Window 7 Won't Upgrade to Windows 10-How to backup, fresh install, and reinstall data

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MrMoneyMaker

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I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. It will not upgrade to Windows 10. I have been trying, with the help of Brian Drab on this forum, to attempt to be able to Upgrade to Windows 10, but with no success. Here is the link to that post--->https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...dows-7-64-ultimate-failed-update-3-files.html. I can't express enough my thanks for all the effort he has put in with this issue.

So, I guess my next option, unless anyone else has any additional ideas, is to do a fresh install of Windows 10. My question is what steps are involved so that I don't lose my data and files. Do I have to reinstall each of my programs individually again, or will they reinstall from the back up. I want to keep my system file on my SSD drive, and have all of the programs and data on my 1 TB spinner. I have (2) 1 TB spinners on my system. What's the best way to setup those drives. Should they be set up as a RAID? I have a 1 TB Western Digital portable drive that I can use as a backup drive. Do I need to re-install my Windows 7, and then upgrade to WIndows 10, or do I just do a fresh install of WIndows 10.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi MrMoneyMaker

I looked over your thread in the update forum, sorry that it was such a long struggle. Considering all the difficulty and complications that cropped up in those efforts, I think it would be a good idea to run some diagnostics before moving to install Windows 10. Once the hardware proves to be OK, that clears the way to concentrate on software. Otherwise we might be try to fix a hardware issue with a software repair ... not very successful, generally.

Another reasonable pre-installation step would be to create a bootable Antivirus "Rescue CD" and scan all the files on your "spinners" & any other backup sources. Malware presence re-introduced into a freshly installed system from infected backups is a guaranteed way to have a very bad day. Let's avoid that. The easier to use "Rescue CD"s are from AVG, Avira, and Avast. From a known-clean, working computer that has Avast installed, you can create an Avast Rescue CD simply by selecting it from the Tools menu. The AVG and Avira Rescue CDs and be downloaded for free from their support websites.

If your computer has diagnostics built-in, run those, as thoroughly as possible. Such diagnostics, on some computers, are available by pressing a function key at system power on time -- the details would be in the user guides provided by the manufacturer. Should those diagnostics prove lees than thorough, or if no built-in diagnostics are available, you can try using MemTest86+ to test the system memory, and using the hard drive diagnostics from the support website of your hard drive manufacturer's website. SSDs are so new, it would seem best to test them with diagnostics provided by their manufacturers as well. Should all diagnostics pass with flying colors - on we go to installing Windows 10.

If you need a good bootable cd with some diagnostic tools on it to simplify running the diagnostics: a reasonable (and free) choice is the UBCD (for "ultimate boot cd") ... a free Linux-based diagnostic tool that includes MemTest86+, and diagnostics for several manufacturer's hard drives. Ultimate Boot CD - Overview

Before Installing Windows 10
1) Save your product license keys for Windows 7, and for significant software packages that require a product key during installation (such as Microsoft Office, DVD recording software, etc.). If you don't have the product keys handy for whatever reason, try Belarc Advisor, & see if it can retrieve the licenses. Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.
2) It sounds like you already have backups of most of your personal data. If so, visit those backups to ensure their health. And backup anything else you want to keep that hasn't already been saved.
3) Use the Media Creation tool to create an up-to-date Windows 10 DVD... Download the .iso, and use the "burn image" option in DVD recording software to create a bootable Windows 10 DVD. Regardless of your previous version of Windows, I recommend creating a 64-bit image for installing Windows 10. Download the .iso for the same version (Home, Pro, etc.) as the one you had with Windows 7 - so that your Windows 7 product key can be used during the upgrade.
4) Once all personal data has been backup up, and product keys found and saved, erase your SSD drive, and unplug your 'spinners'.

The plan will be to clean install Windows 10 onto your 120 GB SSD. It will only contain Windows 10 system files and the "swap file" (also called "page file"). After Windows 10 is successfully installed onto the SSD, you can then shutdown the computer, and plug in your "spinners". When installing programs, make sure to have them install to the large HDD. You'll have to keep an eye on disk space usage on the SSD, and make sure no unnecessary space-wasters end up on the drive.
____________________

To install Windows 10 from the DVD, the CD/DVD drive will have to be able to start the installation. If your computer has a function key that produces a Boot Menu at system power on time, use that to select the CD/DVD drive, insert your Windows 10 64 bit DVD, close the tray, if asked, press any key to boot from the DVD, and follow the onscreen instructions to install Windows 10. It's really quite straightforward.

