Moving HDD with Windows 10 into Complete new PC.

Night Hawk · 29 Dec 2015

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Unfortunately that TechNet link is obsolete at this time. I understand you use that to strip Windows down to the core as far as the activation and hardware profile ID along with dumping device drivers. But when getting into a completely new set of hardwares that isn't always a sure fire method.

Now for the VMs you were able to move you have to remember those run in a virtual environment and are not dependent on physical hardwares just a host OS to operate under. I can imagine with a few of those you needed to create new network switches if you had planned to connect online from within those.

Likewise if the main went down here or I build new which will eventually be necessary once again while presently onhold I have one time only paid for softwares where simply restoring an image on a new drive in a new build won't work. I would need to uninstall first and one older program uninstalled while connected online will still need to be bought all over again while another with a two pc license runs on both 7 and 10 with dual booting here.

As for IIxLuNaTiCxII however we still haven't heard whether he has an upgrade or saw 10 go on clean having either bought a 10 key or saw the clean install take place after the initial upgrade which will be a large factor in however things go. A 10 upgrade certainly isn't going to work.

Kari · 29 Dec 2015

Night Hawk said:

Server Error

404 - File or directory not found.

The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

Unfortunately that TechNet link is obsolete at this time.

It does not take a rocket scientist to notice that the link had a clear typo, a colon (:) at the end of it. I fixed it now, you could have done it easily by pressing backspace once, I'm sure you noticed it. In any case, here's the correct link without an extra character at the end of it: Sysprep Command-Line Options

Night Hawk said:

As for IIxLuNaTiCxII however we still haven't heard whether he has an upgrade or saw 10 go on clean having either bought a 10 key or saw the clean install take place after the initial upgrade which will be a large factor in however things go. A 10 upgrade certainly isn't going to work.

If the OP wants to keep the installed software and all user data, there's no need for a clean install.

IIxLuNaTiCxII · 29 Dec 2015

Night Hawk said:

The SysPrep tool was intended mainly for seeing drives swapped between almost if not identical machines as far as how much of a difference there would be between the machines. Whether you saw 10 upgrade over 7, 8, or 8.1 or saw a clean install of 10 when going out to buy 10 the existing copy of 10 will automatically be seen as invalid on the new build. You would then either need to call into MS to see you can get the existing installation reactivated on the new build or buy 10 outright either by download or on media where you get a new product key automatically to use.

With too large a difference in hardwares when moving a drive from pc to pc the common rule of thought and advice has always been to recommend a fresh full clean install or expect problems to surface from the massive change in things like memory, sata, and other controllers on the new board which will likely have a different chip set to start with either being a newer model by the same board manufacturer or by another company entirely. The clean install could just as easily be for the previous version to then see another upgrade while the better results are by seeing a full clean install on the new build and buying the 10 if needed.

I previously moved a Vista drive from an old XP build into a new one for Vista and called MS to see the key transferred over but still ended needing to replace the then buggy Vista install with a fresh copy to see Windows running properly. That was going from DDR memory to DDR2 at the time plus going from 2gb to 4gb when expecting to be trying out the 64bit Windows by that time which ended up being the case used for beta testing 7 back then. Always expect that a clean install may be needed with any large scale change of hardwares.

With 7 it was an automatic clean install every time from beta to retail over the years. And with 10 the upgrades with the 10240 build in mind came out buggy every time while the 10586 has seen smooth going as well as grabbing a Black Friday discount. The guide mentions seeing a full system image backup made before proceeding regardless of which route you take just the same. If you have a lot invested in softwares that would be the course of reason to follow.

Another thing to make note of here from Kari's guide over the SevenForums is in regards to Window Media Player and it's own network service interfering with things:

In case you didn't get to go over the guide there fully I quoted that for you here just in case that type of problem surfaces. At the same time however you will still want to be prepared in the event a clean install ends up being needed.

So if i didnt want to deal with all this stuff could i also just like completely clean the HDD and buy a new copy of windows 10?
because i don't really mind of losing all my stuff, if needed i can put them on an external HDD.

