Discuss about Windows key and improvements
Discuss about Windows key and improvements
Im trying to figure out a way to keep all my programs and installed games(non game distribution like steam or origin...etc) upgrading to windows 10 from windows 7. I have multiple HDD containing installed games and a SSD containing my os and installed programs. Heres my questions 1.If i was going to unplug all my other HDD containing my installed games while leaving my OS and programs SSD plugged in will it work? Or do i need to have all drives plugged in for windows upgrade? 2.Lets say i can have the non os hdd unplugged while upgrading my os and lets say during windows upgrading process like the media creation tool didnt keep my all my installed programs. If i had a clone copy of my ssd containing OS and installed programs can i just unplug the updated windows on the plugged in ssd and plug in the clone ssd thats containing my windows 7 before upgrade. Will it still work? or the key has been changed i can no longer use it again? hope i explain it well and its not too confusing
You’d need all your external connections powered down. If possible, prepare your drives ahead by cloning or imaging them beforehand, just in case issues arise during the transition, which could happen. Whether you bought Windows 7 separately or had it bundled, I think Microsoft still supports free upgrades. Before proceeding, most users suggest starting with a fresh install, but if you’re cautious, a gradual approach works too. You should clear as much data from your main drive as you can—aim for under 500GB of used space, excluding the operating system and installed apps. Once cleared, image the drive instead of cloning; tools like Acronis can help with this. Save the backup to another drive, which will later serve as the source for the new SSD. Download the Windows 10 installation media and use Acronis (or a similar tool) to restore it onto your replacement drive. If the new drive boots successfully, you can switch back to Windows 7. The final step is converting your MBR to GPT format to fully utilize UEFI features—follow the provided guide. Depending on the upgrade, you may need to reinstall certain programs and drivers. Generally, a clean installation is advisable, particularly when moving between operating systems. Swapping storage, updating OS versions, and changing from MBR to GPT is feasible if you’re willing to invest time and patience. Good luck!
Your looking at doing an inplace upgrade. Good luck with that, because you got maybe a 50/50 chance of it working properly. In my case my Windows 7 install was only a month old when I first upgraded to Windows 10. After the upgrade Windows was broken. It was still usable but a few features did not work at all. This is why its always suggested to backup your data. Do a fresh install rather than an inplace upgrade. And reinstall all of your software and copy over the data you backed up. This is also why Im glad that I use steam. Because with steam, you can have your library on a secondary disk and you can unplug that disk during installation of Windows and plug it up after Window is installed. Install steam and point to the game libarary and not have to download you games again. Depends. Like I stated above Steam will easily allow this. But some software is not as nice. When you install software it puts entreies in to the Windows Regisrty. So I would say if the drive was not plugged in, then there is a possibility that the software may not work. HOWEVER, I have found that some sofware doesnt care. Mainly games. For instance Ive installed games off of GOG on a second drive and have been able to reinstall Windows and have the game work just fine.
This discomfort in the lower back is really bothersome. I can't reinstall all my games, especially since they're over 4TB. It seems like a costly fix, but cloning your drive might be a safer backup option in case the transfer doesn't complete properly on Windows 10. If some programs or games aren't fully transferred after the upgrade, you could simply disconnect the existing drives and connect the clones—it would feel like you never updated at all. Are you right about that?
It varies. Using the key from your current Windows version might get converted to a Windows 10 key during an upgrade, possibly disabling activation on your old OS. Microsoft hasn't clearly explained their upgrade process for keys. If you're purchasing a Windows 10 key, you should be fine, though the situation with Windows 7 is uncertain since it's no longer supported. Backing up games via Steam is straightforward—simply copy the Steam apps folder to another drive.
Consider scanning the entire drive for backup. Use a media creation tool to perform an in-place upgrade while preserving your applications. If that doesn’t work, you have 30 days to revert to the previous Windows version. From there, you can restore all your HDDs if needed.