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

[Slartybart]

Status:

Still waiting for my Retail Professional DVD. Meanwhile, listening to the wonderful people here, I dug up a 1 TB drive and using software recommended here, I cloned it and the drive is bootable. Thank you everyone!!!!

Should my Windows 7 Professional Retail never come, what are my options?

I cannot upgrade my Home Premium hard drive on my new PC because my new PC has 2 CPUs, Home Premium does not run on a PC with 2 CPUs.

I always thought the difference between an OEM upgrade and a retail upgrade is that the OEM upgrade will only work on the CPU you are upgrading. Retail allows you to upgrade the hard drive, then use the hard drive with a different CPU.

Or am I wrong? Can I upgrade my old Home Premium hard drive with either an OEM DVD or via Windows Anytime Upgrade and then take it home, boot it on my home PC and then activate it. I would NOT be activating it on the CPU that I upgrade it on.

Again, thank you everyone for their help

You're welcome,

Good news and thanks for the update.

I'm not sure about the machine with two physical CPUs - I wouldn't think it would matter to Windows.
It's still one Mobo and one BIOS, yes?
This might be one of those licensing grey areas. dsperber posted a lot of information about licensing, but there might be more (it can get complicated and confusing, especially one-offs).

I wouldn't worry too much about the 2 CPU / home edition upgrade licensing thing
- put the Pro version on the new machine.
I always got frustrated by the home edition lacking some features, mainly group policy edit.

Bill
.

 

[gregrocker]

As I said earlier you do not need to buy Win7 Professional if it came on the new PC, you can use that Product Key so it's $100+ value is not wasted. I already have said this twice now so I don't know why you bought this from some dodgy eBay seller. I would return it unopened.

If Home Premium will not boot in a PC with two processors we surely would have heard about it here before, so it merits a real attempt. Did you make the BIOS changes to CSM or Legacy BIOS, Adjust Win7 to boot on new hardware with Paragon Adaptive Restore CD and then if it still won't start confirm the Partition Marked Active to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times so you know you've tried everything?

If so then in the other PC you can do the Change versions workaround on Home Premium to change it to Professional, move its hard drive or image to the new PC, follow the above to get it started. Then activate it using the Professional key that came with the new PC on it's COA sticker.

If you haven't tried everything above to start Professional in the new PC, I'd do that first then do Change Versions workaround to Professional to activate with the Product Key that came with the new PC. This will save needing to adjust it twice with PAR.

 

[Adelphi1]

Thank you.

Just one wrinkle. When does the activation process occur? Does it happen during the upgrade or afterwards.

I was told elsewhere that one can upgrade one's version of Win 7 on a different CPU/hard drive combo. It is only when you try to activate it, a separate process, does it lock you into that particular CPU/MOBO.

I do not need an Internet connection to upgrade my old hard drive. So activating it is not possible. If I can upgrade it on one CPU/MOBO (no Internet) , put the HD on my new PC (which needs Win Pro to run) and then try to activate, will that work?

 

[gregrocker]

You would not be Upgrading Home Premium lest you waste an Anytime Upgrade - if you used one for the old install it will now become free to use elsewhere, but isn't needed here .

Instead you are merely changing the versions for the purpose of reactivating with the Professional key on the new machine's COA sticker, which will activate as long as its for Professional and you're sure that's what you have achieved. If it fails then you have typed wrong characters, which is the only reason it would fail.

 

[Slartybart]

It might be easier, for me anyway, if you worked on one machine at a time.
I'm confused what came on each machine and what you want on each machine - but that might only be me.

Greg is excellent at working through these types of issues. If you take the one machine at a time approach it would only be for my benefit reading the thread and trying to follow.

Good luck, I'll watch and maybe learn some things along the way.

Bill
.

 

[Adelphi1]

Greg Rocker

OK, I read your e-mail and went into some links. Thank you for being as persistent as you have been.

Here is my plan:

I change my BIOS to Legacy. I boot up with Paragon and let it Adjust My OS. I have a 2nd DVD drive and have the disks that came with the PC. Hopefully that will find all the drivers. From my existing Win7 Pro installation, what folders do you recommend I copy to a USB key as an added resource? I am only looking for critical devices at this time.

If that gets my PC booting, hurrah. If not, I try the change versions workaround via regedit.

Presuming it works, do I need to do a Win Professional Upgrade? I downloaded the ISO from http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59186.iso. I will extract it, then run ei.cfg on the extracted data and put it on a USB key.

