Can you "Sysprep" Windows 10?

[DudefromHamburg]

Hey there,

 

last time i build a Rig was with WIn7, and you could Use SYSPREP to "reset" Windows to a state where you could change the used chipset of the motherboard without causing BSODs. Or is this BSOD after you change your platform a problem from the past?

Background: I really dont want to reinstall windows this weekend, but i wanna build and configure the rig :D.

Is there a way to "reset" all Windows 10 Drivers to fake a fresh install without causing problems.

I switch from H97 to Z270, if this helps.

[SansVarnic]

1 hour ago, DudefromHamburg said:

Is there a way to "reset" all Windows 10 Drivers to fake a fresh install without causing problems.

Not to my knowledge but I could be wrong though. @GoodBytes what do you think?

[samcool55]

Well you can always put the drive in the new system and refresh windows.

Refreshing basically makes it a new install. You can keep your stuff if you want to, it asks for that.

[DudefromHamburg]

on this note: I remember creating my own Windows install discs with all drivers included. (Intel Rapid Storage, Chipset and so on).

Is there a way to jam the IRS drivers on my win10 bootstick?

[Electronics Wizardy]

you can sysprep 10, but its pretty good with hardware changes. Just put it in the new system and it should boot up and install the needed drivesr.

[DudefromHamburg]

1 minute ago, samcool55 said:

Well you can always put the drive in the new system and refresh windows.

Refreshing basically makes it a new install. You can keep your stuff if you want to, it asks for that.

Last time i tried to boot an old system drive in a new computer resulted in devastating data loss on the system drive because the windows installation fucked itself up, and i had a hard time getting to the stuff in the /user/myusername Folder...

[samcool55]

2 minutes ago, DudefromHamburg said:

Last time i tried to boot an old system drive in a new computer resulted in devastating data loss on the system drive because the windows installation fucked itself up, and i had a hard time getting to the stuff in the /user/myusername Folder...

What OS did it run?

I know it's a bad idea with W7 but it has been no problem so far with the W10 installs i have.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, DudefromHamburg said:

Last time i tried to boot an old system drive in a new computer resulted in devastating data loss on the system drive because the windows installation fucked itself up, and i had a hard time getting to the stuff in the /user/myusername Folder...

backups my friend.

[DudefromHamburg]

@Samcool55 It was Windows 7, good to know that Win10 is more forgiving
@Electronics Wizardy Tell this to younger me :D, present me always goes for local and cloud backups

 

 

[GoodBytes]

5 hours ago, DudefromHamburg said:

Hey there,

 

last time i build a Rig was with WIn7, and you could Use SYSPREP to "reset" Windows to a state where you could change the used chipset of the motherboard without causing BSODs. Or is this BSOD after you change your platform a problem from the past?

No need. Windows 10 is robust enough to handle entire system change between restarts. If the motherboard changes you'll need to re-activate Windows, but aside from that, you are good to go. The only things that Windows is picky about are:

• SATA controller mode. If it was installed for AHCI, it may not boot on another system if the SATA controller is set to IDE/Legacy mode, same for the reverse. So in the UEFI/BIOS of the system, make sure that the setting is correct.
   
• If your system is installed for UEFI based system, but the other motherboard only support the old BIOS system, it will not even boot. This is not a Windows limitation, this is because under UEFI main drive needs to be in GPT, and the legacy BIOS only support MBR, it has no idea what GPT is (unless the BIOS is a hybrid one, but I won't go in exceptions). The reverse will work however, as UEFI can emulate the old BIOS, and some motherboard can auto-detect, so no need to even go in the UEFI to change the setting.
   
• If you have a 64-bit install of Windows, it will obviously not work on 32-bit CPUs. So if you try it on a 32-bit Atom CPU, well... it won't even find the OS as the files are 64-bit, so the CPU can't read them.

But yea, once you start Windows 10 for the first time with new hardware, you'll see it start just fine, but that first startup will be a bit of a slow one. Not to worry, Windows 10 is just re-detecting all the hardware and installing all the drivers that are different from before (the old drivers will no longer be loaded by the OS, so no issue there either). Once on the desktop, do a Windows Update to make it fetch all the latest drivers that MS servers has, and install whatever is missing, and you are good to go (of course, Activate Windows if you change motherboard: Start > Settings > Update & Security> Activation). Next restart will restart as if you did a clean install of the OS on that new system

 

 

[DudefromHamburg]

25 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

No need. Windows 10 is robust enough to handle entire system change between restarts. If the motherboard changes you'll need to re-activate Windows, but aside from that, you are good to go. The only things that Windows is picky about are:

• SATA controller mode. If it was installed for AHCI, it may not boot on another system if the SATA controller is set to IDE/Legacy mode, and the reverse. So in the UEFI/BIOS of the system, make sure that the setting is correct.
   
• If your system is installed for UEFI based system, but the other motherboard only support the old BIOS system, it will not even boot. This is not a Windows limitation, this is because under UEFI main drive needs to be in GPT, and the legacy BIOS only support MBR, it has no idea what GPT is (unless the BIOS is a hybrid one, but I won't go in exceptions). The reverse will work however, as UEFI can emulate the old BIOS, and some motherboard can auto-detect, so no need to even go in the UEFI to change the setting.

But yea, once you start Windows 10 for the first time with new hardware, you'll see it start just fine, but that first startup will be a bit of a slow one. Not to worry, Windows 10 is just re-detecting all the hardware and installing all the drivers that are different from before (the old drivers will no longer be loaded by the OS, so no issue there either). Once on the desktop, for a Windows Update to make it fetch all the latest drivers that MS servers has, and install whatever is missing, and you are good to go (of course, Activate Windows if you change motherboard: Start > Settings > Update & Security> Activation). Next restart will restart as if you did a clean install of the OS on that new system

 

 

amazing answer, left me speechless in terms of how i could say thank you.

