Rebuilding PC with Win10?

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kiwifidget

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#214670 23-May-2017 13:00

My Mum is sick of her HP Touchsmart 520-1175a All-In-One being too slow and doing "funny stuff".

Naturally, it is up to me to get it back to "better than brand new".

Easy fix I thinks, replace HDD with SDD and double the RAM from 4 up to 8GB.

It's only got an i3 processor, but its not like she does much with it.

However, "funny stuff" is vague and random, so I dont want to just clone the old HDD on to the new SSD.

When it was brand new it had Win7Home. And it got Win10Home during the free upgrade period.

Will I have to reinstall WIn7 on the SSD, and upgrade again, or can I start with 10?

PS . I dont think it came with original media, so not sure if I can even do the 7-10 thing again.

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#1786642 23-May-2017 13:02

Edit - I stand corrected on the need for an MS account.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10/reinstalling-windows-10-after-upgrade/578d0b7f-57e4-4893-b9d1-6cfac0d6290a

kiwifidget

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#1786783 23-May-2017 14:38

Fell over at the second hurdle.

Created a Microsoft account, but cant login with it. Just get the infamous "oops something went wrong" message.

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andrewNZ

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#1786787 23-May-2017 14:43

I'm pretty sure the Microsoft account isn't a requirement. You're reinstalling on an SSD anyway, so just do it.

Edit: No you don't have to install win7 first.

ubergeeknz

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#1786802 23-May-2017 14:58

yeah just give it a crack. Worst case, you can roll back anyway

Dairyxox

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#1786809 23-May-2017 15:01

Pretty sure if you have the Anniversary Update (or later) installed, then you dont even need the microsoft account registered against it.

Just make sure its got the Anniversary update, and its activated.

I've done this without a Microsoft account and it 'just worked'.

andrewNZ

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#1786814 23-May-2017 15:06

It's my belief that a Microsoft account was never a requirement.

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MikeB4

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#1786822 23-May-2017 15:10

You don't need a MS account and Win 10 will be registered to the hardware and will activate even if you do a clean install using the Media download from MSFT. I have just done that with a Windows notebook I am repairing and rebuilding for a client.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

solutionz

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#1786828 23-May-2017 15:14

ubergeeknz:

Make sure someone has logged in with a Microsoft account, and Windows is activated. Long as you've done that you should be able to just install the same edition of windows 10 fresh, log in with the same MS account, and it will activate.

Not necessary; just install latest Windows 10 Home and activate it with the Windows 7 Home key.

In saying that I had almost identical scenario (oldies with old Windows All-in-one slowing down etc) decided to forgo Windows altogether and install "CloudReady" version of ChromeOS. I surmised the learning curve at their level from Window 7 to 10 > Windows 7 to Chrome OS.

antoniosk

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#1786889 23-May-2017 16:22

solutionz:

ubergeeknz:

Make sure someone has logged in with a Microsoft account, and Windows is activated. Long as you've done that you should be able to just install the same edition of windows 10 fresh, log in with the same MS account, and it will activate.

Not necessary; just install latest Windows 10 Home and activate it with the Windows 7 Home key.

In saying that I had almost identical scenario (oldies with old Windows All-in-one slowing down etc) decided to forgo Windows altogether and install "CloudReady" version of ChromeOS. I surmised the learning curve at their level from Window 7 to 10 > Windows 7 to Chrome OS.

This is what MS told me; the upgrade to Windows10 modifies the Windows7 key to reflect it's suitable for window 10.

I had to install Win10 on a new SSD recently, and just before I did I bound my MS account on the old Win10 partition, and logged off. Installed Win10, go to the end, logged in and kaboom all keys applied no worries.

________

Antoniosk

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#1786893 23-May-2017 16:30

antoniosk:

solutionz:

ubergeeknz:

Make sure someone has logged in with a Microsoft account, and Windows is activated. Long as you've done that you should be able to just install the same edition of windows 10 fresh, log in with the same MS account, and it will activate.

Not necessary; just install latest Windows 10 Home and activate it with the Windows 7 Home key.

In saying that I had almost identical scenario (oldies with old Windows All-in-one slowing down etc) decided to forgo Windows altogether and install "CloudReady" version of ChromeOS. I surmised the learning curve at their level from Window 7 to 10 > Windows 7 to Chrome OS.

This is what MS told me; the upgrade to Windows10 modifies the Windows7 key to reflect it's suitable for window 10.

I had to install Win10 on a new SSD recently, and just before I did I bound my MS account on the old Win10 partition, and logged off. Installed Win10, go to the end, logged in and kaboom all keys applied no worries.

That was true however irrelevant for now since the latest Windows 10 build ("Creator's Update") will activate with a corresponding (Home/Pro) Windows 7/8 key regardless of whether it was previously registered via in place upgrade or not.

In other words no problem installing fresh Windows 10 using fresh Windows 7 key.

Further more they don't seem to care whether you use an OEM key on different hardware which makes Windows 10 Pro pretty much free if you can get your hands on an old Windows 7 Pro OEM key via e-waste.

andrewNZ: It's my belief that a Microsoft account was never a requirement.

Correct just click on the "Use a local account" at the bottom of the screen during setup.

GoranZ

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#1786902 23-May-2017 16:46

Done this a lot - you can simply install Win10 Home 64bit (even if you went from 32) .. just need to watch out as the Media Creation Tool sometimes tries to install Win10 Pro and if it does its a pain to start again. Just create the MCT on the existing home install and you should be all good - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209