Hello there!
I'm one of the many people willing to get Windows 10 on their PC, and I have been waiting patiently for the "Upgrade to Windows 10" app in my tray to finally say my PC is ready. I'm running a Windows 8.1 upgraded from Windows 7 in Microsoft's cheap offer some time ago (believe it was $40).
I've been waiting patiently even though i knew I can get the Media Creation Tool and install the newest system straight away. I didn't hurry, though, as I wanted to spare myself any problems with a freshly released OS.
However, trouble I've been having with my HDD some time ago returned and kept getting worse pretty quickly (random spikes of 100% HDD usage causing PC to freeze, failing manufacturer's diagnostics tests, SMART claiming C5 and C6 values are to high, as well as chkdsk always hanging at 13% and not being able to proceed). Being the moderatly tech-aware person that I am, I sensed trouble and RMA'd immediately. I went for an advanced RMA, and today the HDD arrived - and as a fresh install of Windows is inevitable, I decided to go Windows 10.
A quick session of googling later I found out I will not be getting any activation key. Instead, Windows 10 will bind to my hardware during the upgrade. I also found out Microsoft allows for fresh installs to be made on machines that are registered by them as upgraded.
And here comes my doubt. I am interested in getting to the final result of having a fresh install of Windows 10, and not an upgrade, on the new HDD. Should I:
1. Perform the upgrade on the old, damaged HDD to get my PC checked as eligible for a Windows 10, then swap drives and make a fresh install of Windows 10? or
2. Swap drives right away, install an older Windows on it, upgrade it to Windows 10, and then wipe the drive and perform a fresh install of Windows 10?
I'd honestly prefer the first method, as you can possibly see it's much less of a hassle. However, if it would mean me getting the upgrade somehow bound to the old HDD, I will choose to swap drives before upgrading.
Now I seriously doubt the OS minds a change of HDDs. I'd much rather expect it to bind to a motherboard, maybe also CPU or GPU. Still, I have no actual idea.
Please advise.
I'm one of the many people willing to get Windows 10 on their PC, and I have been waiting patiently for the "Upgrade to Windows 10" app in my tray to finally say my PC is ready. I'm running a Windows 8.1 upgraded from Windows 7 in Microsoft's cheap offer some time ago (believe it was $40).
I've been waiting patiently even though i knew I can get the Media Creation Tool and install the newest system straight away. I didn't hurry, though, as I wanted to spare myself any problems with a freshly released OS.
However, trouble I've been having with my HDD some time ago returned and kept getting worse pretty quickly (random spikes of 100% HDD usage causing PC to freeze, failing manufacturer's diagnostics tests, SMART claiming C5 and C6 values are to high, as well as chkdsk always hanging at 13% and not being able to proceed). Being the moderatly tech-aware person that I am, I sensed trouble and RMA'd immediately. I went for an advanced RMA, and today the HDD arrived - and as a fresh install of Windows is inevitable, I decided to go Windows 10.
A quick session of googling later I found out I will not be getting any activation key. Instead, Windows 10 will bind to my hardware during the upgrade. I also found out Microsoft allows for fresh installs to be made on machines that are registered by them as upgraded.
And here comes my doubt. I am interested in getting to the final result of having a fresh install of Windows 10, and not an upgrade, on the new HDD. Should I:
1. Perform the upgrade on the old, damaged HDD to get my PC checked as eligible for a Windows 10, then swap drives and make a fresh install of Windows 10? or
2. Swap drives right away, install an older Windows on it, upgrade it to Windows 10, and then wipe the drive and perform a fresh install of Windows 10?
I'd honestly prefer the first method, as you can possibly see it's much less of a hassle. However, if it would mean me getting the upgrade somehow bound to the old HDD, I will choose to swap drives before upgrading.
Now I seriously doubt the OS minds a change of HDDs. I'd much rather expect it to bind to a motherboard, maybe also CPU or GPU. Still, I have no actual idea.
Please advise.