Then, do I need to do a Windows Repair via that USB key or will that work already have been done?

Microsoft has clearly documented that Home Professional will NOT work with a box that has two CPUs. My reluctance to try your methods was because I had just an original hard drive. Now that I was able to clone it on Friday, I feel much safer

 

[gregrocker]

No, if you want to use the Professional license which came with your new PC and not waste it's $100+ value, a Home premium license and an Anytime Upgrade license, then once you have Win7 Home premium cloned and booting, you must do the Change versions workaround to Professional.

You cannot Upgrade within Win7 except by Anytime Upgrade which I have repeatedly written is not needed here since that would require Activating Home Premium and then doing an ANytime Upgrade, which waste a Home Premium license and the Anytime Upgrade license too. You merely need to change the version before any activation is done, and then activate with the new Professional license which came with the PC on it's COA sticker.

PAR may prompt for SATA drivers to be able to do its job. Any other drivers you can provide on disk or mapping a path to stick are fine but not absolutely needed as they will be found once the OS boots, swaps out all drivers requiring several reboots, then pulls in any missing from Windows Update. Again, be sure to Enable hardware auto-updating via Windows Update (Steps 3 and 6)

The steps in Adjust Win7 to boot on new hardware with Paragon Adaptive Restore CD are pretty complete.

 

[Adelphi1]

You cannot Upgrade within Win7 except by Anytime Upgrade which I have repeatedly written is not needed here since that would require Activating Home Premium and then doing an ANytime Upgrade, which waste a Home Premium license and the Anytime Upgrade license too. You merely need to change the version before any activation is done, and then activate with the new Professional license which came with the PC on it's COA sticker.

So the Change Versions registry edit is all I need for my old hard drive to boot in my new PC. That is the only thing that Windows looks for to start the initial boot?

 

[gregrocker]

What is the clone you said you have booting now, and where?

If it is your Home Premium that you want installed to the new PC, then save another backup image and then change the version using tutorial.

Then take another image and apply it to the new PC after deleting all partitions using the Macrium boot disk. Make sure the BIOS is changed to CSM or Legacy mode and changes are Saved.

Now boot PAR to adjust that image to boot providing only drivers which PAR says must be added.

Now boot the image. If it won't boot still then confirm Active partition and run 3 Startup Repairs from Win7 disk not booted as UEFI disk.

It should swap out a drivers from animation in botttom right System tray which you can monitor by clicking on it. If not reboot until it does.

Enable driver Auto Updating from link I've given then Check for Updates to install all Important and Optional until there are no more offered when you check.

If you have questions about these steps then ask back until you are clear.

None of this has anything to do with activation which is done after you have Pro booting on the new rig, with the key that came with that PC.

 

[Adelphi1]

What is the clone you said you have booting now, and where?

First off, I am trying to learn and my not knowing is at the root of my problems. I cloned my old hard drive, it boots as Home Premium to a rig at work (OptiPlex 990). In a previous post, I said that the same hard drive does not boot off Legacy in my new multi-CPU rig at home, it hangs for over 35 minutes.

Here is also where my ignorance is apparent, the differences between the various Windows Versions as far as actual files, etc. I have been upgrading PCs for 30 years, an upgrade means new/different files even if the names of the files are the same, like different versions of DLLs.

But if you have taught me correctly, then the Windows DVD is for all versions, Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional, Starter, etc. and it uses the same files for all versions. What differentiates them, from an installation point, is the ei.cfg file, and then the license to activate. You cannot use a Home Premium license to run a version of Professional or Ultimate, etc.

So why doesn't my Home Premium hard drive boot on this multi-CPU rig? Is it simply that when my Home Premium hard drive boots, something in the boot sees the 2 CPUS, and expects to see Windows Professional (or Ultimate) in the registry in those two places in order to boot the hard drive. If it doesn't, it gets nasty.

If what I wrote is correct, then I see why this is so frustrating. It is as if the same basic product is given all these different names and corresponding functions, based on the ei.cfg file and the license. I am expecting different editions to have more differences, "under the hood".

Based on the fact that my cloned hard drive boots a rig at work, then I do have an Active Partition. The drive is good. From reading the documentation, PAR will help me put in whatever new drivers are needed. But will PAR change the registry on my old hard drive to Windows Professional or is that a step I should take first by booting the OptiPlex at work with the old hard drive (or its clone), then making the registry tweaks via regedit.

Thank you again for your patience. I need to teach this to my peers at work.

 

[gregrocker]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[Adelphi1]

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.