Upgrading from Windows 7 to 10 - UEFI or Legacy?  

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

  1. MajorFoley
    Posts : 201
    Windows7/10
       New #1

    Upgrading from Windows 7 to 10 - UEFI or Legacy?


    So im upgrading someones laptop from Windows 7 SP1 to Windows 10 and have created a backup image of the computer just in case with macrium. This is a pretty old dell E5250 laptop. As far as i know the 250gb SSD is on MBR and uses legacy BIOS. I plan on just doing the upgrade not a clean install. If i do it via boot menu can i choose either option or do i have to choose legacy? If i do it through just the media creation tool and click upgrade this PC what option would it use by default since i don't think it tells you?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  2. dalchina
    Posts : 39,302
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #2

    Hi, if the BIOS is a legacy BIOS only, that's your only option.
    You mention the media creation tool- that's fine- has Win 10 not been offered via Windows Update?

    You may wish to verify other users' experience of Win 10 with it as there is no guarantee of either Win 10 working free of problems on old unsupported PCs or - in any event- of a problem-free upgrade process.
    Possible example of one with Win 10:
    https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude.../dp/B07KSK9MS1

    Upgrade to Windows 10

    This is also possible:
    Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

    https://www.dell.com/support/home/uk...laptop/drivers
    - shows BIOS updates 2019. Advisable to do- labelled Urgent.

    Great you're using disk imaging.


    You might like to try running Kyhi's Win10 boot disk on it first and see how that runs.
    Toolkit Item: Kyhi’s Rescue Disk – Win10.Guru
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  4. MajorFoley
    Posts : 201
    Windows7/10
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    dalchina said:
    Hi, if the BIOS is a legacy BIOS only, that's your only option.
    You mention the media creation tool- that's fine- has Win 10 not been offered via Windows Update?

    You may wish to verify other users' experience of Win 10 with it as there is no guarantee of either Win 10 working free of problems on old unsupported PCs or - in any event- of a problem-free upgrade process.
    Possible example of one with Win 10:
    https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude.../dp/B07KSK9MS1

    Upgrade to Windows 10

    This is also possible:
    Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

    https://www.dell.com/support/home/uk...laptop/drivers
    - shows BIOS updates 2019. Advisable to do- labelled Urgent.

    Great you're using disk imaging.


    You might like to try running Kyhi's Win10 boot disk on it first and see how that runs.
    Toolkit Item: Kyhi’s Rescue Disk – Win10.Guru
    Well im pretty sure this BIOS has both has it has secure boot as an option but only if you disable legacy mode. This is what the BIOS looks like
    YouTube
    And thats sort of why im asking should i choose the UEFI one if i do the upgrade from the boot menu.
    As for the creation tool he never really updated windows 7 that much so it was never offered.
    Last edited by MajorFoley; 21 Jan 2020 at 05:50.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  5. dalchina
    Posts : 39,302
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #4

    Thank you very much for your reply.

    You could do this after having upgraded:
    Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss


    Or clean install as UEFI.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  7. MajorFoley
    Posts : 201
    Windows7/10
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    dalchina said:
    Thank you very much for your reply.

    You could do this after having upgraded:
    Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

    .
    Ok that looks like something i could do. When i do do it would I have to turn UEFI on first before doing that or after ive done it? Looks like after
    I have also decided to probably just upgrade using the creation tool. It will need to download the installation files (im assuming not in ISO form) but where is that stored? Is it deleted after the upgrade is completed or is it stored somewhere and i have to delete it after?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  8. dalchina
    Posts : 39,302
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #6

    See from step 4 in 2nd link my post #2

    One option is to download an iso file.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  9. MajorFoley
    Posts : 201
    Windows7/10
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    dalchina said:
    See from step 4 in 2nd link my post #2

    One option is to download an iso file.
    Just worried about space, i assume once the upgrade is done its going to leave installation files behind which i may want to get rid of to save space.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  10. dalchina
    Posts : 39,302
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #8

    You can download the iso to an external disk.

    Note you need at least 35Gb, say, free on C: to upgrade.
    A lower risk approach is NOT to accept updates when you receive that prompt.

    Other standard recommendations:
    - uninstall any security software
    - disconnect any unnecessary peripherals
    - have only the system disk in the PC
    ....
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  11. MajorFoley
    Posts : 201
    Windows7/10
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    dalchina said:
    You can download the iso to an external disk.

    Note you need at least 35Gb, say, free on C: to upgrade.
    A lower risk approach is NOT to accept updates when you receive that prompt.

    Other standard recommendations:
    - uninstall any security software
    - disconnect any unnecessary peripherals
    - have only the system disk in the PC
    ....
    Got more than that space so its fine there, was just wondering if it was possible to get rid of that data once done. Anyway it looks like its gone through ok. windows notified me that 2 things were removed during the update. Intel(R) Widi (which is the whireless display thing apparently) but wireless still seems to work ok. And the Intel(R) USB 3.0 Extensible host controller driver. I dunno why that was removed though.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  12. dalchina
    Posts : 39,302
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #10

    Glad the upgrade worked.

    If the PC is working ok- and all drivers /devices ok, your priority should be to create a new base (initial) disk image.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

 

  Related Discussions
How to Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss Starting in Windows 10 version 1703 build 15063, you can use the MBR2GPT.EXE command line tool to convert a disk from Master Boot Record (MBR) (used in Legacy BIOS) to GUID...
How to Check if Windows 10 is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS You might be wondering if Windows 10 is using UEFI or the legacy BIOS. For more information, see: Boot and UEFI | Microsoft Docs UEFI in Windows | Microsoft Docs UEFI firmware...
Hi When Windows 10 ran its automatic update I got a message "Windows can't be installed because this PC has an unsupported disk layout for UEFI firmware". I think this is probably my own fault - I remember having boot problems a while ago (can't...
I've been having constant problems with my new Sound BlasterX AE-5 soundcard not being consistently recognized at boot. It seems it is extremely similar to the issue that the older Sound Blaster Z cards had several years ago where they were not...
I'd like to change it to UEFI because it boot faster than legacy. But whenever i change it it shows no bootable device. Also i would like to ask what's the difference between the two
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 00:04.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums