Advice Please on Clean Install of W10

MWombat · 21 Jul 2019

Hello All, my first forum post.
The time is fast approaching when I will upgrade from W7 to W10.
My W7 Pro is a legitimate copy.
I want to do a clean instal rather than the 'upgrade.
Currently I have 3 SSDs - SSD1 is W7 OS only, the remaining 2 SSDs contain various personal files.
I would be keen to install W10 on SSD1 and totally replace W7 ie no dual boot.
I understand of course that I will need to purchase W10 key etc.
Could someone please help with what the best way is to do this and if possible list the detailed steps involved - although I am sure somewhere in the forum this has been addressed before I cant find exactly what I need.
Thanks,
MWombat

f14tomcat · 21 Jul 2019

Just about everything you will need to know, with links to other help and tools can be found here in the Tenforums tutorial on Clean Installs. Give it a read, and post back here if any further questions or you need any clarification.
You may not need to purchase a new key. Your Win 7 Pro key being legitimate should activate your Windows 10 Pro installation and register you with MS giving you an active digital key.
Welcome to TenForums!

Clean Install Windows 10

AddRAM · 21 Jul 2019

Yes, you do not need to buy a W10 key, use your W7 key to activate W10 after the install. Choose to skip entering the key during the install.

And most importantly, unplug the power cables from the other 2 ssd`s.

You don`t want anything else but the install ssd hooked up.

I personally would make a image of W7 before you install W10 with Macrium Reflect Free Edition.

Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free

bro67 · 21 Jul 2019

You will need the key for Windows 7 for each machine and install Windows 10 without activating. Once you go through first boot, activate with the Windows 7 key. Not really much to it.

MWombat · 21 Jul 2019

Thanks guys for quick replies.
I am much encouraged now as it seems likely to be far less daunting than I expected.
I will post again when I have some progress.
Thanks again,
MWombat

zbook · 21 Jul 2019

For comparison of options:

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

Clean Install Windows 10

Upgrade to Windows 10

Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

Bree · 22 Jul 2019

MWombat said:

I want to do a clean install rather than the 'upgrade.

You do know that if you do the upgrade from W7 to W10 the PC will have a digital licence for Windows 10 stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to its unique hardware ID?

Once it says it is 'activated with a digital licence...' you are free to do a clean install of the same edition (Pro in your case) and skip entering a key when asked. It will activate automatically from the digital licence. Or you may just feel that the upgrade suits your needs, not having to reinstall all your apps being one advantage of the upgrade over a clean install.