Upgrade to W10 from W7 re-installed in Legacy mode


  1. Posts : 4
    windows 7
       #1

    Upgrade to W10 from W7 re-installed in Legacy mode


    After a HD crash last year, a repair center reinstalled W7 in BIOS mode even though this PC is new enough to support UEFI. There is no more recovery partition. With no W7 DVD to reinstall properly, can I upgrade to W10, either using an ISO I made last year or purchasing a new W10 copy? I assume W10 will install in UEFI mode.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 30,120
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #2

    Hi dougv. Welcome to the TenForums @dougv

    Do you have your twenty five character Win 7 product code, printed either on your COA sticker stuck on machine or it still on packaging.

    If so you can use this procedure to clean install 10, when asked, enter your Win 7 code.

    Clean Install Windows 10

    I usually just make a USB thumbdrive with the media creation tool in tutorial. Need 8GB key. It will format it correctly.

    You can only activate the edition you have, so if you own Home don't waste your time trying to activate Pro.

    If you want to boot UEFI make sure your BIOS is set that way, the BIOS usually calls the old method "Legacy". You don't want Legacy from the sounds of it.

    To boot from USB you may have to also shut off Fast Boot in BIOS. On HP devices F9 usually gives you a choice for boot order.

    You could also structure disk to use GPT and not MBR.

    To get disk (HDD or SSD) to GPT, boot with the media you downloaded from MS. On first screen hold the shit key down and press F10. Then these commands

    diskpart
    List disk
    select disk 0 (ensure zero is where you want to install)
    clean
    Convert gpt (if required for UEFI)
    exit
    exit

    This totally wipes disk so have every thing off you want to keep. The example above assumes the disk you want to wipe is disk 0. The previous command "list disk" allows you to identify the correct disk number. Best to do with only one disk connected.


    Ken
      My Computer


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

    dougv said:
    With no W7 DVD to reinstall properly, can I upgrade to W10, either using an ISO I made last year
    Yes

    dougv said:
    or purchasing a new W10 copy?
    Yes. But there is no need to purchase a new W10 copy. You can just download it from Microsoft:
    Download Windows 10

    dougv said:
    I assume W10 will install in UEFI mode.
    That depends. If you upgrade your Windows 7 to Windows 10 now it will upgrade in Legacy mode. If you boot a Windows 10 USB flash drive or DVD in UEFI mode and do a clean install of Windows 10, then it will install in UEFI mode.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4
    windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thank you for the fast reply, everything understood. What I didn't want to hear is the clean install. I upgraded an older W7 32 bit PC last year and every program came through already installed. Reinstalling all the software under W10 would be very time consuming and the Windows Image Backup I have wouldn't help as that's a W7 image.
    Had I been smart, I would have purchased a W7 disk years ago just for security but it sounds strange essentially paying for two copies. Don't know what to do with W10 in the future.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #5

    dougv said:
    Thank you for the fast reply, everything understood. What I didn't want to hear is the clean install. I upgraded an older W7 32 bit PC last year and every program came through already installed.
    So why not upgrade this computer from Win 7 to Win 10 then to keep all the programs already installed?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4
    windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #6

    To NavyLCDR
    (Your post came in as I was replying to Caledon Ken.)
    Thanks for the reply as well. So it's either a clean install under UEFI and reinstalling or upgrade W10 in Legacy mode.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 31,473
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #7

    dougv said:
    So it's either a clean install under UEFI and reinstalling or upgrade W10 in Legacy mode.

    It is possible to convert from legacy to UEFI once you have upgraded W7 to W10.


    Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss | Tutorials


    Before attempting the conversion make a system image of the Legacy system so that you can go back and try again, should things go wrong. Macrium Reflect (free) is what I would use for that. It's far more reliable than the built-in system imaging.

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect | Tutorials
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #8

    Bree said:
    It is possible to convert from legacy to UEFI once you have upgraded W7 to W10.


    Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss | Tutorials


    Before attempting the conversion make a system image of the Legacy system so that you can go back and try again, should things go wrong. Macrium Reflect (free) is what I would use for that. It's far more reliable than the built-in system imaging.

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect | Tutorials
    The thing is, to convert from legacy BIOS (CSM) booting to UEFI booting you don't have to convert the drive to GPT. All you need to do is put a FAT32 system partition on it.
      My Computer


 

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