Much obliged!!!!!

[homeap5]

@GoodBytes: I'm really happy that at least one person here do not recommend reinstall system every hardware change (or even disk change).

 

In that rare cases that hardware is really not compatible, there are functions in popular clone software like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper (and probably in few more). Unfortunatelly, all that ReDeploy or similar options are present only in paid versions of these applications.

 

In Win7 is similar (unlike samcool55 said) - most if cases Windows just boot after hardware changes (even from AMD to Intel motherboard). One time it has BSOD I just using Paragon Adaptive Restore bootable USB - it has option to prepare existing installation to new hardware (it takes few seconds). Unfortunatelly, I read that this software no longer works with new os like win10 (not a very big surprise - it's from 2010). Anyway, it's really rare that Windows has any problem with hardware changes. It's operating system, it can detect hardware changes. Plug&Play.

 

And for those who don't want to leave old unnecessary drivers - Ghostbuster tool is your friend.

[GoodBytes]

6 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

@GoodBytes: I'm really happy that at least one person here do not recommend reinstall system every hardware change (or even disk change).

 

In that rare cases that hardware is really not compatible, there are functions in popular clone software like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper (and probably in few more). Unfortunatelly, all that ReDeploy or similar options are present only in paid versions of these applications.

It is going to work

Intel to AMD, AMD to Intel, Nvidia to AMD to Intel, Intel to Nvidia to AMD, Core i7 8th gen to a Core 2 Duo, and the reverse (assuming it was installed on that Core i7 under BIOS legacy mode, as noted before), it is going to work. Forgot to mention that the CPU needs to support the OS version. So if you have Windows 10 64-bit and switch down to an old 32-bit Atom CPU (for some reason), this will not work, obviously. 32-bit CPU can't run 64-bit process, so obviously Windows 10 won't even be detected as all files are in 64-bit and so can't be read (will update post).

 

Also, I am against cloning. Imaging... perfect... no issue. But cloning is a no go in book. It might work for you, but I because I cannot guaranty 0 issue, I can't. I don't want people cloning their system, and having problem later on from some Windows Update or whatever, and that happens on an unexpected time, while one needs their system to be at 100% (exam week, deadline of project (work or school), etc), there is enough problems as it is, no need to add. To me, cloning is like registry cleaner, they may work great most of the time, if not always, but you always have someone coming, and having issues on their system because they used a registry cleaner, and the impact was only visible when they updated some software or OS or driver. It's not "100%" (I say 100%, but technically consumer good are around 97% reliable, and even servers are ~99.9% reliable, so yea)

 

6 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

In Win7 is similar (unlike samcool55 said) - most if cases Windows just boot after hardware changes (even from AMD to Intel motherboard). One time it has BSOD I just using Paragon Adaptive Restore bootable USB - it has option to prepare existing installation to new hardware (it takes few seconds).

Incorrect. While Windows 7 like 8 does technically support hardware changes, it is not reliable, it is something that Microsoft have been working on over the years. Newer version of Windows being better than older versions.

 

6 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

Unfortunatelly, I read that this software no longer works with new os like win10 (not a very big surprise - it's from 2010). Anyway, it's really rare that Windows has any problem with hardware changes. It's operating system, it can detect hardware changes. Plug&Play.

No Windows was quite picky with hardware changes.

 

[homeap5]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.storagecraft.com/disk-imaging-vs-disk-cloning/amp/

 

I realized that I always make imaging, not cloning, just use "cloning" name for whole process. That makes no difference, because I, based on my personal experience, never has problem with any updates, strange behaviours etc. It's just bits - this is digital, not analog. Your JPEG images (for example) always be the same no matter how many times you clone drive (or image and restore). The same is with all other files. It's loseless copy and the only bad that may happens is using bad imaging program. Problems with updates are common, no matter if someone make fresh install or clone. Most of them are because users messing with settings (disabled services, using stupid cleaning tools etc). I don't know of course how many times you made clones (or restoring images), but I made it a lot. None of problems you described halppens, but maybe someone doing it wrong - I don't know.

[DudefromHamburg]

nice discussion going on here , i´d like to chime in if i may.

i have to side with @GoodBytes on the windows 7 story.  switching chipsets (even within the manufacturer) was always a big gamble on 7. Sometimes it worked, but (in my experience) most of the time it just fucked up your boot drive. One time i just gave up trying to fix it and just installed windows onto the next hdd, which resulted in one time me having a total of 3 Drives on which windows was installed, but only one booting :D.

But after a thorough sysprep you could feed it every new part without loosing data on the drive.

@homeap5 i burned myself badly with imageing/cloning tools while using early versions of norton ghost or i think it was paragon disk image. ok, this was at a time where you had to use the DOS-Shell and fdisk to even get your drives visible for a windows installation so the software might me much more user-friendly now, but still i wont touch this anymore

[homeap5]

@DudefromHamburg: is not only more user friendly, but it works now. I remember Norton Ghost and Paragon. Even Clonezilla was really overrated. That software can really make bad experience. It was more like sector by sector mindless clone. In Win98 era I prefer to copy drive by overwriting fresh installation using good filemanager that preserve all file attributes than using that type of software. Now it works much better - may be because system itself is more flexible, but I think clonong is much better now - as everything, it improve over time.