Reinstalling OS Help Needed

Made In Canada · December 21, 2016

Please Read (i know, i dont like reading too, but i made it short)

So my buddy just got an SSD, and now he wants to move his OS to said SSD. During today, he has been looking at video's to move the OS over to the SSD from his HDD, but hes only getting errors such as the image i will leave at the end of this. From that, i recommended to backup his files and just do a reinstall for his OS, onto the SSD. From then hes good. PROBLEM #1: He only has windows 8 (with the code and everything) but needs windows 10, how can he go about getting this? (ive only worked with installing windows 10 as im new to this, also, he might not be able to buy windows 10 if he must).

Not needed if the first part is possible

Next. As said earlier, he wants to move his OS from his HDD to his SSD if he cant reinstall his OS... With what ive previously mentioned about him looking up videos about data migration, and how he does not have a official copy of windows 10, is this possible? Im not sure what he tried to do but he gets the message seen in the image. Im not sure what i means so if anyone can clarify what needs to be done that would be great.

All help is appreciated!

ooooo a peice of candy

mechtech · December 21, 2016

IMHO - Not worth trying to figure out how to migrate an image of Windows 8.

PROBLEM #1: He needs to buy Windows 10 - The free upgrade period ended July 29, 2016:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/12435/windows-10-upgrade-faq

Regardless if he decides to buy it or not, a fresh install on the SSD is still preferable vs. trying to troubleshoot whatever software is being used. Backup all important data, and re-install software and apps as needed.

If he decides not to buy Windows 10, you can download the install disc image for Windows 8 directly from Microsoft here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows8

Once the system is fully setup with all updates applied, now is a good time to make an image of the SSD OS install, and in the future, it can easily be cloned onto another SSD or HDD without having to re-install everything again. A great way to start 2017 if you ask me

kirashi · December 21, 2016

29 minutes ago, Made In Canada said:

PROBLEM #1: He only has windows 8 (with the code and everything) but needs windows 10, how can he go about getting this? (ive only worked with installing windows 10 as im new to this, also, he might not be able to buy windows 10 if he must).

If he does not currently have Windows 10 installed, did not upgrade during the free upgrade period, and the computer did not come with Windows 10 pre-installed, he will need to purchase Windows 10 to install it.

As for his problem with migrating to an SSD, I have no idea how Samsung's Magician Transfer software works, since I either a) use Linux for such tasks, or b) perform a clean reinstall anyway to both eliminate weird problems with transferring the install over, and to freshen up my Windows.