Win7 to Win8; Need to move OS to different drive...

[earwicker7]

I'm getting ready to move from Windows 7 to Windows 8, and at the same time I'm upgrading my MB, CPU, and memory. I'm going to secure wipe my PCI-E SSD before partitioning it, which is causing some headaches, as you can't secure wipe your main OS drive (at least OCZ says that, so I believe them... it makes sense that you can't wipe out the drive that runs everything).

I have three drives; two SSD (C: and H and one HDD (F. Here's what I want to do:
1. Move Windows 7 from C: to H: so that I can secure wipe my main drive.
2. Secure wipe C:
3. Put in new hardware.
4. Partition C: using diskpart.
5. Use Windows 8 upgrade and install on C:.
6. Secure wipe H: and use it for a backup drive.

The only steps I'm worried about are 1 and 5.

I've already made a system image of C: on the F: drive. How do I migrate that image to H:? Do I need a system reserved partition on H:, and if so, are there any attributes I need to assign to it, or can I just make a partition normally and name it "System Reserved"?

Is it going to be a problem to upgrade the OS onto a disk other than the one that is currently being used? In other words, at this point, Windows 7 will be on the H: drive; will the upgrade pitch a fit about being moved to C:?

Is there a way around this whole procedure? Are there any tools that can secure wipe stuff outside of the OS (i.e., right after you POST)? If so, that would nullify all of the issues, but everything I've seen so far says that it is best to stick with your manufacturer's secure wipe system.

Thanks for the help!

 

[KSoD]

Well since you already made an image and migrated it to another drive, follow the same process to get Windows 7 to the drive you want. Image it and put that image on the drive you want.

No you dont need a system reserved partition.

Yes it will be a problem to upgrade a copy of Windows that is not being used. Cause it cant be done. In order to upgrade means to start the process from within Windows, hence upgrade. Your upgrading your current install to a new OS.

So you will have to make an ISO of Windows 8, and from there use that to do the install where you want. That will be the only way you will be able to get Win8 to install to the C:\ Drive. Cause you cant start the install within the copy on H:\ and have it install to C:\. That is not an upgrade.

There are plenty of tools to secure wipe outside of the OS. GParted, DBAN are just a couple.

 

[earwicker7]

I'm not following how the ISO is going to work if the DVD won't... they would still use the same installation files, wouldn't they?

I IM'd with a guy from Microsoft, and he said that doing things my way might get an error, but that I can call them and they'll take care of it. Just wish I could avoid Microsoft support hell.

 

[KSoD]

Not necessarily. There are DVD's made specifically for upgrades, but I can tell you for a fact that when you use the Upgrade Assistant and have that create the ISO for you. Then burn the ISO to DVD, it acts like retail install media. I know this cause I have personally used this method to install Windows 8 on my machine twice to the drive/partition of my choice.

Now if you ordered the media and it specifically states Upgrade on it, then that is different media.

Again upgrade media is not the same as retail media. One is made for installs without a previous version of Windows installed while the other will only operate from within a previous version of Windows.

 

[WinOutreach2]

You should be able to perform a clean installation with media that you acquired through purchase of an Upgrade license for Windows 8, whether that was a box product or a download ordered directly from Microsoft. Once the upgrade key is entered it may search your system for a qualifying installation of Windows and upon not finding it, may prompt you to enter your Windows 7 media to verify the upgrade, but aside from that you should not have any issues.

As for securely erasing your SSD, OCZ has produced a bootable toolbox which you can download from the official OCZ forums here, an ISO file which you can burn to disk and then boot to in order to secure erase your drive.

You can always find more about Windows 8 installation or deployment at the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page on the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
The Springboard Series on TechNet