Best Practices - How to migrate from W7-Pro-64 to W11-Pro-64?

Again, I'm a novice.

While I love W7 I do not believe I can continue to maintain it on my own.

I'm unwilling, however I need / not want to migrate to W11.

Is there a "very" simple way to accomplish this migration?

Mike

I ordered and am awaiting delivery of the PC listed below.
The seller "claims" it runs W11, which is how I ordered it.
Hopefully, this is the case.
Might there be "some" migration schema to get me from W7 on my OLD PC to W11 on this NEW PC?

HP Desktop Computer PC i5 up to 16GB RAM 8TB NVMe m.2 SSD, Windows10 or 11, WiFi

Condition
Excellent - Refurbished
Seller Notes
“1-Year Warranty! Use 100% healthy NVMe SSDs, Professionally Reconditioned - NEW fresh copy of ... Read more about the seller notes
Processor
Intel Core i5 7th Gen.
Graphics Processing Type
Integrated/On-Board Graphics
RAM Size
16 GB
Color
Black
MPN
Does Not Apply
Most Suitable For
Casual Computing, Engineering Coding, Office
SSD Capacity
8 TB
GPU
Intel HD Graphics 630
Processor Speed
3.80 GHz
Brand
HP
Series
HP ProDesk
Form Factor
Small Form Factor (SFF)
Type
Desktop
Maximum RAM Capacity
64 GB
Manufacturer Warranty
1 Year
Model
HP ProDesk 600 G3
Connectivity
Audio In, Audio Out, DisplayPort, Ethernet, HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB-C, VGA
Features
Bluetooth, Bluetooth, Built-in Speakers, WiFi, Built-in Speakers, Optical Drive, WiFi
Hard Drive Capacity
0 TB
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Storage Type
NVMe

I was writing the procedure, when done. I saw that SIW2 has given you a guidance.

given a legal Windows 10 or 11 key is ready,

on my device, two ways I have done,
1. fresh clean-install. some people like this way. some NOT.
then 2nd way.
2. a relay of OS install. you need to have copies of install media of Windows 10 and 11 both.
onto Windows 7, after backup everything, from Windows 7, click Windows 10 setup.exe. follow its guidance, you select "keep your data and files", install will be moving on until done. Windows 10 wouldn't ask you email or account info (when you select to keep your everything). when done, remove Windows 10 install media. insert Windows 11 install media, one file (appraiserres.dll) needs changing to dummy. re-do same install procedure, still select "keep your data and files).
This will be a long time task (depending on how old your PC is. in my test, some PC took 6 hrs)

when install completed, you can play PC awhile, make sure no need to re-install/re-do. then activated your PC using the legal key (If was running Windows 10/11 on this PC in past, then skip this activation).

Mike Lynch said:

I ordered and am awaiting delivery of the PC listed below.
The seller "claims" it runs W11.....
....Might there be "some" migration schema to get me from W7 on my OLD PC to W11 on this NEW PC?

Almost anything can be made to run W11, I have it running on a 1st gen i5....

SIW2 said:

No.
Windows 11 official support effectively starts at 8th gen.
I would not buy a machine earlier than 8th gen.....

Correct, only 8th gen or later are supported Intel processors for 11. In addition to be a supported device requires a UEFI bios with secure boot and TPM 2.0 (either as a discrete chip, or Intel's firmware version called Platform Trust Technology (Intel PTT). AMD have their own firmware version called fTPM.

Windows 7 cannot upgrade directly to 11, as SIW2 said earlier you can upgrade to 10 first, then to 11. Unfortunately Microsoft ended the free upgrade from 7/8/8.1 to 10 last year, your W10 will not be activated. You'd need to buy a Windows 10/11 key to activate it after the upgrade (there's no difference in the keys, they will all activate 10 or 11).


Yes, you can migrate your Windows 10 with all its apps from an old PC to a new one. I did just that when I first got 11. I would wait until it's on its new home before activating it. You may luck out, if the new PC already has a digital licence for the same edition of W10 (Home or Pro) then it should activate from that. If so, then the same digital licence will also be valid for W11.

Bree said:

...For my System One in my specs on Eleven Forum I used Macrium Reflect to make an image of the Windows 10 install on my old Intel-based legacy bios MBR laptop then restored it to a new UEFI/GPT AMD-based one, in preparation for upgrading to Windows 11.

To convert from an Legacy/MBR install to a UEFI/GPT one I first clean installed Windows 10 on the new machine, then restored just the C: partition from my system image to replace the C: partition created by the install. The Reflect rescue media has a 'Fix Windows boot problems' tool which I then ran to create the correct BCD entry.

On first boot up Windows spent a while sorting out new drivers, then rebooted to my desktop with all my files and installed programs intact and working.

Ten Forums | how to get apps and settings to a new computer? - post #12

Thank everyone that responded to my Post.

I received an education in response and need to absorb and understand it.

I will cancel the PC that I ordered as it will be / is obsolete for its intended purpose already.

Very best regards,

Mike Lynch