Solved Windows 7 upgrade - help!

[MarkPawelek]

I have a 2nd laptop with Win 7. Since Windows 7 support ended it's become more broke everyday. I want to upgrade the operating system (to something which works). Keeping users and data. I can handle reinstalling all the programs.

For examples of how broke Win 7 is now
- I tried running backup. I will not run
- I tried running windows 10 upgrade - it will not run
- With shutdown - the laptop will never shutdown - it's always looking for updates - even when I switch updates off. Also - there aren't any updates now!

I'm happy to move to any O/S provided I can install it on this ancient laptop: Toshiba Z830-10T, Win 7, i3-2367M, 10Gb RAM, 500GB SSD. I obviously want to keep the same user but don't mind reinstalling all the software.

 

[flavallee]

What is the exact serial number on that Toshiba Z830-10T laptop?

What is the exact part/product number on it?
(Note: 2 sets of characters separated by a dash comprises the complete number)

Has more RAM been added to the original amount?
Has its original SSD been replaced with a different one?

What version(Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, etc.) of Windows 7 is installed in it?

 

[MarkPawelek]

Thanks for replying. Because I still have all the original hardware. I can down-grade it to the originals and try again. This might work because it may fix the paging issue I have not mentioned as well!

To answer your questions:

(1) Full details of the model:

SATELLITE Z830-10T
1E/+0/PRUK
Part No: PT22LE-00E004EN
Serial No: 2C067255H

(2) Operating system. Never changed

O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium
version: 6.1.7601 SP1 Build 7601

(3) RAM and SSD were increased in capacity. Yes I upgraded the RAM by switching the original 2GB chip, first to 4GB, then to 8GB. So the RAM began as 4GB (2+2), then went to 6GB (2+4), and is now 10GB (2+8). The SSD also got upgraded. From 128 to 256, then to 500.

(4) BIOS: 1.80 18-04-2013
SM BIOS: 2.5

The BIOS has been flashed since I bought it. Although the BIOS looks a bit old it's the most recent one I can find. It correctly reports the RAM and SSD. It recently allowed to to switch on the TrackPad, which I must've previously switched off because it wasn't working! So the BIOS looks good.

(5) EventLog. Is full of warnings regarding paging (Event Id: 51. An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk2\DR39 during a paging operation.). Also had lots of errors, and some critical errors relating to times I gave up and just pressed the stop button after I wasn't able to stop some program or process when they crashed.

 

[flavallee]

Thanks for submitting the information(and more) that I requested.

Based on what I previously found HERE, I guessed you had increased the RAM from its original amount of 4 GB(2 GB + 2 GB) to 10 GB(2 GB + 8 GB), and had upgraded the SSD from its original capacity of 128 GB to 500 GB.

Considering all the issues you're having with the Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit operating system in that laptop, attempting to do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Home 64-bit will likely fail.

What I suggest you do is a clean re-install of Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit in that laptop.
That will wipe everything from the hard drive and give it a clean and fresh start.

After that's done, use Simplix Update Pack 20.11.27(current version) to get it up-to-date to November 2020.
Note: The entire update process will involve 3 - 4 restarts and will take an hour or longer to complete.

After that's done, install the necessary device drivers(chipset, graphics, audio, wireless, ethernet, etc.).

Once you have the Windows install media and the update pack and the drivers ready available, and depending on your computer knowledge and that laptop's speed, you should be completely done in 5 - 6 hours.

 

[Bree]

.- I tried running windows 10 upgrade - it will not run...

Do you mean that you tried to upgrade to W10 and the upgrade would not run?

If so, then you can create a GenuineTicket.xml file from your activated Win7 Home Premium and use that to activate a clean install of Windows 10 Home.

Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First | Tutorials

 

[Bree]

I want to upgrade the operating system (to something which works). Keeping users and data. I can handle reinstalling all the programs.

The bit I put in bold rules out any form of clean install. You could try a repair install to fix your broken Windows 7. That would keep users, files and installed programs.

This will show you how to do a repair install (aka: in-place upgrade install) to fix your currently installed Windows 7 and preserve your user accounts, data, programs, and system drivers.

Repair Install

After that you could continue using your repaired W7, or the upgrade to W10 should now work.

 

[Megahertz07]

As you have a Toshiba OEM computer it came with a Win 7 HP SLP license. A SLP license is offline activated so you should backup it before you do anything.
I have successfully used Activation Backup and Restore (ABR) or use Dism++.
You run it on the current installation, save the license and then use it on the new installation.
I strongly recommend you do it.

The best option on an old computer is always a Clean install (delete everything and start from scratch). This will take more time but, as the name says, it is clean.

The second option is a Repair install. You run Win 7 installation setup from running windows. It will reinstall windows and keep your data and programs.

To run a Clean install or a Repair install you will need a Win 7 installation drive. If you don't have one, I can give you a MS link to download a Win 7 iso file.
If you do a Clean install or a Repair install it will ask for a license key. Skip and after installation use the license you saved with ABR.

When finished with the installation follow this update steps

 

[MarkPawelek]

My instinct was right. I put the original hardware back in. Then downloaded the Windows upgrade tool (to Win 10) and ran it. It upgraded to Windows 10 Home. All I need do now is upgrade from Home to Pro, back it up then migrate the SSD again to the larger size.