On Thursday, July 4, 2019 at 7:16:15 PM UTC-7, Paul wrote:
Robert in CA wrote:
On Thursday, July 4, 2019 at 7:24:08 AM UTC-7, Paul wrote:
Robert in CA wrote:

Just re-reading some of your earlier posts,..
and there's allot to this,.we better start from
the beginning on this and take it step by step.

Robert
Go here and get the "MediaCreationTool1903.exe".

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

There's a download button, to get the stub downloader
that fetches the DVD for you.

https://i.postimg.cc/B62cj5Sp/Media-Creation-Tool.gif

It will likely want to run as Administrator.

Since you have two machines to do, it's better to
"create media for another computer" when asked.

It will create an ISO file (worth keeping).

It will also offer to burn the disc using
the Windows IMAPI2 interface.

It will offer that option only after the download is
complete. It isn't as up-front about that as it could be.

The burning would work if you have DVD+R or DVD-R
without a problem.

The Windows burner doesn't seem to know how to
format the rewriteable media types, which is
the only problem I've had with it.

Once you have the media, then you have materials
to work with.

It might take an hour or two for the download,
maybe 15 minutes for a burn and verify. Then
on the XPS 8500, you can try entering the key
when the installer prompts for it.

*******

Both of your machines are Windows 7 SP1 Pro x64 as
far as I know.

Control Panels : System can help verify that.

The download page will ask what you want, and you
want an x64 disc. I don't think any 32 bit OSes are
involved here. And when installing, if any selection
is offered, you match the Pro part, if you have
Pro or Professional.

Win7 Home Premium = Win10 Home
Win7 Professional = Win10 Pro
Win7 Ultimate = Win10 Pro

When running the DVD on the XPS 8500 with blank Spare
drive inside, the installer will take care of the
partitions. I usually use "Custom" when doing installs
and select whatever I had in mind, but the automation
in this case would be good enough. It should present
the only disk in the computer (the blank one) as a target.

It will summarize what it is about to do, before the
actual install starts. Early on, it may prompt for a
license key. That's your opportunity to enter one.

The copy-files stage of the install could take an hour,
while the multiple-reboots phase might take 15-20 minutes
or so. The version of Windows 10 now, puts more time into
the copy-files, and less time doing the install once all
the files are on the hard drive.

Note: You can prepare the DVD on either the 8500 or 780,
doesn't matter, because it doesn't know what your plan
is when "making media for another computer". As long
as the 780 and 8500 have a working DVD burner, either
machine would do for that step.

HTH,
Paul


It might take an hour or two for the download,
maybe 15 minutes for a burn and verify. Then
on the XPS 8500, you can try entering the key
when the installer prompts for it.

I'm not following this now am I installing Windows10
on my 8500 after I burn the DVD-R by entering the
product key? At what point am I installing the blank
drive and disconnecting the main HD? I started the
process up to this point:

http://i68.tinypic.com/2vt5vrt.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/168xzb5.jpg

In passing, the DVD-R's look like miniature movie
reels and have an area already provided for labeling
on the disc (although we don't do that).

Robert

You have two computers.

You can do the steps out of order.

The logical order would be:

1) Download MediaCreationTool1903.exe
2) Execute MediaCreationTool1903.exe
3) "Prepare media for another computer".
4) It'll download 3.5GB of stuff for the ISO file.
5) Have it burn the DVD-R when the download step is finished.
6) Place Spare drive in 8500, remove original drive.
7) Boot the DVD-R.
8) Do a Clean Install on the empty Spare drive.
9) A couple of screens into the install process, it
will ask for a license key.
10) Enter the key.
11) Finish the install of Windows 10.
12) Verify it is activated.
13) Put original drive back in the 8500.

HTH,
Paul

I tried running the media creation tool:

http://i68.tinypic.com/f0dweb.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/256y7hl.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/nlzhhl.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/33090cl.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2eqdnaf.jpg

In passing here's the DVD-R, that
looks like the old style reel to
reel's. Pretty cool looking I think.

http://i65.tinypic.com/23vchsj.jpg


Robert