Getting New Win 7 Pro PC To Work With Old Home Premium Drive

gregrocker · 26 Jan 2015

I don't know why Home premium booted on different hardware without having to adjust it but sometimes this happens, maybe because it is another Dell.. More often it requires adjusting and PAR always does the job.

In the new PC did you 1) change the BIOS to CSM or Legacy Boot, 2) Adjust Win7 to boot on new hardware with Paragon Adaptive Restore CD , then if necessary 3) confirm Partition Marked Active to 4) run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times?

There are no differences in the architecture of the versions, only a few extra features which are unlocked in higher versions and which already exist in the lower version but are hidden. The Product Key determines which version is allowed. Technically, Upgrade doesn't come into the picture here because you're not Upgrading but changing the version using a workaround for the purpose of activating with the Professional Product Key you bought along with the new rig. The workaround tricks the installer into doing a same-version Repair Install to a different version.

PAR does not do the Change versions workaround which must be done separately. Once the Home Premium image boots, do the workaround to change to Professional so it can be activated with the new PC's key.

Adelphi1 · 26 Jan 2015

OK. I will not be at work tomorrow because I am in the middle of the snowstorm that is pouring 2 feet of snow in the NY area :).

So I make the registry change using my old hard drive on the other rig, take the drive home, change BIOS to legacy and run PAR on the home PC and follow your instructions. I confirm the active partition and then run startup repair 3 times.

OK, sounds good.

gregrocker · 26 Jan 2015

There's more to Change versions workaround than making a Registry edit, as the post describes. You must then run a Repair Install to reinstall the OS as Professional.

Note also that the Change versions workaround shows how to change from from Pro to Home Premium while you are doing the exact opposite, so the Regedit should read exactly as it already does in the Registry screenshot:

Then if you need a Pro installer download it from Win7 Professinoal x64 English Official ISO Download and burn to disk or stick with Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool or if you have the Home Prem ISO unlock all versions with eicfg removal tool to burn to DVD or stick.

It may start in the new PC without PAR if your luck continues. If not then run PAR P2P Adjust. Then try to start it again. Only if it doesn't start do you need to Confirm Active and run Startup Repair x3.

Adelphi1 · 27 Jan 2015

Status Report 1/27/15

Following instructions above, I made the registry fix and did a repair install using an OptiPlex 990 at work. Relatively uneventful, I had to install ITunes and an ATI Catalyst Manager. Install took about 2 hours. The OptiPlex runs smoothly with Windows Professional.

I go home, replace hard drive that came with PC with the upgraded hard drive. I went into BIOS, changed to Legacy. Try to boot on old hard drive, get a fast BSOD.

No sweat, I try booting PC from Paragon. Weird thing happens. It boots into Paragon but the mouse stops working just as Paragon gets to license screen. I am an old tech, I use keyboard tab key to sign off on license. But when I try to start it, tab on keyboard works so I can get to PAR P2P Adjust. Since I have no double-click, I hit enter at P2P Adjust. Nothing. I try getting out via exit or reboot, no dice. I can use tab on the keyboard, and lights for Caplock, Scroll Lock and Numlock work. I have to shut down PC.

Mouse light goes off just before license screen goes on.

On OptiPlex I verified that the partition was marked active. Before I run Startup Repair, are there any other things in the BIOS I should be looking for. The Paragon thing is especially weird. Also, the hard drive that came with the PC is a solid state 512GB drive.

Outside changing between Legacy (for old MBR hdd) and UEFI (for GPT hard drive) I changed no BIOS settings. The mouse that hangs in PAR works in the BIOS and in Windows, on the original hard drive.

Before I start Startup Repair 3x, how long should it take each time? How will I know if it is hung?

Thank you for all your help!!!

gregrocker · 27 Jan 2015

Enter BIOS setup to look for settings for CSM, Legacy BIOS, UEFI or anything similar. If there are dual choices then choose only Legacy. If in doubt post back camera snaps of these or any other possibly related settings choices. If you're seeing UEFI choices when booting the disk then it may still have too much UEFI.

The BSOD could be either from the BIOS settings or adjustment needed by PAR. But the PAR fail could be also a BIOS setting, or you need a different mouse.

There wouldn't be anything wrong with running Startup Repair a few times so you can at least see if that disk has mouse support. It could even help although I doubt it at this point as the BSOD would typically be generated by the UEFI settings or needing PAR adjustment of driver/HID/SID conflicts.

Adelphi1 · 27 Jan 2015

OK, startup repair says it cannot fix problem automatically.

Problem Event Name: Startup Repair Offline
1. 6.1.7600.16385
2. 6.1.7600.16385
5. Autofailover
6. 1
7 Bad Driver
OS Version 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale 1033

I found this online: event name: startup repair offline__signature: - Microsoft Community

Frustrating as heck

gregrocker · 27 Jan 2015

The reported presence of "bad driver" makes it likely the problem is with PAR. Can you try another mouse? I suggested other options too.

Adelphi1 · 27 Jan 2015

OK, I will try another couple of mice. I went all over the BIOS and did not see anything. The version I have of PAR is from 2010, would the paid version have a better shot? And I did check active partition with win7 Pro. Tomorrow I will plug that same hard drive into the OptiPlex and it will run perfectly.

Grabbing at straws, would you recommend me to non-destructively convert the hard drive to GPT, then try the drive in UEFI mode?

Off to bed. Thank you again.

gregrocker · 27 Jan 2015

That is not possible. I'd consult Kaktussoft who wrote PAR tutorial.

Adelphi1 · 28 Jan 2015

How do I contact him? I did place a ticket with Paragon. I tried a different mouse, same thing. BTW, PC gets same BSOD via Safe mode and just about any other advanced option.

A colleague told me that my old hard drive may be incompatible with chipset on my new CPU. I am a little skeptical.