Windows 10: So I bought a new pclaptop a little while ago. I was planning to upgrade my storage but I...

I bought a new pclaptop some months ago now I am thinking about upgrading my SSD but I don't have an additional SSD slot and I don't know how to clone my window 11.

:)

 

Planning to upgrade and rebuild

Thanks for the comments, but the project is much, much broader.

After doing further research, I think the project has to be chopped up into smaller, more manageable steps. Basically, do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro first, then make sure that the system works as expected, and only then do a clean upgrade to Windows
10 Pro. The planning steps are (currently) as follows, with open questions identified.

Step 1: Do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. This will give me the digital entitlement for Windows 10 Pro, even if I subsequently do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. Open questions for step 1:

• Do I need to suspend BitLocker on the internal HDD and turn off BitLocker on Storage Spaces/File History prior to the in-place upgrade? Or what BitLocker-related precautions should I take? I like to retain the BitLocker USB key if possible (?)
• Can I keep the Storage Spaces/File History attached for the in-place upgrade or do I need to detach the Storage Spaces/File History for the in-place upgrade?
  
• As a refresher, for Storage Spaces, I use 2 identical external USB HDDs in a mirror configuration, which is used for File History. I call this Storage Spaces/File History

Step 2: Live with the in-place upgrade for at least a week or two, to make sure that the entire Windows 10 Pro system works as expected, including:

• internal HDD with BitLocker drive encryption enabled
• Storage Spaces/File History with BitLocker drive encryption and auto-unlock enabled
• System boots with the same (if possible?) BitLocker USB key

Step 3: Turn off BitLocker system-wide (on the internal HDD and on Storage Spaces/File History) prior to the clean install of Windows 10 Pro. Turning off BitLocker system-wide seems to be the least troublesome option in preparation for the clean install
of Windows Pro, although this may (?) require a new key in the BitLocker USB key after the clean install of Windows 10 Pro.

Step 4: Do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro, no product key should be required as the digital entitlement has been secured in step 1. Open questions for step 4:

• Do a full reformat (not just a quick reformat) of the internal HDD first, as I do not want to rely merely on deleting partitions during the re-install procedure (Do I need a third party app to do a full reformat or will a native Windows utility do
  the job?)
• Create the ISO file and do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. I believe I need to detach Storage Spaces/File History during the clean install of Windows 10 Pro (?)

Step 5: Re-install all my apps, re-do the configurations/settings.

Step 6: Re-attach Storage Spaces/File History and restore all my files.

Step 7: Turn on BitLocker system-wide with a new key (?) in the BitLocker USB key, including auto-unlock of Storage Spaces/File History.

The clean installed Windows 10 Pro system should now work with BitLocker enabled.

I keep researching the open questions in the above as well as the issues marked with question marks. Any help appreciated

 

List your Spec and a one year update plan

As the title suggests. List out your main rig's spec and then illustrate out what you plan to upgrade within the next 12 months. I am talking REAL planned upgrades, not day dreaming of filling up your machine with 4 TitanXp and etc.

 

Planning to upgrade and rebuild

Folks, I need help in planning to upgrade and rebuild my current system to Windows 10 Pro. My current system is as follows:

• Windows 8.1 Pro desktop computer with an internal HDD (it came with Windows 8.1 from the factory, I upgraded it to Windows 8.1 Pro)
• Storage Spaces with 2 identical external USB HDDs in a mirror configuration, they are used for File History
• BitLocker drive encryption enabled on the desktop computer and on Storage Spaces/File History

I know that if I simply click on the GWX icon in the system tray, I will get an in-place (and free) upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Do I have to do that anyway to get the digital entitlement to Windows 10 Pro on my Microsoft account? In any case, I want to go
beyond that and completely rebuild the system to Windows 10 Pro, i.e.

• fully reformat the internal HDD (not just a quick reformat) and do a BitLocker drive encryption of the reformatted internal HDD with the old BitLocker key (Can I do that?)
• re-install all apps and programs on the internal HDD (I have all the install CDs/DVDs and licenses) and re-do all the configurations/settings
• scan my Storage Spaces/File History with an AV (Can I do that with another, clean computer? I have clean Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 computers that I could use. Will it work when I merely turn off BitLocker without removing the old BitLocker password?
  Any other precautions that I should take?)
• restore all my files from the Storage Spaces/File History of the pre-upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro computer back on the internal HDD of the now post-upgraded Windows 10 Pro computer (Can I do that? How do I test and make sure that I can restore my files
  from an earlier OS version, Windows 8.1 Pro, to a newer OS version, Windows 10 Pro ?)
• turn BitLocker back on on the Storage Spaces/File History with the old BitLocker USB key (Will the auto-unlock feature that worked in the pre-upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro system still work in the post-upgraded Windows 10 Pro system?)

As you can see, I want to completely rebuild the Windows 10 Pro system from ground up (I will certainly make a system image backup of the Windows 8.1 Pro computer in case the project fails) Obviously, I want to make sure that I don't lose my data, nor my
Windows license, nor my BitLocker. (Yes, I am a bit paranoid, but I am also willing to make the extra effort)



I am a bit concerned that BitLocker complicates the project. I would appreciate any advice and help on how to best plan this upgrade and rebuild project step by step (or even part advice on some of the steps)