I recommend linking the installation to a Microsoft account - that will allow you to more easily receive updates for the Windows Store programs on your computer, and to easily access any free programs (or the for-a-fee programs, should you wish to try any of those, too) in the Windows Store. A Microsoft account also makes it easy to synchronize documents, work data, and such residing on multiple PCs - by using OneDrive (Windows 10's builtin online storage app). When asked who owns this pc ... be sure to say that you do, and not a company, unless you want unending headaches to follow you the rest of your life. (You wouldn't be posting on this forum, after all, if your computer had a full IT department from a company behind it)... Other tips would be to setup OneDrive when prompted... the free storage is nearly always ample enough for documents (so you can set up the documents as the first thing to be saved to OneDrive.... then see if you qualify for more than just 5 GB of space --- if so, you can always then add your pictures & such to the OneDrive online storage [If you happen to have purchased Office 365, you automatically have at least 1 TB of online storage at OneDrive.... plenty for docs, pics, you-name-it.

DO NOT INSTALL ANY THIRD-PARTY ANTIVIRUS, and let the Microsoft antimalware modules built into Windows 10 handle things for the first few hours (the protection is mainly contained in the "Windows Defender" & "Windows Firewall" components). Later, if you wish, install the antivirus of your choice. For tech-savvy users, I recommend Avast Free Antivirus as the single real-time antivirus, and let the perfectly capable Windows 10 Firewall handle the basic firewall chores. Avast should disable Windows Defender during it's install. You do not need any more protection than this...

On your freshly installed Windows 10 machine:
PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL
IOBit Advanced System Care
Asus AI Suite
Everything.exe
GlassWire (you can install this only if you make absolutely sure no other firewall is in use)

... or any of the programs on the "Programs to Avoid" document that I've attached to this post.

____________

I'm dozing off at my keyboard ... it's been a very long day... good luck with your installation process, and let us know if you have any questions...
Good night


P.S. ... by the way: during the Windows 10 install, enter the product key from your Windows 7 system: Windows 7 users qualify for the free upgrade to Windows 10 so long as the installation is done by July 29th, 2016. [You do NOT have to install Windows 7 first, then 10. Just install 10.]
 

Attachments

Hi Gary, and thank you in advance for your assistance.

I have avast as my anti virus program, and I downloaded the latest update. I tried to create a recovery disk, but I got an error message that Avast failed to create a recovery disk.

Question: What are the problems with "Everything" search engine. I have been using this for about a year, and just love it.
Question 2: I have Revo Uninstaller on my system. There is an option to install software using Revo, which will monitor system changes. Here is a link to a short 3 minute video
that explains how it works. Revo Uninstaller Pro - Video Would you recommend installing and reinstalling my programs
in that manner. The program is a fantastic uninstaller program.
 
Hi again

I prefer not using any third party installer/uninstallers at all. If I ever have a system in for repair that has had trouble with an uninstall, cleanup tools are often available from the software vendors, or I cleanup things using a combination of File Explorer (for stubborn leftover folders) and CCleaner (which detects when the referred to files are absent, and removes related Registry entries). Full-time uninstallers? Really? I don't know of any programmers smart enough to write such software that wouldn't eventually cause problems with some vendors products. It's like asking for trouble. And it's unnecessary overhead. Revo has many fans ... many of the techs here happen to like it, too. I've been around computers since before personal computers existed, and I just have never liked unnecessary add-ons. If you have an add-on dealing on a regular basis with the Registry, you'd better have a crazy-good staff devoted to maintaining the product - because Windows is a moving target - modules added, changed, patched, updated ... at a dizzying pace. Keeping up with the Security Updates alone has to be a heck of a chore. I don't trust many companies to get into the guts of an operating system with regularity (even Microsoft drives us crazy often enough - and they're the authors). I figure keep the potential "damagers" to a minimum.

