Windows 7-Windows 10 Upgrade
SCCM Windows 7-Windows 10 Upgrade
“Context -
Fairly self explanatory here with the title. We were behind the 8-Ball with this one and had to figure out how to switch from Enterprise to Professional without doing a wipe and load....and they needed it yesterday.”
posted Jun 13, 2018, 8:55 AM
It wasn't too long ago that we were doing this with XP to W7.....2013 ish I wanna say. Oh well here we are again a few years later. The days of Wipe and Load should be a fuzzy blip in the rear view. In Place Upgrade is what we are shooting for so u can breathe a big sigh of relief. This approach retains our Settings, Files and Apps (between editions) and saves a significant amount of time. Its wise to get a Backup no matter what the case and that's just common sense....I hope.
Requirements
Remove any 3rd party, unapproved, software.
Update the BIOS.
Apply any pending updates and or restarts.
Unplug any nonessential hardware devices. These could include headphones, printers, scanners speakers, USB flash drives, and external hard drives. If you’re using a laptop and it’s plugged in to a docking station, undock it.
Do not run on "Battery Power".
Windows 7 (Ent or Pro) 64 Bit
CPU / Memory / Disk requirements are the same as Windows 7
10GB of disk space
A current backup
If using TrueCrypt, you will need to decrypt in advance
1-2 hours, could be longer depending on age of disk
A few reboots
Close all applications and inform the user to not expect to be working alongside this upgrade path
Patience
Expectations
You cannot expect to upgrade to a 64 bit version of an Operating System if the hardware only supports 32 bit.
Process
Open Active Directory Users and Computers, and navigate to the following group: W7-To-W10 Upgrade_G. Add the target Computer Name.
You have the option of waiting for 15 minutes (typical policy refresh), or opening Control Panel \ System and Security \ Configuration Manager
And navigating to the Actions tab and selecting Machine Policy Retrieval and Evaluation Cycle / RUN NOW.
Upon doing so, you should see the following Advertisement appear. Select Install to begin.
From here the process will start a few notable preparation steps of the installation.
Check Readiness - This will determine if your target computer meets the minimum specifications.
Is Notebook - This will identify whether your target is a notebook or not. If so, then Bitlocker will be disabled.
Powershell 3 - This will determine if Powershell 3 is installed. If not an installation is started and a reboot will occur. You do not have to log back in for the process to continue.
AV - Will be disabled.
Upgrade - The actual start of the upgrade process to Windows 10.
Reboot - The system will restart and continue the upgrade.
Install Software Updates - Check for any outstanding patches and deploy.
Completion
So lets get started shall we? The Task Sequence will download any necessary components.
Initialization of the Task Sequence begins, then Check Readiness.
Followed by an installation of Powershell 3 / Restart / Configuration (if required).
Next we move to some Administrative tasks / Uninstall AV.
Then the actual Upgrade begins. This is what I will cause Phase 1. This could take an hour. Much of this is disk IO.
If your the curious type you could launch Task Manager and check for the SetupHost.exe process. This is responsible for the bulk of the workload and usually a good indicator of activity.
After the installation process completes Phase 1. The target will be restarted and finalize with what I will call Phase 2.
After the restarts have concluded, and the process has completed, you will be taken back to the login screen. The upgrade process is now complete. Welcome to Windows 10!
One final note, If you have Notebook and its running Bitlocker be sure to Remove it from BL2AD_G and Add to BL2ADW10_G group. After doing so run a GPUPDATE /force from and Elevated CMD prompt.
FAQ
Q - How do we get applications back on the system if upgrading to a different Edition?
We need to direct the user to the Application Catalog so they can install applications they need.
Q - Can this process be automated so there is no interaction required?
The answer to this is yes however I would like us all to be comfortable with the process and ensure its "Battle Hardened".
Q - It appears as if the upgrade never finished. I do not see SetupHost.exe and or any significant CPU utilization.
This is typically due to pending updates and or restarts. A manual restart should kick start the process through completion.
Q - I noticed Software Center is missing from my Start Menu after the upgrade. Why why why?
Software Center maybe temporarily unavailable after the first login but should appear shortly thereafter with a New prefix. Apparently it gets re-installed.
Q - The process failed on me and I tried to restart but I do not see the Task Sequence Advertisement in Software Center?
When this happens you have more than likely entered into Provisioning mode. This disables certain SCCM services so they do not interfere. This can easily be reversed by executing the following from an Elevated Powershell prompt: Invoke-WmiMethod -Namespace root\CCM -Class SMS_Client -Name SetClientProvisioningMode -ArgumentList $False. Output is similar to graphic below.
To see if your change was processed check the following registry key:
Be sure to check the SMSAGENTHOST service too as it can get disabled. Should be Started set to Automatic Delayed.
Q - The application wont start, and says something about Requirements???
This is standard behavior if lets say for example that the system did not have adequate storage available / 10GB.
Q - I am seeing an error and the process is failing from the start.
Most likely this is an issue with the Cache available. Cache is content that SCCM stores locally such as applications that it downloads. We have enabled an increase to the Cache to accommodate the upgrade process. This however may need to be cleared. You can check the following:
And execute the following:
Q - Is there a reference for upgrade issues / fixes?
Q - Where are the Setup Logs in the event I encounter an error?
Windows Setup Event Logs - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-log-files-and-event-logs