As jolly Christmas activity this year the fortune brought struggle with Microsoft Windows installations.
Reasons:
1. My desktop PC was running Windows 7, and even after 2 years it felt fluent, though some symptomps of clutter under the bonnet started showing off. Usual medicine is of course 'reinstall Windows' :)
2. Swmbo got kind-of-tablet (Asus Transformer Pad) equipped with Win 8.1 (her old laptop got Win8 last year anyway)
Since she decided to recycle laptop by giving to grandparents for enhanced Skype, I figured out it makes more sense to understand how Windows 8.1 behaves (to fix it easier), get smoother operation (if it can run of pretty weak tablet, it shurely will on decent i5 powered desktop), and extend life of the system (as full support for Windows 7 ceases in a year)
In principle it sounded simple: backup existing stuff, install new system, reinstall all necessary apps and recover data/settings. There were of course some reefs just under calm surface...
Prerequisites (you may not need them, but it worked for me on many occasions)
1. Keep data and programs seperate.
Even with single hard drive I can't imagine not dividing it into 2 partitions: 1 for system, 1 for files. With my current setup (SSD for system, HDD for files) that is even more obvious (and having it already in place made SSD upgrade breeze), but still Windows system locate the most important folders (Documents, Pictures, Music) an the system drive by default. Change it ASAP - see how to.
The same applies to default storage location for mail client and many other programs
2. Back up all the data
3. Make sure you backed up all the data. Most of nowadays programs behave well, but some still keep their setting in ini files or even Windows registry. If a program is unusual in its behaviour, at least do some screenshots so you can try to mimic its configuartion after reinstallation (mind that operating system upgrade may force you to install newer version of the application because of compatibility issues)
4. Two most important locations to be copied are
- AppData. It should be located in C:\Users\<%YourUserName%>\AppData. This folder is hidden by default!!
- Desktop folder, which sits in the same parent folder (<%YourUserName%>) as AppData - and where 90% of the stuff is placed, even though it shouldn't - and that folder cannot be migrated like other described above!).
5. You can of course try migration assistant, but it comes with no guarantee of 100% success, and if does - that means all the crap that re-installation is supposed to erase, actually stays intact...
6. On top of that the whole system drive image is taken. I use Acronis, it can be bought at reasonable price (with regular promotions). It can be priceless, as allows to recover absolutely everything, but may also help to save time by reverting system to the virgin state within minutes, not hours (or refreshing it, if later images are made). Standalone program offers backup solution and other system tools, but as a minimalist all I use is recovery CD/USB stick.
Procedure:
1. De-activate existing copy of Windows, so it can be re-activated
- this applies to Retail version only (OEM by default is stuck to the hardware, so only an update can be made)
- follow these instrtuctions: http://www.howtogeek.com/124286/how-to-uninstall-your-windows-product-key-before-you-sell-your-pc/ MAKE SURE command line is launched with Administrator privileges ('elevated command prompt' as Win8 calls it - I used this tutorial after getting error first time)
2. Install Windows - to achieve clean installation on existing system drive, it needs to be formated.
I followed this procedure (it is identical for Windows 8)
3. Activate system on the new machine. In my case it wouldn't activate immediately (I got message that system is used on another machine, possibly de-registering had not updated yet in MS records), but after following the wizard and 10 minutes of number game with automated telephone service the job was done.
4 Install programs you really need, and copy their settings back.
This is where AppData folder value shows: for Firefox and Thunderbird all I did was to copy over existing backup (\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\ and \AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\) and after restart all the bookmarks & passwords / mail foders were exactly where they should.
Similarly, after installing other programs (Skype, Lightroom) copying appropriate folders before re-launching makes them to work as they did before.
Apart from deactivating, the procedure is pretty much identical as any clean system installation. In my case the whole point was to re-use copy of Windows 7 on the old laptop and 'upgrade' my desktop machine to W8.1
One lesson learnt: when buying a second hand copy of Windows 7 / Windows 8, make sure that seller deactivated it on the host machine! Otherwise it is going to be useless...
Soon to come first thoughts about Windows 8.1 used on tablet and desktop PC.
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