So --- it's a preference and a risk-tolerance sort of thing. I imagine you can install Revo - if you can't live without it - but I'd still recommend doing without it until the first week or two of Windows 10's fresh installation shows that its quick and stable and free of significant errors.

Everything.exe is fine if you can keep it clean. It has been notably hijacked by some exploits in the past. Not just a few times. I'd save it's re-installation to the very end of the reinstall process ... possibly a few weeks or a month later.

I think your current system is too untrustworthy to create much of anything. I'd create the Rescue CD, Diagnostic CDs, and Windows 10 DVD using a different, working, known-clean computer. The files on your current system are very likely a bit of a tangled mess. It sounds like most of your personal data is already located on the spinners - so any other files needing saving should be stored there, too. When all is ready (as in the notes above), wipe the SSD, unplug the spinners, and clean install Windows 10.

Ah - I should have mentioned earlier: I think I saw DropBox mentioned in your earlier thread. I spoke of setting up OneDrive in my instructions - but if you prefer DropBox, you can disable OneDrive. We can get to those instructions when the time comes. [Since OneDrive is built-into Windows 10, we have to change a few settings to keep if from wasting our time when we don't want to use it]. If you'd like to use both (and have a quick enough system and Internet service to handle that extra overhead)... then you can divide up the backup chores between the two.

I apologize if some of my posts are a bit cranky ... I'm starting to be one of the Grumpy Old Men! [... but without the nice royalty checks :) ]
I'll have to remember to drink a cup of coffee and have a chocolate before I post
 
Gary, I don't know how old you are, but I'm one of the Grumpy gray haired (what's left of it) men just like you. It's great to be conversing with someone on the same level------>>> heading downhill.
I will create a rescue disk on my laptop. I have the same operating system on there. I'll get back to you when finished.
 
(We can start a club...)

Hope it goes well. Windows 10 can perform nicely when the operating system and the page file are on an SSD. Zippy. [Performs even better when only SSDs are in use, but I'm waiting for the SSDs to drop a bit more in price to join that superstar group]...
 
Gary, my C drive is down to about 2.95 gigs free, down from about 20 gigs free. I don't know what filled it up. How do I get back the lost space before I proceed.
 
Hi again


Steps

The steps are:
1) Diagnostics
2) Malware scans
3) Create Win10 installation DVD
4) save any personal data from SSD to spinners
5) Erase/reformat SSD
6) Unplug the "spinners"
7) Clean install Windows 10
8) Re-attach "spinners"
9) Avoid reinstalling problematic software and utilities from manufacturer's that were designed for earlier versions of Windows. Use only Windows Defender & Windows Firewall for the first hours, until Windows Updates are up-to-date & the system is operating without any significant errors. [Do not use any manufacturer's "driver CDs" to install drivers ... such will be hopelessly out-of-date, and sources of errors]
10) Install the most recent version of Avast
11) Carefully install other programs, one at a time, checking for errors after each install.
12) Enjoy the performance and stability of a freshly installed Windows 10 computer.

Your current situation:

If you've already finished the first four steps (scans/diagnostics/Win10 DVD creation/personal data saved) then you can now completely erase/reformat the SSD. Your 120 GB SSD should be plenty of room for system files and the page file (or "swap file" or "virtual memory"). On my Windows 10 laptop, I have everything on a 120 GB SSD (music, pictures, and video are stored on the network). And I have almost 100 GB of free space. Several programs are installed - Office 2010, Windows 10 ADK (Assessment & Deployment Kit), Media eXperience Analyzer (& some tutorials), etc. ... Programs just don't take up much room. If you install the programs to your "spinners", you should also have a generous amount of free space on the SSD. One tip: limit the amount of space that System Restore can use - otherwise that is likely what is taking up large chunks of space on your hard drive.
Here's a screen-shot of my Windows 10 SSD (it is the only drive in the system)
DiskSpaceUsage-SystemPartition.png

To Limit the space usage of System Restore in Windows 10

1) Right-click the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select System
3) Select System Protection
4) In the Protection Settings window, select the hard drive whose settings you wish to set.
5) Select Configure
6) In the Restore settings section, make sure that System Restore is turn ON.
7) In the Disk Space Usage section, move the slider to the left to limit the space used by restore points.
(I happen to think that over 8 GB for restore points is nonsensical)
8) Select OK to have the settings applied and exit.

