I have never partitioned a hdd so my question is---can I take my 500gb hdd ,which has win10 installed , partition it into two 250gb sections then clone win 10 into the second partition then do a clean install on the fist partition? Win 10 is activated.
Three questions:I have never partitioned a hdd so my question is---can I take my 500gb hdd ,which has win10 installed , partition it into two 250gb sections then clone win 10 into the second partition then do a clean install on the fist partition? Win 10 is activated.
1. Is Windows 10 activated because of an upgrade from a genuine, applicable previous OS?
2. Do you have Windows 10 installation media?
3. Were you going to clean install Windows 10 back on the 'first' partition?
If you answer yes to all, then just perform a clean installation period.
(Do partitioning later, for other purposes, if you wish)
That should work. No need to clone though. When you partition the drive, one part should still have the activated Win 10 on it so a clean install to the other half should be okay.
I wouldn't do this though. I'd install a new drive and do the clean install of Win 10 there, keep the current 500GB drive as a spare or backup until the new, clean install is complete and activated. This would be an excellent time to get a new 250GB Samsung EVO SSD drive. A 10X performance boost is amazing!
I did a clean install on a separate drive two days ago and it did not activate--same motherboard / computer.That should work. No need to clone though. When you partition the drive, one part should still have the activated Win 10 on it so a clean install to the other half should be okay.
I wouldn't do this though. I'd install a new drive and do the clean install of Win 10 there, keep the current 500GB drive as a spare or backup until the new, clean install is complete and activated. This would be an excellent time to get a new 250GB Samsung EVO SSD drive. A 10X performance boost is amazing!
It did not activate because you did not upgrade it from a install of 7 SP1 or 8 or 8.1, or you did a clean install and it is not retail.
in order for the activation to work on windows 10
you have to have windows 7sp1, 8 , 8.1 already installed and activated
then download the upgrade thru windows update if the upgrade Get Windows 10 logo appears...
or download the same version as current version of 7sp1 8 8.1 whether it be home or pro... then follow link to download the windows 10 download tool from Microsoft website. the version you download has to match the version you initially upgraded to
if you have home version of 7sp1 8 8.1 installed and download pro it wont activate
once you follow what is mentioned above you can then do a clean install it'll ask 2 or 3 times during the custom install process to input the product key choose skip lower left of screen... if you input the key from other edition of windows it wont activate
also if you are trying to dual boot theres a tutorial for that on here too
Windows 10 - Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Windows 8
