Windows 10: My Fifth and Final Attempt to Upgrade Windows 7 Pro

Oh and I do not think that there is a corrupted partition as before each attempt at an upgrade I cloned my Windows 7 drive with Macrium Reflect and the restored it and wiped the drive first.

 

The reason you did not have the 100MB partition is you formatted the drive before you install Win 7. If you left the drive unallocated and install Win 7 then Win 7 installation will create all partitions needed ie. include 100MB reserved partition.

 

More pieces to the puzzle.
badrobot and topgundcp gave some excellent information.

I read your post 1 again but didn't see where you removed the other drive (10125 installed). It shouldn't be an issue, but....
your disk mgt screen shot only shows the one drive ????




I'm also going to step back from the System Reserved partition work, it doesn't sound as promising as it did before.

Thanks for the info re: drive corruption - I wasn't suggesting that your drive was corrupted, only noting what occurred on my and a few other member's machines. I did consider that it might be a contributor though ... if it was happening on your machine - but it is not.

I'll watch this thread to see if anyone has an epiphany, but it sounds as though you're will to wait for a release closer to Current Branch (RTM).
As promised - drive partition information:

BIOS/MBR

Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions
Sample: Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows Setup
Sample: Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Disk Partitions by Using Windows PE and DiskPart
UEFI/GPT

Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions
Sample: Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows Setup
Sample: Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows PE and DiskPart
They're good reads but a bit more technical than the average user really needs. Windows does all of the heavy lifting, so this info is only useful if you're curious, you have different partition requirements or there an issue is caused by an install error.

 

The 10125 Build is on a separate drive. But it looks just the Win 7 just says windows 10

 

So All I need to do is to create a 100mg unallocated partition before Win 7?

 

I am going to try it now.*Nerd

 

Hold on, there's more to it than that. I think there's a Tutorial on cahnging teh active part over on SEvenForums. Let me see if I can find it.

If not,
move the C: part with Minitool PW
create the 100 MB part
set the 100 MB part as Active
run repair three times to move the system over to the first part.
You'll need a repair disk or install media to run the repair.
look.

 

This is pretty good and it also shows how to put another OS on the drive
System Reserved : Create for Dual Boot - Windows 7 Help Forums

If you're not going to slice out space for another OS (Win10) - then you only need 100 MB (not the GB described in the tut)

Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times - Windows 7 Help Forums

Read through both tutorials and ask questions - it's easier even though support in a forum is slower than real-time

It might be easier to run diskpart and clean the rive (not clean all) and just install Windows 7 on the raw partition (thanks topgun).

As long as you have your image, you shouldn't have to worry about wiping the drive.

If you do a clean install of 7 - then I suggest shrinking the C; drive as much as possible (leaving room for your programs of course) and create an extended partition + logical drives. Create a 30 GB partition from the extended part for Win10 and install that on the raw / unallocated logical drive you created for win 10.

The key is raw / unallocated space for the install (select custom) - let Windows figure out what it wants to do.

There's a few more tutorials for dual booting if you want to go that route.
Windows 10 - Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Windows 8 - Windows 10 Forums
I suggest following step 4 - I find it easier even though step 5 mounts the ISO and installs from there.
Booting install media gets the current OS out of the way while you install the 2nd OS.

 

I would like to thank most of allSlartybart and everyone else in this great forum. It finally worked but was not as easy as it started out to be. I really do not like to see Blank Screens when I am upgrading something. I would like to see what MS is actually doing with my Machine. After it got to "Lets Start" , I did nothing but watch a black screen for 45 minutes. I then pressed the reset button and the Lets start started again but this time it said that my Microsoft Wireless Keyboard was not working so I had to connect a standard mouse and keyboard, remove the software from Microsoft's own key board and re install it. I would think that MS should change their update procedure so that users do not see blank screens.
But I am finally updated and would like to thank everyone that helped me in any way. Again Kudo's to SlartyBart without whom I would still be on Windows 7! All that was required was that 100 MB partition before Windows 7.*Smile

 

Gary, it is good to hear that you now have it like you want. Great job Slarybart!

 

Glad to hear that your My Sixth and Final Attempt to Upgrade Windows 7 Pro worked *Wink
Many members contributed to your success, the tutorials are priceless.

Please provide Microsoft feedback with your experience. It is important and either needs to be documented as a requirement or fixed before Current Branch (RTM).

I'm glad you decided to forge ahead, I had changed directions on the issue.

Thank you for your diligence and determination.

 

Gary, I whole heartedly agree with your dislike of blank screens or screens with no activity. The installer should have a verbose mode that can be selected so it will tell you everything it is doing.

Many future Win 10 owners are going to power off and on after waiting 20 or 30 minutes with no indication anything is happening. Then they will be in the middle of an upgrade and will not be able to move forward to complete it or backward to where they started.

I believe this upgrade distribution process is going to be a nightmare and will generate lots of work for folks here on the forums and unfortunately a lot of bad feelings about Windows 10 in the general public. I'd love to be proven wrong but from what I've seen in the 10 forums I don't think I will be.

 

This is going to be one very busy forum in about 6 weeks or so.*Smile

 

I am having way too much trouble with Windows 10. It Blue Screens all the time so I am going back to Windows 7.

 

Awwwwwwwwww, and after all that work! So, it looks like a clean install works best for you?