Selling old win 7 PC with win 10 pro on it. Really need guidance.

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  1. Posts : 19
    windows 10
       #1

    Selling old win 7 PC with win 10 pro on it. Really need guidance.


    In 2011 I bought an OEM laptop with Windows 7 home on it,
    1) did online upgrade purchase to win 7 pro.
    2) did free upgrade to win 8
    3) did free win 8.1 upgrade
    4) did free win 10 upgrade
    5) kept upgrading to version 1803.

    Now I,m selling it license and all. Having a working copy of 10 pro is the main attraction. I’d like to do an equivalent of a PC reset, but with so many upgrades and such old PC am afraid it will not work. Afraid of drivers etc. I also want to try to “erase/wipe” as much of my own account/data as possible. After searching I’m more confused how to go about it. Any and all guidance would be great.

    windows and programs, not apps, are on ssd c disk. Data is on d hdd drive. I think I can wipe the HDD ok. No idea how to have a working OOBE ssd.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 4,594
    Windows 10 Pro
       #2

    I would just clean install Windows 10 Pro version 1809.

    Delete the entire drive to unallocated space, and let windows make the necessary partitions.

    Clean Install Windows 10

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

    Once you`re sure you have all the data off the hard drive, just format that too.

    After windows is up and running, sell it, let the new owner do what they want with it.
    Last edited by AddRAM; 02 Apr 2019 at 17:09.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #3

    AddRAM said:
    I would just clean install Windows 10 Pro version 1809.

    Format the entire drive and let windows make the necessary partitions.
    If you format the entire drive then Windows cannot make the necessary partitions. In order for Windows to make the necessary partitions, the drive must be unallocated, not formatted.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4,594
    Windows 10 Pro
       #4

    My bad, that`s what I meant post edited.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 19
    windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    It’s 2011 hardware. Does this clean install handle of those messy details, like drivers, etc. given 1803 works on it?
    Last edited by Qwazid10; 02 Apr 2019 at 19:35.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,594
    Windows 10 Pro
       #6

    Yes I think it will work fine.

    The one driver you should get before hand is the network driver, found at the manufacturers website.

    W10 may very well take care of that too, but better to be safe than sorry
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #7

    Qwazid10 said:
    It’s 2011 hardware. Does this clean install handle of those messy details given 1803 works on it?
    You should export the drivers before a clean install. Look at the dism /online /export-driver /? command.

    What I do when selling/giving away a computer is:
    Boot from Windows installation USB flash drive, with the drivers also saved on it using the dism command above.
    When the first Windows setup screen appears, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt.
    Run:
    diskpart
    select disk 0
    clean all
    exit
    exit

    The above command's assume there is one internal drive in the computer and it is the first drive. You can run 'list disk' before the 'select disk 0' command to see what drives are in the computer. Change the 0 in select disk to match the drive you want to wipe. The clean all command may take several hours to complete - I would just let it go overnight.

    After the clean all command completes, then install Windows 10 to the unallocated space on the drive. When the computer reboots and you get the first Windows screen asking for keyboard and language, press CTRL + SHIFT + F3. This will reboot the computer into audit mode.

    While in audit mode, you can then connect to a network, do all the updates, and make sure all devices have drivers in device manager (that's where the driver's saved to the flash drive might be needed). After everything looks good and complete, use the Sysprep command window to shutdown to OOBE mode. That will erase all traces of the Administrator account you were logged into, including any WiFi connections you made, and when the computer is booted next time it will go back to the opening Windows setup screen asking for keyboard and language.
    Last edited by NavyLCDR; 02 Apr 2019 at 19:05.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 19
    windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Sorry, should have refreshed the screen before edit.

    Thanks everybody. I think I almost have enough to get the job done. But do I really want to run the “clean” command on an SSD drive? When done or stymied I report back so others can benefit.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #9

    The clean command is fine. Probably don't need to run clean all. Clean by itself just deletes the partition definitions from the partition table. The clean all commands writes zeroes to all the storage locations on the drive.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 19
    windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Have used MCT to make install usb drive and clean installed awhile ago.

    dism goes way over my head. It only works on inf drivers right? I’m on 1803 and it says something about not then applying to 1809. Don’t I have to add the drivers somewhere to?

    sorry, but I still just don’t really get the drivers part yet. Would you explain it better to me than the Microsoft docs do?

    thanks
      My Computer


 

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