Here is a sample screen-shot of the settings window:
SystemRestoreConfiguration.png
No need to have System Restore running on data drives. It is System protection after all - just a backup for system files. It's a waste of time and space on any drives other than the system drive.

Recommended Settings for Avast Free Antivirus
I've attached a document I wrote that describes the installation method, modules recommended, and settings recommended (see below).
_________________________

If you've moved your data & run the diagnostics & scans, no need to worry about free space on the SSD - you're going to erase it, after all. You can let the Windows 10 installer do that for you, if you'd like, use the Custom install and have it not keep anything from previous installations. [You of course should have the "spinners" unplugged at this point]. Anything at all that you want to keep that is currently on the SSD should be moved before you install.

Best of luck!
 

Attachments

Hi again


You don't have to do anything with your SSD drive, Windows 10 will take care of that for you, during its installation from the Windows 10 DVD. No need to fuss with partitions on the SSD. Make sure that your "spinners" are unplugged during the install, so that everything goes to the SSD. It's only going to be the operating system and page file, so not that much space is needed. You can print out the list of steps I posted earlier, if that helps. [Heaven knows I have to take my grocery list to the store, or by golly I'll forget something ...]

By the way, the partitions that are on your "spinners" will be just fine in Windows 10, nothing should change for them going from Windows 7 to Windows 10 -- because they are only storage partitions. Nothing fancy going on there.

Let me know if you have any trouble booting from the DVD. As I mentioned before, on many systems this can be done by pressing a "function key" (such as F9, F10, F12 ...) while the system is powering on (usually when the manufacturer's logo is showing) to produce a "Boot Menu". You'd choose you CD/DVD drive (remember, of course, to put the bootable CD or DVD in the CD/DVD drive's tray & close it)) ...
_______________

By the way, did you run the diagnostics yet? I'd do those first, before installing Windows. The diagnostics can run directly from the diagnostics CDs. You can use the UBCD bootable diagnostics CD to run MemTest86+ to test the system memory, and test the hard drive using diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer's.

Let me know if any more questions come up
 
Hi Gary,
Progress report.
I wiped my SSD with the manufactures Wipe program, and also with a wipe program on the UBCD.
Ran the diagnostics. Everything was fine.
Reinstalled Windows 7 64 Ultimate, because when I tried to install Windows 10 with the ISO file, it would not accept my Product Key,
that I pulled from the Belarc Advisor Program.
Upgraded from the Windows 7 to Windows 10 64 bit. Everything went smooth.
Linked to a Microsoft account.
Ran the Windows defender program--system is clean.
Set up the System restore for a limit of 8.92 GB.
Configured a restore point.

Questions:
When can I install Avast?
What do you think about Malwarebytes anti malware program.

My motherboard is a ASUS P8Z77-V LX
Do I need to install the drivers that came on the motherboard disk such as Intel Chipset Driver, Realtek Audio Driver, Intel Graphics Accelerator Driver, Realtek Lan Driver, Management Engine Interface, Intel Raped Storage Technology Drivers Software, and also the utilities on the disk such as Realtek Ethernet Utility, Disk Unlocker, Intel SMart Connect Technology, and ASUS Boot Setting?

My Video Card is a PNY NVidea GeoForce GT630. Do I need to rerun the installation disk and install the driver and setup software for that also? How about Direct X?

My spinners are still disconnected. I have 2 1 TB spinners, that I would like to wipe clean, and install only certain programs and data that was backed up onto my 1 TB portable drive using Acronis 2016.

How would you recommend doing that and partitioning the drives. Would you set up one drive as a stand alone drive and use the other as the backup drive, or would you set them up as a RAID? I want to put all of my programs and data onto the spinners so as not to fill up my SSD. Your thoughts and recommendations.

Would you put Acronis True Image on the C SSD, or would that also be alright on the spinners along with the other programs.
How about Microsoft Office.

