Windows 10

Oh where or where can my Windows 10 be,
Oh where oh where can it be

Impatience is a terrible trait...wish I could trade it for persistence

You don't have to wait for the notification to pop up. You can download it directly from Microsoft and create your install media, or go right ahead with the upgrade.

You don't have to wait for the notification to pop up. You can download it directly from Microsoft and create your install media, or go right ahead with the upgrade.

Here's how you do it. Installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool - Windows Help

Here's how you do it. Installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool - Windows Help

Hello,

Can I reinstall Windows 10 on my computer after upgrading with free upgrade?

Once you’ve upgraded to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer or Media Creation Toolon an activated Windows 7 or 8.1 PC, you will be able to reinstall, including a clean install, on the same device. You won’t need a product key for re-activations on the same hardware. If you make a meaningful change to your hardware, you may need to contact customer support to help with activation. You’ll also be able to create your own installation media like a USB drive or DVD, and use that to upgrade your device or reinstall after you’ve upgraded.

don't do a clean install yet, it will come up saying your key has been blocked

Media creation tool downloads ok but about 70% thru "Creating Windows Media"it dies. Error states 'cannot complete'. I did select "Upgrade this PC now" instead of create media for installation on another device. I tried it two times. You know what Einstein said
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.". I guess I'll have to wait for "Windows Update"to find me.

Media creation tool downloads ok but about 70% thru "Creating Windows Media"it dies. Error states 'cannot complete'. I did select "Upgrade this PC now" instead of create media for installation on another device. I tried it two times. You know what Einstein said
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.". I guess I'll have to wait for "Windows Update"to find me.

How's your disk space? I downloaded the ISO and it created two folders on C: Windows~BT & Windows~WS - both are hidden. Not sure why it created the folders (I'm guessing two because I have a home and a pro system to upgrade) that but I guess it downloads the esd and converts it. The two folders plus the ISO probably amount to over 16 GB - again, that's an estimate. Lots of post guessing here - sorry about that.

I already ran Disk Cleanup which removed the ~WS fodler, but had to manually delete the ~BT folder (no issues deleting - did not have to change owner or add my user to security)

If the folders are there, try removing them as described above.

If you haven't tried this - download the ISO and just mount it, then run setup from the mounted ISO - with Window running (don't create external media and don't boot to it)

I actually use the MS tool and pushed the installation stuff to a usb flash drive, and used Resource Manager to watch what it was doing.

Yes, there are several temporary folders it creates (including those you named) first but before the end of my approach it merged them to a single folder, then expanded that on top of my USB drive. The final size of the data on the USB drive was just over 3.0 gbytes.

That's all that was required to do a reboot and a clean installation.

Thus it appears that only the final installed Windows 10 will hit 16-20gbytes.