Kari · 29 Dec 2015

IIxLuNaTiCxII said:

So if i didnt want to deal with all this stuff could i also just like completely clean the HDD and buy a new copy of windows 10?
because i don't really mind of losing all my stuff, if needed i can put them on an external HDD.

In that case a clean install is a fast and easy solution.

Word Man · 29 Dec 2015

Folks, question (hoping OP doesn't mind me piggybacking into the thread): Doesn't it make a difference whether OP's license is OEM or Retail? I only ask since my son is debating getting Win10 OEM versus the Retail (FPP) for his OS-less (except Linux) self built system and I have a current interest in the difference - maybe it would help clarify possible issues for OP?

Night Hawk · 29 Dec 2015

IIxLuNaTiCxII said:

So if i didnt want to deal with all this stuff could i also just like completely clean the HDD and buy a new copy of windows 10?
because i don't really mind of losing all my stuff, if needed i can put them on an external HDD.

What we are discussing here is the options depending on the type of 10 install you have at the moment. If you saw the free upgrade to 10 replacing a previous version a clean install will be a necessity. If you replaced the upgrade with a fresh copy of 10 then you can try working with the things outlined. Here I wasn't giving up on 7 when upgrading but deciding to run 10 with 7 and of course needed to get a separate license for 10. With that you can also select Pro for example if you had to upgrade to Home only being the long term thought since 10 will need to be activated on the new machine either way.

Wiping the entire drive isn't always necessary to see a fresh copy of Windows go on. If the drive is loaded with errors or heavily fragmented from long term use then the time for a total wipe and fresh install of the OS is best seen right when making a move like this. The Windows.old will usually be seen following a clean install as far as program files and users account sub folders and files while things kept in folders you create outside of the Program Files, Program Files(x86), and users directories are uneffected by a clean install of Windows. Seen that enough with the Insider builds upgrading over each other!

Backing things up on other drives is the norm here in case either OS drive should ever need a wipe or simply go DOA at some point. That should be a regular practive since you never know when!

Night Hawk · 29 Dec 2015

Word Man said:

Folks, question (hoping OP doesn't mind me piggybacking into the thread): Doesn't it make a difference whether OP's license is OEM or Retail? I only ask since my son is debating getting Win10 OEM versus the Retail (FPP) and I have a current interest in the difference - maybe it would help clarify possible issues for OP?

Since we missed each other the answer to that is simple. For your own personal machine(s) when replacing the first whether it goes doa or you simply want to upgrade you can see the OEM license transferred over to the new only by contacting MS directly to explain the circumstances. The Windows install on the old machine however is then null! If you build and sell the OEM media goes along with the machine being sold. Custom builders who sell pcs with an OS installed are required to provide the media used since that key is then tied to the main board on that one system only!

The retail key however is allowed to be used on your next custom build for example making the present installation on the machine you have useless since you won't be able to run it once the new build is up and running since the retail key being the license has been transferred over. The retail Windows also has the advantage of free support from MS where the OEM doesn't!

Kari · 29 Dec 2015

Night Hawk said:

For your own personal machine(s) when replacing the first whether it goes doa or you simply want to upgrade you can see the OEM license transferred over to the new only by contacting MS directly to explain the circumstances.

+1
@Word Man, I misread your post and gave an invalid answer. My apologies. I have now deleted that reply.

Night Hawk explained this pretty well, no need to repeat that.

Word Man · 29 Dec 2015

Night Hawk said:

Since we missed each other the answer to that is simple...!

Thanks, Night Hawk. Your response is congruent with what I've advised my son. I think he should go Retail for the extra $20-$25 but he hesitates and I've distilled it down to whether he wants to keep the FPP license after he decides to build a better machine or whether he wants to sell the machine off with OEM license and get another license for his new build - he'll have to learn how to make these decisions himself once armed with good information.

Word Man · 29 Dec 2015

Kari said:

+1
@Word Man, I misread your post and gave an invalid answer. My apologies. I have now deleted that reply.

Night Hawk explained this pretty well, no need to repeat that.

I appreciate it Kari, no harm as I didn't see your reply whilst I was responding to Night Hawk.