the domain, I did a fresh install using a disc I'd downloaded from home.

[zach 233]

Nearly missed this bit, the scanner, have you checked the drivers for that for Windows 10 too? If there's not a Windows 10 driver, the Windows 7, and/or 8 drivers have been known to work OK on Windows 10 with them. Scanners can be very fussy with drivers.

 

And once again... Do the clean install. I would imagine it will only take an hour extra at most, and well worth the time.

 

If you want the steps to clean install, let us know.