Another Win 10 Question

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 20 Nov 2015 8:05 am

I need to put a larger hard drive in my laptop as it is at the "critically low" point. I did the Win 7 to Win 10 upgrade. I made both the discs that MS recommended. Will I be able to reinstall Win 10 on a new hard drive? I'm not worried about data or programs as I have backups and can reinstall all the programs.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 20 Nov 2015 9:41 am

I admit up front I can't give you a definitive answer. But major hardware changes sometimes make a computer look like a different machine to software, so the Microsoft cloud might welcome you into the fold again as if you were a newcomer to their system. So the answer might be yes. Jack might have a better feel for how it could work.

The cynic in me says that as much as MS wants the world to become Win10 converts, I suspect they'd be happy to have you reinstall.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Nov 2015 9:55 am

I don't think a different size hard drive is an issue. Many, after getting the upgrade are doing a "clean" install using the downloaded Win 10.

If you do a disc image of what you have now on the hard drive and then restore to the new drive, again that would not be an issue. However, a drive "clone" is iffy and does not always work. "Image" (backup) the drive using a program such as the free Macrium Reflect or EaseUS.

Here is the thread about the 48 hour free EaseUS backup program on the Windows 10 forums.

http://www.tenforums.com/general-discus ... -home.html

Lots of info on the Windows 10 forums. www.tenforums.com

Here is the tutorial on a clean install from the Win 10 forum.
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950 ... stall.html

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 20 Nov 2015 10:33 am

I have the free version of Macrium so I'll try it. I tried it for backups and didn't like it. But a clean install would let me start with a clean registry, and get rid of the leftover crap that Ccleaner, Malwarebytes, etc, miss.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 20 Nov 2015 8:00 pm

I'd install the new larger drive and get Win 7 on it. Then upgrade the new larger hard drive to 10. Then do a clean install of 10 to the new drive if I wanted a clean install.

Rather than upgrading the old hard drive to 10 and then transferring/cloning/imaging that installation to the new larger drive.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 28 Nov 2015 8:31 pm

It has Win 10 on it already