I know you previously wrote NOT to install ASUS AL Suite II. I was wondering what the problem is with that utility.
Do I need to reinstall the drivers for my Video Card.

I did have Glasswire installed as a Firewall previously. Not very familiar with the program, however seemed to have good reviews. Yes or No to Glasswire over Windows Firewall.

Also, I'm going to reinstall REVO Uninstaller. Would you recommend that on the SSD drive, or would that be alright on the spinner.
 
Hi again


Darn those product keys. Too bad it wasn't on a sticker somewhere (or the little card ... when I bought Windows 8 the key was on a little card rather like one from a board game).... With new operating systems, I really like clean installs when possible. But it sounds like you are doing OK so far. Yay for that!

Since everything is running well at the moment, you shouldn't have to add any special drivers for anything. The only time you'd need to hunt down a new driver is if Windows 10 didn't find one for you already during the installation. The symptom for that would be that the device doesn't work. It sounds like everything is working, so I'd stay away from using any outdated drivers. The reason I prefer avoiding software handy-dandies from hardware manufacturer's is that they aren't as good at software as they are with hardware. And it takes a lot of hours, dollars, and manpower to fully maintain complex software ... something few hardware manufacturers follow-through well on. I suppose IF Asus has a Windows 10 version of their gadgety code, well, I won't scream too loud. I really don't like the idea of Revo, though. It's a full-time monitor of something that Windows 10 already has a full-time monitor for. Windows 10 already has enough permissions issues, and driver issues .... Revo stepping in on all software's wedding day ... Ugh. Microsoft has more programmers to maintain their version of Registry-keeping, and they know to update their side of things as Windows morphs with each Cumulative Update --- the have all the inside knowledge (or should).

Oh --- one disk you must entirely avoid (throw it away to avoid any temptation!) ...is the old ASUS driver disk.. Criminy, the Intel Smart Connect software is dead stuff now. Intel completely discontinued support for it last summer (July 2015). Intel Smart Connect is largely incompatible and unsupported in Windows 10 [some ultrabook users have stubbornly gotten it to install ... I hope they aren't too bent out of shape when a future update breaks it again] ... ugh: No support means no support, people: Intel won't even answer the phone for Smart Connect issues.

I've used the free Avast antivirus paired with the Windows Firewall since Windows XP. No malware problems (but then I'm a saint, right?)... Who has better resources to maintain their firewall: Microsoft or Glasswire? Ages ago, before the Windows Firewall was strong enough to trust (around Windows XP Service Pack 2 .. or was it SP3?...) I used to use Zone Alarm's free firewall. Nice firewall. Glasswire might be nice, too. Is there any feature that it provides that the Windows firewall doesn't? If so, then maybe it's worth the possible future glitch or two. My bet is that the Windows Firewall is plenty for your needs.

Actually, I don't see why you need Acronis at all. You can make a system image using File History with just a few clicks. The online OneDrive backup is built into Windows 10, if you have Office you might qualify for a little extra room (for Office 365, it's 1 TB of space). Soooo easy to get to things, too. From anywhere in the world, if you have any computer with Internet access, you could log into Onedrive.com and access your documents, pictures ... whatever you decide to backup there. Local backups are nice too, I suppose. But fewer and fewer folks are finding any need for that.

I've never used RAID outside of an office/business installation. I used to make a new system image every couple of years or so, and back up everything else online. For free! (I was an early-adopter ... they were good to us). With Windows 10, I don't really even need to make the system image anymore, since reinstalling it is trivial .... use your Microsoft account during installation, and they'll find your product key for you! And no endless Windows Updates .... you can download the most recent version. I really don't see the point of RAID arrays for personal use. Heck if performance is a reason, forget RAID and get an M2 SSD (those are almost science-fiction-fast). Nowadays access to data doesn't usually depend on its constant availability on one computer... you can get to that same data from your tablet, phone, or another computer (while you stop by the nearest electronics shop & pick up a replacement drive ... for $50 or so)... You could go to the local library and get to your data.
_________________________

So, in brief: don't install anything you don't need. I think you could install Avast on the SSD, since it isn't very large, and since it has to run all the time. As you saw in the picture of one of my Windows 10 laptops, even with the Windows kits, and Office suites, and a little music, the SSD is the only drive in the laptop (a teeny 120 GB) ... and I still have nearly 80 GB of free space. You can install Avast at any point, now that you are this far along.

