Finally upgrading to Win10, several questions... about several systems...

[Cyber Akuma]

Ok, I figured I have put this off long enough, I have several systems on Windows 7/8 that I want to upgrade to 10 by taking advantage of Microsoft's free offer... but I still have several questions about it.

First of all, for some of the systems I want to do a upgrade, while the others I want to do a clean install, if this possible? Or is the free upgrade to 10 only available as an upgrade? Or can you do a clean install?

And while I am at it, I plan to create an image of the drives before I upgrade them, so I can just restore that image if I don't like it or run into too many issues with software/hardware not being compatible with 10. Thing is, I heard that MS "burns" the old Windows 7/8 key when you upgrade. Is this true? And yes, I know you have 30 days or so to decide to downgrade back, but I would much rather restore a disk image than have the mess that is the result of an upgrade, then a downgrade. Not to mention I might run into problems past the 30 day mark.

... and on that note, can I tell it not to waste drive space "backing up" the old install since some of these systems are on SSDs where space is at a premium and I can just image the drive back? Yes, I know you can delete it later, but is there a way to tell it to not even bother during install?

Also, one of the systems is a Mac Mini running Windows 7, not sure how I would even begin to upgrade that one. Do I have to do it through BotoCamp or whatever in MacOS, boot to a DVD/USB drive with the Windows10 installer, or just install 10 from within 7?

Another question I have is will it install a matching version of 10 based on the version of 7/8 I have? One of the biggest things I HATE when I read about 10 is how there is no option to disable automatic install of updates. Yes, you can defer and re-schedule them, but no option to manage them manually... in home versions at least. Can you disable this junk in the Pro versions? And if I have Windows 7 pro, will it install Windows 10 pro then? If there any method to disable this in the home versions of 10 too?

And finally, I have some very old hardware I still have connected to my systems, namely printers and scanners. Despite the drivers only going back as far as WindowsXP64 versions, they still work in up to Windows 7 (Yes, I know XP64 was very different from Vista64 and above, I was surprise that they work too). When I tried them in a Windows10 VM though.... it complained that the drivers are not signed, even though 7 (and yes I have the 64bit version) did not. Any idea what I can do about this? I know I can enable Test Mode, but that puts a rather annoying watermark on the corner of my screen.... not to mention lowers security. From my understanding, self-signing the drivers no longer works in 10.

[Midknyte]

First of all, for some of the systems I want to do a upgrade, while the others I want to do a clean install, if this possible? Or is the free upgrade to 10 only available as an upgrade? Or can you do a clean install?

You'd need to do the upgrade first, then do a clean install.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-do-a-cl...-10-1720775893

Thing is, I heard that MS "burns" the old Windows 7/8 key when you upgrade. Is this true?

I haven't tried it myself, and I've heard conflicting reports. You're supposed to be able to install the old OS, but you might need to do a phone activation. The Win10 license is tied to the hardware after upgrade (like OEM), even if you had a retail Win7/8 installed.
http://www.howtogeek.com/226510/how-...%99s-hardware/

Yes, I know you can delete it later, but is there a way to tell it to not even bother during install?

I didn't see the option to not create a Windows.old folder. I'm guessing they did that on purpose.

I don't do Mac, so I can't answer that one. You might be better off asking at a Mac-centric forum.

Another question I have is will it install a matching version of 10 based on the version of 7/8 I have?

Yes. I.E. If you have Win7 Pro, you'll upgrade to Win10 Pro.

Read this about blocking updates. Note that the Win10 Home way requires a wireless connection.
http://www.howtogeek.com/224471/how-...ading-updates/

You can disable driver signing:
http://www.howtogeek.com/167723/how-...igned-drivers/
I would do the older stuff last, if you upgrade it at all.

Please take a look through the other Win10 threads. Some of your other questions might have been answered already.

[Cyber Akuma]

Any idea about the signed driver issue?

[Midknyte]

You can disable driver signing:
http://www.howtogeek.com/167723/how-...igned-drivers/
I would do the older stuff last, if you upgrade it at all.

Did you take a look at the link? Did it not work?