Question Old School To New

[ditchdoc52]

About ready to do a major over haul to my PC tower.

I originally built this system in 2009. At the time, it was pretty much a dream machine and it has held up well for about 15 years which is surprising in itself.

The original system

Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Chassis
2.67 gigahertz Intel Core i7 950
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6T Rev 1.xx
64GB DDR3 Memory
Two WD VelociRaptor 300GB Hard drives
Dual Radeon HD 4870 Video

Over the years the video was swapped out for a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB and the hard drives have been replaced with three Samsung 2TB SSD's.

I am currently using the latest version of Windows 10 Home.

Now comes the scary part.

I am getting ready to drop in a:

MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK motherboard
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core, 16-Thread, 3.4Ghz CPU
Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 RAM 16GB (x4 or 64GB total)

Ive created an image to an external USB 2TB Passport
Ive created a bookable system repair disk to a USB drive

Along the way I have cleaned up/out old software, ran Check Disk and CheckHealth with good results.

I have a hard copy of Licensed software Keys etc.

I hope to upgrade to Windows 11 and move to the UEFI boot process.

I am a bit nervous about the whole process and will consider any advise given.

Thanks in advance.

 

[USAFRet]

Build the system.
Install Win 11.
It should activate using your old Win 10 license key.

The Win 10 image you created is irrelevant and unusable.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If you’re going to am4 you might look at the 5700x3d. Keep in mind am4 is an older platform now and is effectively dead end.

 

[USAFRet]

But.....how did the existing old system get to be Win 10?
Upgrade from something else?

 

[stonecarver]

About ready to do a major over haul to my PC tower.

I originally built this system in 2009. At the time, it was pretty much a dream machine and it has held up well for about 15 years which is surprising in itself.

The original system

Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Chassis
2.67 gigahertz Intel Core i7 950
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6T Rev 1.xx
64GB DDR3 Memory
Two WD VelociRaptor 300GB Hard drives
Dual Radeon HD 4870 Video

One suggestion being as your used to the 1366 platform keep that system as is. My reasoning is when you make the platform jump it's a whole different world with memory timing, Bios upgrades, UEFI, M.2's and the list go on. You just might need the old girl to get the new hot rod up and going.

If it's the old case you really love just get a used Cooler Master HAF 932.

Anyways congrats on moving up to a new system.

 

[Misgar]

Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 RAM 16GB (x4 or 64GB total)

The usual note of caution. 2 x 32GB is "better" than 4 x 16GB, expecially if you plan to overclock using XMP or EXPO settings. Four DIMMs place additional loading on the CPU's IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) channels and may result in lower memory overclock speeds.

If you do fill all four DIMM sockets, make sure you buy a set of 4 matched DIMMs, not two (potentially unmatched) pairs. You cannot guarantee that two pairs will contain identical memory chips and exactly the same timings. Mismatched pairs sometimes cause problems.

I have a hard copy of Licensed software Keys etc.

This might help when installing Windows 11 and trying to use a Windows 10 Activation key. Remember, possession of a working Activation key is not the same as possession of a valid License to use Windows. Hopefully, you have a Retail key, not an OEM key.

Pay particular attention to the part about buying cheap keys from the likes of Kinguin. They're probably not Retail, but instead may be split from a Volume License or Educational License (not intended for resale).

My apologies if you're already well-versed in the technical "niceties" of Windows licensing.

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/transfer-windows-license-to-new-pc

Is Your Windows Product Key Transferrable?​

When it comes to transferability, there are two types of Windows key:

• OEM keys: Not supposed to be transferable. These are the keys that manufacturers use to install Windows on any prebuilt PC. They are also the keys you get at discount key vendors such as Kinguin. You can always try, however.
• Retail (aka "Full Packaged Product") keys: transferrable. These keys are usually the expensive ones people pay more than $100 for. But it's always possible your computer had one (from a prior upgrade) you don't know it.

If you don't know which type of Windows product key you have, you can find out when you unearth the key itself.

And finally:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-your-windows-license-legal-should-you-even-care/

Good luck.

 

[ditchdoc52]

OK .. I get WIN 10 is a boat anchor. However, this image of 3 different drives contains all my data which is not "irrelevant and unusable."

Trying to remember back to 2009, the system probably started as WIN 7 and went through the upgrade process over time.

For the most part ... of the 3 drives I am running, one is OS, one is a working drive for most of my data and the 3rd is for back ups.

So ... I guess I can boot from the system USB and it will allow me to connect to Microsoft and down load WIN 11 to my OS disk and then I should be able to restore my data drive and perhaps cherry pick some data that may have been written to the OS drive? Maybe? Maybe?

I've been in most all the dark corners of older Windows systems but its been years ..... just a little nervous about the whole thing ....

Maybe I'll just take time to copy all my data to a external drive start the rebuild from scratch .... it would not be the first time but its a PITA.

 

[Lafong]

I'd clean install Win 11 with ONLY one drive connected.

After it is activated and updated, connect whatever other data drives you have and copy your personal data back to the Win 11 OS drive.....if you ultimately want everything on a single drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Maybe I'll just take time to copy all my data to a external drive start the rebuild from scratch .... it would not be the first time but its a PITA.

That is the recommended way.

Your 'data' is not irrelevant. Your secondary drives can be reconnected to the new system no problem. All their data intact.

The old OS install, from the old system, IS.
That is what I was referring to.

Whatever personal data you may have on the current C drive, copy that to elsewhere. Flash drive, the cloud, wherever.

If this system and OS started as Win 7, then upgraded to Win 10....you may need to install Win 10 on the new system.
Fresh install on a blank drive.
Get it fully activated.
Then up grade that to Win 11.

Licensing and activation is tied to both the hardware AND your MS account.