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.

 

[ditchdoc52]

/salute

Thanks even......

 

[USAFRet]

/salute

Thanks even......

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial

Windows 11 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows 11, version 23H2 or newer but can be equally applied to earlier versions which may have some basic differences in the screens you see but will largely remain similar in...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[punkncat]

IMO those old 4870 are going to be a lot of power for poor performance at this point. Even if you borrowed a loaner card or got a placeholder would likely do well better than having to mess around legacy drivers on AMD's site.

 

[Misgar]

OK .. I get WIN 10 is a boat anchor.

Not as far as I'm concerned. The computer I'm currently sitting in from of has a Windows XP boot drive (hard disk), a Windows 7 boot drive (SSD) and two Windows 10 boot drives (SSDs). It's on its second motherboard and third or fourth CPU.

I haven't upgraded any of my normal PCs to Windows 11 yet, but did install Windows 11 as a Virtual machine in Hyper-V on the day it was released., several years ago. Most of my older machines are not fully compatible with Windows 11's requirements for a modern CPU, Secure Boot and TPM v2. I'll decide what to do with Windows 10 in October 2025.

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

As others have said, the "modern" way to install Windows 10 or 11 is to download an ISO (image) of the appropriate Operating System and burn it to a USB memory stick (I use a small program called Rufus to do this).

You then remove/disconnect all drives apart from the target drive for the new OS, set the BIOS to boot from USB and allow setup to install the new OS.

When complete, disconnect the USB, set the BIOS back to boot from the new OS drive and reconnect your other (data) drives.

But as @titan says, if the original Activation key and License came from a Windows 7 build, you might have to attack the Windows 11 installation from a different direction, to maintain your license.

This will entail downloading a Windows 10 ISO and creating a bootable Windows 10 installation USB stick. Boot the new machine from this USB, install Windows 10 on the new SSD, typing in your existing 25-character key during installation (if prompetd). When finished, unplug USB, boot into Windows 10, connect to the internet and keep your fingers crossed Microsoft will see your new build and apply Activation.

Then you can try an in-situ upgrade to Windows 11 from inside Windows, or after booting from a Windows 11 USB stick. I'm a bit hazy on these last steps because I've not done a 10 to 11 upgrade this way, just 7 to 10.

 

[ditchdoc52]

Thanks for the heads up ...

My install states "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account" ...

My account is good along with Microsoft 365 (Office) ....

It is my understanding with the keys linked to my account ... the hardware does not matter.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the heads up ...

My install states "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account" ...

My account is good along with Microsoft 365 (Office) ....

It is my understanding with the keys linked to my account ... the hardware does not matter.

Yes, you can assign that license to new hardware.
It WILL need a fresh reinstall on that new hardware.

 

[Misgar]

It is my understanding with the keys linked to my account ... the hardware does not matter.

This is true if you have a 'Retail License', i.e. if you bought the correct license from a legitimate source when you built your first computer. This might well have been a Windows 7 Home Retail License.

If you bought the first computer from the likes of Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc., the license would be a non-transferrable 'OEM License', i.e. the license is "tied" to the original hardware only.

A 25-character Product Key is needed to unlock Windows during installation, but this isn't the same as Activating the License. They are two separate processes.

You can install Windows with a "Generic" key and use it in a non-activated state, but you will lose certain desirable features. You can also use a Generic key if you have temporarily mislaid your Retail key. When you finf your old Retail key, you can replace the Generic key with the Retail key, connect to the internet and with any luck, your OS will be re-activated.

You are only permitted by Microsoft's Terms and Conditions to run one copy of a Retail License on one computer. You should not continue to use the old computer with the same Retail License after you have activated the Retail License on a new computer.

You can de-register your old machine (online) and release the Retail License, prior to installing it on a new machine. This means the copy of Windows on the old machine will no longer be Activated, but you can continue to use the old machine, with slightly reduced functionality.

It's all horribly confusing and the rules keep changing. I have done my best to state the current situation, but even Microsoft representatives don't always give the correct information.

As for Microsoft Accounts, I don't link any version of Windows with my Microsoft Account, preferring to use old-fashioned Local Accounts, where I can choose the main user account name, instead of a semi-random sequence of characters chosen by Microsoft.

This is getting very tricky with recent Windows 11 ISOs.