How can I do an in-place upgrade of Windows?
When Windows Update failed, I salvaged the situation by making an
"in-place upgrade".
I didn't even need an installation DVD or a USB stick.
Nor the product key.
1
The procedure was pleasantly straightforward and mostly free from
obstacles.
I searched :
https://www.google.com/search?q=Download+%22Windows+10%22+media+creation+tool
which took me to :
Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File).
I disregarded Update now and clicked Download now which
downloaded MediaCreationTool22H2.exe.
^ click to enlarge
Then I right-clicked MediaCreationTool22H2.exe and chose
Run as administrator.
The first time I tried it, a window was shown, saying :
There was a problem starting Setup. Close the tool, restart your PC,
and then try running the tool again.
Instead of restarting Windows, all I did was sign out and sign back
in again.
2
This time, I didn't get any error.
Then I was shown a window displaying
Getting a few things ready, and upon completion,
a license agreement, Applicable notices and license terms,
which I accepted.
The window Getting a few things ready was shown again.
I was then asked What do you want to do?, and given two options :
- Upgrade this PC now
- Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file)
for another PC
The first option – Upgrade this PC now – was pre-chosen,
so I clicked Next to start the installation
of Windows 10, version 22H2.
Because of this choice, I never needed any USB stick.
The download took a little more than an hour (some 70 minutes).
When shown Ready to install, I left Keep personal files and apps
checked, and clicked Install.
The installation took about 16 hours.
3
The aftermath
I was slightly shocked that the installation took sixteen hours.
But putting that aside, compared to having Windows Update do a
version upgrade, this installation was quite smooth.
When Windows Update upgraded my Windows 10 from version 1803 to 21H2,
the Windows modules installer worker (TiWorker.exe) practically
hijacked my laptop for hours and hours, in the meanwhile making the
computer completely unusable.
4
One bad thing did happen the day after the upgrade – my disk usage
(HDD) went up to 100%, and stayed close to 100% for several hours.
This happened although the sum of the four most hungry processes
didn't even add up to 0.5 MB/s.
This normally results in no more than 5-10% disk usage – not anywhere
near 100%.
Weird.
I got fed up with it and performed the classical
Microsoft fix – "if in doubt, restart the PC".
Once restarted, the strange behavior was gone, and I haven't
seen it since.
Other than that, the registry was completely reset (which is good),
and that the annoying Microsoft Edge was installed (unfortunately).
5
I believe an in-place upgrade like this is possible,
even if the current version of Windows 10 is the same as the version
in Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File).
6
Where are the installation files downloaded?
The Media Creation Tool
saves the downloaded files to C:\ESD\Windows.
So if I want to do an in-place upgrade of the very same version
once more, then I don't need to download the files again.
Instead, I can just double-click C:\ESD\Windows\setup.exe.
When I did that, I was shown a window saying Install Windows 10.
And since I already had the latest drivers for my laptop, I clicked
Change how Windows Setup downloads updates.
When shown Get updates, drivers and optional features, I clicked
Not at the moment, and then Next.
Then the license terms were shown, and the rest was as above.
(I didn't complete it.)
What if the system doesn't boot?
Unfortunately, if your system doesn't boot, you
cannot do an in-place upgrade, only a clean install.
A clean install has many similarities with an in-place upgrade.
When reaching the window What do you want to do?, choose
Create installation media …,
and make sure to have a USB stick ready with a capacity
of at least 8 GB.
All contents of that USB memory will be wiped out.
Shut down the machine on which you want to clean install Windows.
When starting it, you need to change the boot order so that the
computer boots from the USB instead of from the hard drive.
On my hp laptop, this is done by repeatedly pressing the
F9 key right after starting the computer.
The option OS boot Manager (UEFI) was pre-chosen, so I used the
down-arrow (↓)
on my keyboard to mark USB Hard Drive (UEFI),
and then pressed Enter.
I didn't continue, but instructions should follow on how to proceed
with the installation.
References
1
In case you do need the product key,
press WinKey+r, type cmd,
and press Enter to open a command line window.
Copy-paste
wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey.
Press Enter.
2
To sign out, press WinKey+x, u,
i.
3
Yes – sixteen hours.
But the result was a shiny new installation of Windows 10,
version 22H2.
4
As I recall it, it wasn't just hours, more like days.
Extremely frustrating.
5
I've since written
a guide on how to get rid of Microsoft Edge.
6
I haven't tried it, though.
To be picky, if the version to be installed is the same as the
version already running, then it's a reinstall, not an upgrade.