The biggest thing you've done to save your SSD from getting overused: was to limit the space System Restore can use. That's a life-saver. I must get a computer here for repair every other week, which has almost filled up with crazy huge enormous wowza System Restore points! Such an easy thing, too, to limit it.

You might find you only need one of the big spinners in your desktop. Heck you could use the other one for backups ... pop it in an enclosure & backup everyone's PCs in the whole family! For this one: you get to choose... There really isn't any trouble with just about any use you can think of.

You asked about partitions. I don't fuss with partitions much any more. No terribly good reason to. Windows has already partitioned things on your SSD. The spinners might do fine with one giant partition each. It's just storage. The file system keeps track of things: you get to just chuck the stuff over to the drive.

As you can probably tell, I'm half asleep & nearly giddy with fatigue (what a day! ..) I hope I haven't missed answering any of your questions. If I have, let me know (or I might find out when I re-read things tomorrow) ...

Good night for now...
 
Hi Gary,

Wiped my 2 1 tb drives and formatted them. Drive letters F and G.
Will be using drive F for my program and data drive, and G for a backup drive.

I installed Avast on the C SSD drive, and set it up per your instructions.
I also installed Microsoft Office and Acronis on the C drive.

My intent is to install all other programs and data on the spinner, so as not to fill up my SSD drive.
What are your thoughts on that

C drive has files for pictures, videos, downloads, documents, music, and network scans.

How do I redirect the contents of those files to end up on my F drive, instead of filling up my C SSD drive. I want all data
and programs on my spinner, and nothing else, unless you have another recommendation.

I want to start moving data and programs that I will be reinstalling from my portable drive back onto my main computer.

Also, some programs don't give you an option when you install them as to where you want the program installed,
and they automatically install the program to the C drive. Is there a way around that so you can change the default to a different drive
location? Sometimes, there is no "Browse" button to do the redirect.
 
Hi again

It sounds like things are going well.

The easiest way to have your data saved by default to another drive in Windows 10 is to use "Settings" available on the Start Menu.
1) Click on the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Settings
3) Select System
4) Select Storage
5) In the "Save Locations" section, click the down arrow in each save location (Apps, Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos) and select the HDD that you want them saved to.
6) If you have more than one user on the computer, do this same procedure for each user (one by one - log in as that user & make the changes).

To change the location of each user's "Downloads" (which Microsoft, for whatever reason, didn't include in their little handy-dandy "storage" settings applet)
1) Log in to Windows 10 for that user.
2) Right-click the "Downloads" folder for that user (it will usually be listed in the Quick Access list, but you can also navigate to it manually... C:\Users\username\Downloads (replace "C" with your system drive-letter if it isn't C already, and replace "username" with the name of the user)
3) Select Properties
4) Select the Location tab
5) Select Move ... and browse to a location on a large HDD to move the Downloads folder location there.

Using these procedures should painlessly cause all new apps, docs, pics, music, videos, and downloads to store on your large HDDs.

Most desktop style programs allow you to change the location during installation, from your system drive letter (usually C) to another drive. For any that don't - investigate how much room they use & whether it is worth it to research a way to move them or install them differently. I find that programs themselves take up very little room. The files they create can of course be enormous. But most programs allow you to choose where to save things they create. MS Office probably installed onto the SSD - this should be just fine, and give you nice performance while starting & running them. All the files they create will be stored on your large HDDs (if you use the procedures above).

I'm hoping that you are enjoying the quick performance that Windows 10 has when using an SSD as it's system drive.
Cheers

P.S. if you aren't using OneDrive online backup, make sure to have all those default locations NOT show as save-to-OneDrive (they should show their save locations as your large HDD). Also visit the following article from Microsoft, so that you don't have OneDrive running if you aren't using it. It is built-into Windows 10 - so you can't uninstall it - but you can turn it off completely:
Turn off or uninstall OneDrive - OneDrive
 

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