Installing Windows 10 - Upgrade vs Clean Install

[Cyber Akuma]

I have 5 systems I am planning to upgrade to Windows 10, they are Windows 7 and 8 based systems.

I have a few questions about doing a clean install vs an upgrade install.

First of all, is it even possible to do a clean install with that free Win10 offer? Is there any way you can boot into the Win10 installer, then it can check if you already have 7 or 8 installed, then allow you to format the drive and install fresh? I prefer clean installs to upgrade installs in most cases.

One of the systems however due to many apps and settings I have configured on it, I would prefer to do an upgrade install, and I have some questions about that too. First of all, this may be incorrect information, but I was told that it only keeps some of your settings such as your drivers if you choose NOT to keep personal information. That doesn't sound right... So anyway, what does and doesn't it keep? I wanted to do an upgrade install for this system because of all the settings I wanted to keep, will all my apps still be there?

Speaking of which, this system also runs off a SSD, so space is a concern. How large is the Windows.old folder it creates? Can you remove it? I am planning to image the drive before I upgrade to 10 so I can always image it back to 7 anyway, I don't need a downgrade option.

And finally, speaking of drivers. I have a VERY old printer that I do NOT want to replace, by some miracle, the XP64 drivers (the latest OS it had drivers written for) work fine in Vista and 7, they gave me no trouble. (Not sure about 8 as I never installed that printer on a 8 system) but when I tried it on a Win10 system, it complained that the drivers weren't signed. I have run into this annoying signed drivers issue before, but if neither Vita64 or 7 64 complained about them, why would 10? Would it refuse to use my printer if I do an upgrade install to 10?

[Train]

Do one machine and try the drivers. I had good luck with my old Epson.

[jseidel]

So anyway, what does and doesn't it keep? I wanted to do an upgrade install for this system because of all the settings I wanted to keep, will all my apps still be there?

I upgraded from Win 8.1 to 10 and everything was there except Windows Media Center which is not available in Windows 10. Otherwise everything came back just the way it was with no noticeable difference.

How large is the Windows.old folder it creates? Can you remove it?

My machine started with Windows 7 OEM when shipped from Digital Storm, then I upgraded to Windows 8 when it came out, and then again to Windows 8.1. The "previous Windows installations" took up 43 Gigs on my "C" drive as shown in the Disk Cleanup utility and since I never cleaned them out until now the three previous OS installs took up that much space. You can remove the previous Windows installation files by using the Disk Cleanup utility and then selecting the button "Clean up system files" and letting the tool scan your system. The previous Windows installations will present as a choice to remove at the conclusion of the scan and by checking the box next to this they will be removed if you choose OK. I decided to do this in addition to cleaning up all the other choices and my drive dumped 52 Gigs of files when it was over after the new install of Windows 10. I do not have an SSD, just the original Seagate Barracuda, which has been a gem. FYI, the disk cleanup scan with system files included took about 30 minutes, then it took a good hour for the cleanup process to finish.

And finally, speaking of drivers. I have a VERY old printer that I do NOT want to replace,

What brand? Makes a difference . . .

[2damncommon]

...The "previous Windows installations" took up 43 Gigs on my "C" drive as shown in the Disk Cleanup utility and since I never cleaned them out until now the three previous OS installs took up that much space...

On my Surface 3 that was running for a month or two before the update the Disk Cleanup Utility made about 20GB available.

[ecross]

You need to the upgrade first then you can do a clean install afterwards.

Can I perform a clean install using the Free upgrade?

No, it will require that you are running a previous qualifying version and start the upgrade from within the qualifying version. You can initiate a clean install after completing the Upgrade.

For more details, please see: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...4-45f4b7ed2fb9

[Cyber Akuma]

Do one machine and try the drivers. I had good luck with my old Epson.

I tried it on a VM with Windows 10, that's how I found out it denied them because they weren't signed. But then why does windows 7 not complain? Both are 64 bit.

My machine started with Windows 7 OEM when shipped from Digital Storm, then I upgraded to Windows 8 when it came out, and then again to Windows 8.1. The "previous Windows installations" took up 43 Gigs on my "C" drive as shown in the Disk Cleanup utility and since I never cleaned them out until now the three previous OS installs took up that much space. You can remove the previous Windows installation files by using the Disk Cleanup utility and then selecting the button "Clean up system files" and letting the tool scan your system. The previous Windows installations will present as a choice to remove at the conclusion of the scan and by checking the box next to this they will be removed if you choose OK. I decided to do this in addition to cleaning up all the other choices and my drive dumped 52 Gigs of files when it was over after the new install of Windows 10. I do not have an SSD, just the original Seagate Barracuda, which has been a gem. FYI, the disk cleanup scan with system files included took about 30 minutes, then it took a good hour for the cleanup process to finish.

Is there any way to tell it not to back them up during the upgrade?

What brand? Makes a difference . . .

It's a Canon PIXMA IP6000D

For more details, please see: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...4-45f4b7ed2fb9

So I need to do the.... reset this PC option? That's not really a reinstall though, is it? Isn't it just deleting your personal files but not the updates, drivers, or other things? The equivalent of hitting "erase all" on your phone?

[jdc2000]

You should be able to install unsigned drivers for your printer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StkR3D2d5WI

https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#h...rinter+drivers

[Midknyte]

I tried it on a VM with Windows 10, that's how I found out it denied them because they weren't signed. But then why does windows 7 not complain? Both are 64 bit.

You could try disabling driver signing:
http://www.howtogeek.com/167723/how-...igned-drivers/

Is there any way to tell it not to back them up during the upgrade?

AFAIK, you cannot disable the creation of the Windows.old folder during the upgrade. If something goes wrong, you'd need it to downgrade back to the previous Windows, so you really shouldn't disable it anyway.
Assuming you don't have any previous upgrades, it should be about 15-20GB depending on the OS you are upgrading from.
If you are that tight on space, you should run CCleaner before doing the upgrade.

So I need to do the.... reset this PC option? That's not really a reinstall though, is it? Isn't it just deleting your personal files but not the updates, drivers, or other things? The equivalent of hitting "erase all" on your phone?

It's not a true clean install; it just wipes out the user data and resets the default Windows settings.
http://www.howtogeek.com/132428/ever...-windows-8-pc/

You'd need to do an Upgrade installation and activate Windows 10 first. Your system registration is sent to Microsoft upon activation. That's what enables you to do a clean install after the upgrade. MS doesn't give you a Win10 key.
http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-...ll-windows-10/