[SOLVED] Windows 10 Upgrade vs Fresh Install

[power_8383]

Hello guys,

I was trying to update my Windows 7 to Windows 10 (By selecting the option of keeping apps and files) and here's what happened.

• Created bootable USB drive and tried to upgrade but it was extremely slow at 'working on updates' screen.
  I waited for 4+ hours, but it didn't move further than 20%, so I restarted the system and it reverted all the changes.
• Then I did chkdsk f, sfc scannow and dism to solve the problems (if there are any).
• Then I tried upgrading from the external hard disk, but it was the same. Slow, stuck at 20%, restarted, reverted back to windows 7.
• As a final attempt, I then tried upgrading by mounting the iso, hoping it would speed up the things. But that too didn't work. It again got stuck at 'working on updates, don't turn off...' for hours.

So I guess the only option I'm left with now is to do a fresh installation of Windows 10 (by formatting C drive) instead of Upgrading.
But I have some doubts.

Can I move my installed softwares to some other drives before formatting?
And would they work after a fresh install?
And most importantly, will a fresh install speed up the process or do I have to again wait for ages?

 

[RealBeast]

A clean install of W10 is the way to do it. Back up all of your data and have all of your programs available to re-install.

You cannot drag and drop a program to a new OS, it needs to be installed.

 

[power_8383]

A clean install of W10 is the way to do it. Back up all of your data and have all of your programs available to re-install.

You cannot drag and drop a program to a new OS, it needs to be installed.

Thanks for your reply.
No, I'm not thinking of 'drag and drop' as a solution.
But what about this software?
It says it can transfer programs to another drive.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Or you can do all the updates on windows 7 before upgrade.
Then upgrade won't get stuck on doing updates.

Install windows 7 convenience rollup first.

How to Update Windows 7 All at Once with Microsoft's Convenience Rollup

When you install Windows 7 on a new system, you traditionally have to go through a long process of downloading years of updates and constantly rebooting.

www.howtogeek.com

Then stop windows update service and install updates listed here.
http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm

Then run windows 7 update and install rest of remaining updates.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your reply.
No, I'm not thinking of 'drag and drop' as a solution.
But what about this software?
It says it can transfer programs to another drive.

Look carefully at the list of software that supports.
https://www.easeus.com/spec/pctrans-free.html

 

[RealBeast]

Thanks for your reply.
No, I'm not thinking of 'drag and drop' as a solution.
But what about this software?
It says it can transfer programs to another drive.

Over the decades I've found that what sounds to be the easy way is often a lot more work. EaseUS has some great programs, but I've never used this one. Any registry errors and your computer can be quite unstable while running the program.

 

[geofelt]

If you are running on a hard drive, I suggest you upgrade to a ssd first.
Buy a samsung 860 evo of sufficient capacity to hold the used contents of your HDD.
Run the samsung ssd migration app to copy your C drive to the new ssd.
Here is a link to the app and instructions.

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

The value of doing this is twofold.

1. Work in upgrading windows 7 will go much faster on a ssd.
2. The original source windows 7 hdd is unchanged, letting you go back if you need to.

If your windows 7 system is corrupted in any way, the migration might fail.
Similarly a upgrade to 10 may fail for the same reason.

You may end up needing to do a clean install on the ssd.
Leave the HDD disconnected during the process.
Later, your data folders will be available to you.
Unfortunately, a clean install gives you a new and empty registry.
Apps installed using the registry will need to be reinstalled.
I think there is a method to save steam games to a different drive. Look that up.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

clean install is always my vote. upgrades are not nearly as reliable. a clean install will be zippy and responsive and correct