[SOLVED] Upgrade from W7 to W10 (error: FIRST_BOOT, SYSPREP_SPECIALIZE)

[Aeacus]

Hi folks.

Since W7 support ended Tuesday, i was forced to move to W10 with my OSes.

I have 2x builds, Skylake and Haswell (i have actually more but only these two matter here). Full specs with pics in my sig.

Today, i did the W7 to W10 updates on my PCs, 1st one was Haswell build and OS upgrade completed without issues (ran the Media Creation executable and chose "Upgrade this PC"). So, no issues with Haswell build.

Did the same on Skylake build and ran into issue, this error to be exact:

Note: before running the Media Creation executable, i unplugged both of my data drives (MX500 and WD10EZEX), leaving only OS drive connected (960 Evo). Did same on Haswell build, leaving only OS drive connected and there, OS upgrade went fine.

Also, while drive format and clean install may work, i'd loose all my data. Latter isn't something i'm willing to do at the moment since i wasn't able to back up my data. I have Acronis True Image that i've used in the past and also used prior upgrading my Haswell build. I cloned the entire OS drive to 2nd drive, just in case something goes wrong and i need to get back into W7. Acronis True Image doesn't detect my M.2 NVMe SSD and i can't clone it. So, at the moment, clean install isn't happening.

Any idea what to do next?

Google search gives a plethora of different things to test out but since i don't do well with software issues (my expertise lies in hardware), i'm not going to test those on my own.


--
Aeacus

 

[Darkbreeze]

Stardock Window blinds is VERY resource intensive. Or at least it used to be. I had used it in the past and quit using it because it was horrifically buggy and well known for sucking down system resources, unlike most these other shell utilities which merely make use of the configuration settings already part of the system.

 

[Aeacus]

I'm happy with OpenShell and OldNewExplorer since they get the W7 look with minimal (if any) additional resource consumption. No point to have good looks with the cost of 1/4 system resources.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I agree. That's why I like classic shell, because I can get the tweaks I want and the system doesn't even know the difference.

 

[gardenman]

I use OpenShell, 7StickyNotes, Rainmeter, and T-Clock to modify the look/feel of Windows. I recommended Windows Blinds because I thought he may be trying to change the "title bar" area of Windows. After discussing it by PM, I don't think that is his goal. I haven't used Windows Blinds on any of my real systems but may have tried it out for 10 minutes in a VM once or twice. I also haven't looked into OldNewExplorer yet either.

I use to love the "gadgets" from AddGadgets.com that everyone used in the older Windows sidebar. The Sidebar is still available for Win10 but it's unsecure and there are other issues with it. So I switched to RainMeter and found the same gadgets for them. https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewtopic.php?t=20699

T-Clock is straight forward, it allows you to easily modify the clock on the taskbar. You can add the spelled out date, change font settings, etc.

7StickyNotes is just another sticky notes clone. I like it because of it's lower RAM usage than a few others, and it's a real application, not one of these new fake Windows Apps.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Is that made by the same people that make the Rainlender desktop calendar?

 

[gardenman]

I don't think so. At least the homepages look completely different:
https://www.rainmeter.net/
https://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php
And I don't see company names at the bottom.

Rainlender looks interesting.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Rainlender IS interesting. I've been using it for years now, and it's very configurable. You can import any preset holidays you want. You can do skins for the calender itself and put it wherever you want on any of the desktops. It keeps me from forgetting stuff because it's right there in plain sight where I get constant visual reminder of things that might usually slip my mind. Like appointments with clients, personal appointments, family member special dates, etc. I don't see myself ever NOT using it in the future unless it somehow becomes defunct.