Hi all,
After many years of wedded bliss with Windows 7, I'm moving on to Windows 10. I've decided on a dual-boot setup. My plan is:
1. Backup my existing Windows 7 Systems partition.
2. Shrink the partition.
3. Install Windows 10 Version 1809 Build 17763.2366 on the same System drive
4. Run a script to debloat from Windows 10 (from Chris Titus)

A few questions:
1. Is there any step I've missed?
2. Can anyone recommend a good, easy to us program for backing up the Win 7 partition? From memory, I previously used a cracked EaseUs...
3. What are the essential tools I'll need for Windows 10? The windows 10 machine won't be connected to the net.

Thanks in advance!

 

How many physical drives you have?

 

Why on earth would you want to go through all the hassle of updating from ancient Windows 7 to an also ancient Windows 10 1809 build? What's the point? Why not just stick with Windows 7?

 

6 all up.
I have one 250GB SSD for the operating systems, a 250GB SSD which is for my audio projects, + 4 HDD's (4-8TB each) for various junk.

 

Knew there was going to be someone having a sook.

 

I'll answer anyway.

My Win 7 machine has been going strong for many years, but it's a little bit stale, and not quite as reliable as it was. There's plenty of new plugins I want to try, and old plugins whose updates I can't use. There's M4L devices that are only available on recent versions of Ableton, but as I can't get Ableton 10 to work on my Windows 7, so a fresh install of Win 10 with Ableton 10/11 sounds a really clean way to get these M4L devices and new plugins.

Given it's an old computer, and I'm not going to be using many of the features of the brand new up-to-date Windows 11, so Windows 10, being compatible with all of the software I want to use, seems like the obvious choice.

 

Yeah, shrink that Windows 7 partition as much as you can, leave free space for Windows 10. When Windows 10 installer prompts you where you want to install Windows 10, select that free space, hit next and than installer will make all the partitions it needs. To avoid any screw ups, unplug all the unnecessary drives until Windows 10 is installed, than plug them back.

 

Thanks.
Can you recommend a good program that can backup the Win 7 partition? I can't remember what I used last time.

 

Have a look here, plenty of options and experiences
https://audiosex.pro/threads/best-free-backup-solution-for-windows-10.31909/

 

Updating to v1809 in 05/2023 is by no means an obvious choice! There seems to be a community that thinks that the lower the version number of an operating system the better it is and the less heavy it will be on their system. And of course they'll tell you that the higher the version gets the more you have fight off Microsoft. But it's plain bullshit because the core is the same!

There's lots of programs/plugins that won't even accept version 20H2 anymore and there's a reason for that. So if you go Windows 10 I would suggest you update to latest version 22H2 and 'de-bloat' this instead of fumbling around with a crappy 1809? That way you'll be sure to not run into any compatibility issues with programs for some time.

Also the newer versions often offer optimizations for older processors that the older versions don't have.

 

Last edited: May 27, 2023

if you decide to stick to v1809, there's Oprekin Lite version you can try.

 

Thanks for the response.

I read here that version 1809 was rock solid, so that's the one I downloaded. I'm not so concerned if there's a few plugins that don't work, I don't need to stay "up to date" with everything. The main thing I want to try is the most recent Ableton Live and a few m4l devices, as long as that works it's going to be fine for me.

 

Really what program and plugins is that?
I can install alot of plugin and programs that is suppose to be win10 minimun (and i never seen any vendor mention win 10 version bla bla on their website i have seen Win7 and Service Pack though) on my win7 machine and they work just fine.
Only very few plugin and programs doesnt work so i wonder what specific programs and plugins you mean as you wrote "lots"

 

Last edited: May 27, 2023

This looks great- one question though (sorry for being a n00b). It says that this release has not been activated, is this an issue if I leave this unactivated, otherwise, what is the best way to activate the release?

EDIT: Nevermind, found a script... Cheers!

 

Last edited: May 27, 2023

I've just gone through a similar process -- though I bought a 1 TB SSD to put Windows 10 on, because I plan on keeping Ableton, my VST's and all of my main samples, Ableton packs, etc. on the same drive as my system. Aside from that, I pretty much followed the same route as you did.

Re. backup -- I use a cracked version of Macrium that I downloaded from the Russian place. I've been using Macrium for years now, and as far as I'm concerned it blows all the other disk imaging/backup software out of the water.

Though I installed Windows 10 about three months ago, I still spend 95% of my time in Windows 7.

 

I use a lot of Steinberg, Cubase Pro and Wavelab Pro etc and it's just not optimized for older versions below 21H2. But maybe I could even get to run under XP? But the question is, why would I even try and what's the freaking point of it?

The only legitimate reason would be if I have hardware, be it an audio device, a processor, a motherboard or a video card that doesn't support Windows 10. But today people seem to avoid updating because they simply hate the fact that there is a new Microsoft OS and it needs to be avoided at all cost. And if you ask them why they can't even give you a straight answer because they actually don't know why. They just follow the Anti Microsoft heard that told them to always distrust Microsoft and only to update when the heard tells them to. They even trust them that much that they even download their scripts and versions of the OS that they feel save with. But the people offering these scripts and customized Os's are not regulated and could build in all sorts of add-ons and adware without you knowing it.

The question is "why run an older version of an OS if you can update to the latest". I still don't get this obsession of people with this "I want to keep running Windows 7 no matter what" ?! Today you want to run windows 7 and maybe an old version of Windows 10? By the time windows 12 comes out everyone will switch to Windows 10 and complain about Windows 11. And so on..... What's the stupid freaking point?

You can run the latest version of any OS and still de-bloat it to you liking and be up to date with any current programs. So why dwell in ancient OS's that most likely will not support the next update of your favorite programs? I just don't get it why some people are so obsessed with this?

 

I wouldn't do the dual boot partition thing at all. SSDs are cheap enough now, juat add another. If it works why tinker with it - just leave everything as it is with the Windows 7 drive. You can then choose one as the default drive to boot from and just use the BIOS boot drive selection option (eg. F9, F12 - varies by manufacturer) to select the other SSD when you want it. This is more robust than fancy dual boot options as part of the Windows boot process (best to disconnect the old SSD when you install the new as it tends to automatically do that).

You are right, latest is not greatest and Win 7 was "peak OS" as to some degree, the user was still in control. But the latest software will not work. Cubase/Nuendo 12 for example do need Windows 10 21H2 minimum. So while the older 1809 is better/stable ond Win 10 Enterprise LTSB was best (relatively) of all - they will not work.

The best current option is Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC and it is still supported until 2029 at least (get the "Gen2" version from 1337x dot to , it permanently preactivates) LTSC is already half debloated and will be okay as is, but you can then debloat further with eg. Blackbird for lower latency/interrupts. As somebody who works as a tech fixing Windows 11 all the time, I will be staying away from it for many years. If you are even a little tech minded, it is right not to blindly trust Microsoft and to take control yourself as far as possible. If you want details, look at my instructions under the Windows 10 services debloat post.

 

true

 

I go with this one.
I have Windows 10 22H2 and everything is working fine, I have Cubase 12 with more than 200 plugins.
I had Windows 7 for years, I was reluctant to install W10 but when I did it I never used W7 again, just saying...

 

MiniTool Partition Wizard is another good one. Hopefully you have enough space on your ssd for another partition..