Upgrading 7 to 10 from HHD to SSD

Trust_No1 · 30 Jul 2016

Okay,

One of my systems currently has Windows 7 Home Premium that somewhere along the line I used it to play around with 10. Because when I go to the Windows upgrade site, it is recognized as a Windows 10 machine.

Now, I am currently running on HHDs a couple of 4TB units (needs external software to make drives usable to exceed Premium drive size limits). I purchased a 500GB SSD to put OS on (thinking of upgrading to Windows 10) as to eliminate un-necessary software.

My question is if I do an upgrade of my Windows 7 to 10, can I install the SSD first and then do the upgrade to the new SSD drive.
OR
should I upgrade Windows 7 first and then try to migrate (not crazy about the idea)

I hope you understand the question.

Ztruker · 30 Jul 2016

You should be able to clean install Windows 10 on the SSD.
Install the SSD, disconnect all other drives.
Boot DVD or flash drive and clean install. When asked for a key Skip it. System should activate when install is complete.

Now you can reconnect any other drives as long as the SSD is in SATA port 0.

Trust_No1 · 31 Jul 2016

Great !!
Thank you I thought the system had to be identical for the upgrade to work properly
What is it actually looking at then, for the criteria, my mobo, cpu, ram? all of the above?

When I plug the other drive back in, would it recognize it as a second system and make it a dual boot machine?

Ztruker · 31 Jul 2016

Primarily the mother board. Hard drive replacement is a normal activity (failed, too small, need more room, HDD to SSD) so should not impact the hardware hash used to identify the computer.