Upgrade process for a seldom used PC


  1. Posts : 720
    Win10 x64 Pro - 2 desktops, 2 laptops
       #1

    Upgrade process for a seldom used PC


    I want to try my first Win10 upgrade on a seldom used "backup" PC. This PC is usually turned off. I bring it up for a couple hours each week to update malware definitions, apply maint, etc. In the Win 7 Task Scheduler I currently have gwx disabled. (I have it disables on 2 other Win7 boxes, too.) I assume my first step towards a Win10 update is to re-enable and start gwx. Hopefully that will let me request a Win10 update. (If it doesn't, I'm going to have more questions. :))

    But then what? I never really understood what would happen next. Does update start as soon as I request it, or does Microsoft schedule the download for some later date - sometime when the PC is likely to be shut off. All the doc I had read seemed to imply a later download, but all of the doc was written for pre-July 29 "reservation". I have no idea how it works now.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 13,896
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #2

    You'll see a number of differing experiences on the free Upgrading of Win7 w/SP1 or Win8.1 to Win10. My experience with 6 machines was to click the icon, Reserve a copy then wait a day or two. Opening Windows Update would give me the usual updates but after doing the reboot there would be 1 more Update to do and was the Upgrade to Win10, let it run. It takes about 5 hours download on my 1Mbps 'net connection and less than an hour for the installing and configuring.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 4,453
    Win 11 Pro 22000.708
       #3

    If you want to control the process, you need not wait for the "reservation" system. The alternative is the Media Creation Tool:

    Windows 10

    That gives you a variety of choices: upgrade Windows over the net, create media (USB flash or DVD), or download an .iso (disk image). I chose the latter option, partly because I was upgrading from Windows 8.1, which can mount an .iso directly. (I could run the upgrade from the mounted image.) Win 7 can't do that natively, but there are freeware utilities that would permit it.

    Whatever way you do it, the download is approx. 3GB. (You can roughly double that if you download a combined 32/64 bit installer.)

    To get Win 10 to activate online, you'd need to install it as an upgrade over your existing, activated, Win 7. I believ that you have to choose to keep everything for the upgrade to activate. Once you have activated it, you may clean install 10 in the future on the same hardware, and it will activate.

    Strong recommendation: image your Win 7 installation before upgrading. (I use Acronis True Image, but there are supposed to be good freeware utilities available, like Macrium Reflect.) That covers you if the upgrade goes wrong, or if you simply find that you need to revert to 7.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 720
    Win10 x64 Pro - 2 desktops, 2 laptops
    Thread Starter
       #4

    I used the Media Creation Tool instead of reserving an upgrade. I luckily did not need to use any restore function.

    I did need to replace my very small SSD with a larger one because the upgrade process did not have enough room. And I had to clone the drive twice. The 1st time - using the Samsung clone routine that came with the new drive - the Win10 upgrade failed because the clone process hosed over my System Reserved partition. The 2nd time - using the Acronis clone utility - all went well.
      My Computer


 

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