Windows 10 Pro upgrade

[autumn]

G day all

I haven't done a Home to Pro upgrade yet and need to for a customer. Hopefully a quick question.

We have the upgrade in the Microsoft store and when I click on it it says to make sure all you information is backed up. Is this a just in case or does it wipe and reload Windows?

Thanks in advance.

Tim

 

[Porthos]

Is this a just in case

It does not wipe Windows. It does an in place upgrade.

 

[GTP]

But back up your data anyway as things can - and often do - go wrong!

 

[Markverhyden]

But back up your data anyway as things can - and often do - go wrong!

Yep. There's a reason why M@cr0$h@ft uses that warning. They learned a long time that they do not want to listen to customers screaming at them because something went wrong.

 

[JoelM]

I don't know about you but I always remind customers it's their responsibility to make sure their data is backed up before I work on their computer. Microsoft is saying the same thing.
It's not our fault when it all goes sideways...

 

[Porthos]

It's not our fault when it all goes sideways...

It may not be our fault but we will be blamed and it really does not matter what we tell them and what we have signed it is not worth the risk.

 

[Your PCMD]

And @autumn be warned that many Home to Pro upgrades I have done for clients have had one major issue. Clients not being able to access user groups or connect to home groups, calling for a N&P. Just because you "upgrade" to Pro, does not mean you get "all" the Pro features.

 

[autumn]

Thanks all. It all went well.

For some reason I only got the notification for the first comment. anyway

 

[Kirby]

I tell customers that they should back up as often as they can afford to lose things. If they don't mind losing a week's worth of data then back up once a week, for example. I also have to explain to many that moving the data onto an external drive is not a "backup". It has to be in at least 2 places to be "backed up".

 

[Porthos]

I tell customers that they should back up as often as they can afford to lose things. If they don't mind losing a week's worth of data then back up once a week, for example. I also have to explain to many that moving the data onto an external drive is not a "backup". It has to be in at least 2 places to be "backed up".

I only recommend FULL images and I endorse Macrium for home users.

 

[Kirby]

I only recommend FULL images and I endorse Macrium for home users.

I don't trust anything which makes an "image" instead of just backing up files. You can thank Microsoft Backup for that. I used it to back up a computer (XP, long ago), reinstalled Windows, did all the updates, tried to restore the data only to get a message saying that the backup wasn't compatible with this version of Microsoft Backup or Windows Backup or whatever it was. I panicked, pooped a little, then reinstalled Windows AGAIN, then restored the backup, then did all the updates...AGAIN, and swore of anything that didn't give me a file for file backup that I could just get into, without any software to "interpret" it for me.

 

[Porthos]

I don't trust anything which makes an "image" instead of just backing up files. You can thank Microsoft Backup for that.

Of course MS backup was crap. Image software is not like that.

reinstalled Windows, did all the updates, tried to restore the data only to get a message saying that the backup wasn't compatible with this version of Microsoft Backup or Windows Backup or whatever it was.

With an Image you don't reinstall Windows and restore files, you restore the image which is a full copy of the drive.
If you dont know your way around your favorite imageing software your are behind in the times. If you don't have a favorite because you got burned by the MS offering time to look again.

 

[Kirby]

Yeah, I know what imaging software is. The point is that I simply don't trust it if I can't see the files and personally ensure they are backed up.

As a rule I don't use imaging software anyway. I know most techs slap together a computer and throw an image on the drive in 20 minutes when they build a new one, but I'd rather take my time and install Windows manually each time. Many times in the past I have been alerted to issues during Windows installation which I otherwise might have missed if I had just done a drive image. Yeah, there's the burn-in test to catch that stuff, but with a small shop with 3 bench spots, 4 in a pinch, I don't have time for an extensive burn in. To be fair, the technology has gotten so much more reliable I haven't had an issue in literal years, but still, old habits and all.

 

[Porthos]

but still, old habits and all.

My original post was for the end users keeping backups. And yes it is good for us as well.

 

[GTP]

you restore the image which is a full copy of the drive.

Which includes all the incorrectly uninstalled software and left behind redundant/corrupt registry settings, malware traces and file corruption you were trying to get away from.
My .02

 

[Porthos]

Which includes all the incorrectly uninstalled software and left behind redundant/corrupt registry settings, malware traces and file corruption you were trying to get away from.
My .02

I only use images on a fresh install. I will not image a clients drive to a new HD. I always start fresh on a new drive. Too many chances on issues after like you said. My fresh images have been proven reliable on dozens of installs.

 

[Kirby]

My original post was for the end users keeping backups. And yes it is good for us as well.

Yes, my brain tends to get sidetracked. You have no idea how many posts of mine are a LOT shorter than they would have been if I didn't look at them, say to myself, "That has nothing to do with the conversation" and delete 3/4 of what I wrote. I let the little ones slip through. It's mostly the novels that I delete and start over on.

 

[Kirby]

I only use images on a fresh install. I will not image a clients drive to a new HD. I always start fresh on a new drive. Too many chances on issues after like you said. My fresh images have been proven reliable on dozens of installs.

I'm sure nobody is doubting the quality of your work or your skills. We all have those little idiosyncrasies which define little bits of who we are. For me, drive images are the devil's work. I experimented with having my vendor build systems for me, figuring it would save me (at the time) 2-4 hours. The thing came in with a rattle when the fans ran because one of those blanks which cover the CD bays vibrated in it. I started it up and got immediate errors. I essentially had to half tear it apart and rebuild it, then reinstall Windows. And that crap work cost me, as I recall, $40, for what I know to be 20 minutes of work. And a few times I have found errors on a computer which otherwise seems fine because of problems which showed up during the install. Granted, that has been years, but it has always stuck with me. Images are bad. Manual installation gives you a better chance of seeing problems so the customer never does.

That and I am really fussy. An image would actually take more of my time because I would have to update it constantly. I do all the updates on every computer I build. I also, essentially, simply can't give a customer back their computer once they've reached my maximum fee of 2 hours until it is perfect. When there's no chance it will cost them any more, they're pretty much not getting it back until everything is perfect, no matter how petty or unimportant any problems. A touch of OCD, I think.

 

[Kirby]

No - that sounds like taking pride in doing the job well. Not a bad thing at all.

No, I'm pretty sure it's OCD. When I was young I loved computers. I spent hours every single day on a computer. Now, if the computer works, I just don't care. I could go days, maybe weeks without touching one...UNLESS it's broken. THEN it gets my interest. My relationship with computers these days is a little twisted, I think. Unless it's infected with something, I just don't care about it. Now if I were to say that about women how messed up would that be?

 

[fencepost]

Now if I were to say that about women how messed up would that be?

Depends on whether you only want them if they're broken or if you only want them if they're infected.

The first may indicate white knight tendencies, the second that you have a strong interest in public health.