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Author Topic: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible  (Read 1845 times)

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Offline fohat.digs

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Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:42:43 »
I have put this off for a long time, but I suppose that it is about time over the winter break.

Between me and my kids, counting laptops and desktops, we have 4 Windows 7 boxes and one 8.1, most eligible for the free Windows 10. Several things are perplexing me.

First, whenever I do an OS upgrade or re-install, I usually take the opportunity to "nuke and pave" (as my friend at Creative used to call it) and re-format the hard drive, if not replace it with a newer one. On the other computers, the OS is on the primary hard drive, but on my desktop I have a smallish SSD for the OS and program files, and a large hard drive for the rest. Every time I install Windows it creates a new directory system for things like "My Documents" and all the others, so then there are doubles with the ones on D: where I redirect them after the fact, and I have not always been able to fully consolidate them.

Will this be a forced upgrade-in-place since there is all the serial number verification and all that? I'm not sure that I can go back to my laptop's original Windows 7 install since I don't have a disk and I shrunk the partition to create a dual-boot Ubuntu partition.

Is the usual process for a "faux-clean" install to re-install 7 and upgrade from there?
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Offline jdcarpe

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Re: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:53:49 »
I've done two upgrades where I've made a clean install of Win7 or Win8.1, then done the upgrade. I think that, as long as you have the 7/8 license key in hand, you can do a clean install of 10 by downloading the Win10 iso.
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Offline dgneo

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Re: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:58:08 »
You could always upgrade to Windows 10, then just run a Reset so it wipes everything out.

Alternatively you can download the ISO, burn it, and then you'll be good to go. It checks the system based on hardware; If you've already opted into the Windows 10 upgrade on the PC you're upgrading, it'll activate fine once you do the installation and activation.

Tons of good information on this here: http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 09:04:54 »
Quote from: dgneo on Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:58:08
Tons of good information on this here: http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Can't delve too deep right now, but it says that MS "checks" the hardware and keeps a record of it.

I suppose that means that if I change out the motherboard, then there will be no record associated with it in the future.
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"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline jdcarpe

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Re: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 09:09:34 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Mon, 07 December 2015, 09:04:54
Quote from: dgneo on Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:58:08
Tons of good information on this here: http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Can't delve too deep right now, but it says that MS "checks" the hardware and keeps a record of it.

I suppose that means that if I change out the motherboard, then there will be no record associated with it in the future.


If you change the motherboard, you are always screwed, unless you have a retail license.

On a side note, when I called MS support to try and activate a "builder" key from a different PC, they told me it wasn't possible, BUT...they sold me a new Win8.1 license for only $40! You can only get that price from their support, though.
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http://jd40.info :: http://jd45.info


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Offline dgneo

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Re: Windows 10 - how to make the update as painless as possible
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 07 December 2015, 09:34:34 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Mon, 07 December 2015, 09:04:54
Quote from: dgneo on Mon, 07 December 2015, 08:58:08
Tons of good information on this here: http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Can't delve too deep right now, but it says that MS "checks" the hardware and keeps a record of it.

I suppose that means that if I change out the motherboard, then there will be no record associated with it in the future.


http://www.howtogeek.com/226510/how-to-use-your-free-windows-10-license-after-changing-your-pc%E2%80%99s-hardware/

TL;DR: Contact MS support, and they can activate the copy of Windows 10 for you.

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