[Admiral12]

I recently built a new rig. AZZA Solerno 1000 case, Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 mo/bo, Gigabyte GTX 970 GPU, Intel i7-5820K CPU, EVGA 850W PSU, CoolerMaster V8 GTS CPU cooler, Crucial 256 GB SSD, WD 1 TB HDD, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit O/S. I decided to upgrade the O/S to Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. I found it impossible to do on my own upgrade. Reason: My copy of Windows 7 that I bought from Amazon.com wasn't genuine. I went online to the Microsoft chat line to see what could be done. Fortunately, I was put in contact with a very helpful rep. He spent about three hours upgrading my O/S to Windows 10. He also got me a new Product Key for the system. When I was trying to do the upgrade on my own. I downloaded and burned to disk, an iso file of Windows 10. I have been told by people on Tom's Hardware site that I should use the disk to make a clean install of the O/S. Is this really necessary? I don't want to jeopardize my computer by fooling with something that seems to be operating just fine.If you also recommend a clean install, could you give me an idea of just how I should go about doing this with the iso file disk I created. Any suggestions or discussions regarding this matter will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Hi Admiral12,

 

If the the OS is working just fine as you said why do you need to do a clean install???

 

You should burn the ISO to a DVD and keep it at safe place to use when problems arise.

[SleepyDude]

Hi Admiral12,

 

If the the OS is working just fine as you said why do you need to do a clean install???

 

You should burn the ISO to a DVD and keep it at safe place to use when problems arise.

[Admiral12]

Thanks! Since I have the iso on disk, I'll just leave well enough alone.

[SleepyDude]

[Fernz]

Hi

 

Doing a clean install is not necessary if you don't have any issues with the system.

There are advantages and disadvantages with doing a clean install.

 

Some windows 10 compatible programs that you install after the upgrade to windows 10 from win 7 may not work properly. It may need a clean windows 10 install to work properly.

Also please note, if you do a clean install some programs that was carried over from windows 7 that worked fine after upgrading may not work after the clean install.

 

The most important thing is to have a Microsoft account instead of a local account. The windows product key would be associated with your Microsoft account and you wont face problems with activation if you login with a Microsoft account.

Edited by Fernz, 05 November 2015 - 02:40 AM.

[SleepyDude]

The most important thing is to have a Microsoft account instead of a local account. The windows product key would be associated with your Microsoft account and you wont face problems with activation if you login with a Microsoft account.

 

Just to say that this isn't true the windows activation isn't associated with the Microsoft account used.

[britechguy]

 

The most important thing is to have a Microsoft account instead of a local account. The windows product key would be associated with your Microsoft account and you wont face problems with activation if you login with a Microsoft account.

 

Just to say that this isn't true the windows activation isn't associated with the Microsoft account used.

 

 

While you are definitely technically correct, it often turns out to be very helpful to have all of your various MS product keys linked to a Microsoft account should you later need to do a full reinstallation and don't have physical media (which is most of the time these days).

 

If people were consistent about keeping physical media, product keys, or both I wouldn't be telling clients to create Microsoft accounts, but most don't.  I've had several occasions where having a Microsoft account with all the product purchase history and product key information linked to it has saved someone's bacon.

[Ztruker]

Make sure you save the key used for the install of Windows 10 as you may need it some day.

 

Hmmm, on 2nd thought scratch that. Once activated a key is no longer needed or used.

[Hoxtro9988712]

The key is originally tagged to the hardware ID.