Clean Install of Win 10 from Win 7

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A lot of questions were answered today on carrying out a clean install of Win 10 from either 7 or 8.1. I chose the option to download the executable to a flash drive for Win 10 Pro (64-bit). I know that I will lose all installed programs using the clean install. I guess this means I lose all my personal files and settings. Is there any way around this? Would the Easy transfer (Win 7 version) work in transferring files/settings? I haven’t seen anything that would answer this question. If, perhaps Windows Easy Transfer is available in Win 10, maybe it would work. Without this, or another solution, would mean that I would have to “manually” transfer a good 100 gb of personal files and lose settings. Sure, I can go ahead and do the upgrade approach, but I feel that there are some “gremlins” in my current Win 7 that I’d like to eliminate. Another thing just occurred to me! I understand that Microsoft re-instated Windows Backup. If that has both options (image as well as file/folders backup), that might be a great way to go. Has anyone tried this or plan to??

DEP

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You might check around for prices and alternatives, but I think you picked the worst time to start shopping.

I think Easeus has an alternative, but it seems to take some explaining

Zinstall is a new one on me, but apparently they are in the running, and it will be interesting to hear if anyone has experience with it

PCmover is one I can report having had success with

The one catch seems to be that you need two drives (but not necessarily two machines) to use this means of moving from one to another. Now you have an excuse to buy an external drive, clone to that, migrate from that using the transfer software, then delete the clone, and use the new drive for backups and storage.

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Zinstall is a new one on me, but apparently they are in the running, and it will be interesting to hear if anyone has experience with it

The one catch seems to be that you need two drives (but not necessarily two machines) to use this means of moving from one to another. Now you have an excuse to buy an external drive, clone to that, migrate from that using the transfer software, then delete the clone, and use the new drive for backups and storage.

I used Zinstall exactly for this, with pretty nice results. You *can* use it to transfer from one machine to another, but you don’t have to. It supports real, in-place upgrade to Windows 10.

They even have a “Windows 10 upgrade” tutorial here.

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I’d do a backup and then go ahead and upgrade. If the system seems OK you golden. If not you can backup your data and do a clean reinstall then.

Joe

--Joe

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I’d do a backup and then go ahead and upgrade. If the system seems OK you golden. If not you can backup your data and do a clean reinstall then.

Joe

I agree with Joe, but the OP had decided on a clean install.

Edit: Joe’s route has one important benefit, and that is registration. If you try a clean boot and don’t have a valid serial, or have any other number problem, that could be a real hassle. (Recall all the ‘Invalid Windows’ messages.) If you upgrade, the number will be taken care of for you.

I sympathize with the OP because I have a Win 7 computer that has had a round-robin of ‘gremlins’ (in the form of a NET Framework nightmare, that for all the solutions on the net I have yet to cure) and to save troubleshooting the gremlins or risk transporting them. The simplest solution seems to be a clean install of a new operating system, especially if I can transfer my expensive software and valuable data intact. The system is a mess, not the apps and data.

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I do not offer this as an “expert” opinion, but my thought is to upgrade first. I want to make sure that all the serial numbers AND user files are correct for a WIN 10 operation. Then I plan to do a clean install and transfer the WIN 10 user files section to the new install.

What do you think about this?

I am wondering though, I should install my program files first and then transfer the User files or the other way around.

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If you do an upgrade on a system that is running well there is no good reason to then do a clean install. I’ve upgraded two systems with almost every TP build since last October and both are running fine. If you do an upgrade all your compatible installed programs should be there. Also, your files should be just fine.

As usual with a major update/upgrade like Win10 make sure you have a complete system backup before beginning the upgrade process.

Joe

--Joe

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@don332:
On other forums they explained in detail that you HAVE to do the in-place upgrade FIRST to maintain the activation status of your current system. And that is not trivial!

AFTER you have done the initial in-place upgrade you can re-install “clean” if you think you have to.

But, frankly, why would you want to do that?

It seems MS has learned from bad experiences in the past and this seems to run much better.

I am an old timer and in-place upgrades were a no-no for me, so far at least. Seems I have to let go of an “old habit”, at least for this upgrade. And after this one there supposedly will never be another one.

Shiny new world…

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It’s incidental to the thread, but my Net Framework gremlins were cured today when I finally learned that this is a ‘known issue’ with some Kaspersky installations. Now I am Oscar The Grouch over the known bug but happy to have it cured.

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How-To Geek has a useful overview that may help you decide.

Here is another from the same source that is also relevant.

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