# Building New PC Unsure About Windows Version



## LFO (Jan 31, 2019)

Hello,
I'm building a new PC (much thanks to the threads on this forum). My current box has Windows 7 Professional and I'm not sure if I should go ahead and move Windows 7 over to the new box via cloning and then upgrade to Windows 10 later, or if I should bite the bullet and install a fresh Windows 10 on the new system and go through the process of re installing / registering everything. Any advice would be appreciated!

Kevin


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## Quasar (Jan 31, 2019)

When it's me, I bite the bullet and do the clean install, start fresh without any old junk files/reg settings kicking about.


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## Jdiggity1 (Jan 31, 2019)

I always do a fresh install on a formatted drive. It just eliminates those questions that arise if you start to notice issues - "Hmm.. i wonder if this is because i upgraded from Win7..."

Just make sure to backup your C drive so you can recover any program settings or preferences if you need to. Such as color or layout customizations inside your DAW.
Export your registry files too, especially for kontakt libraries. That way you don't need to reinstall them one-by-one, you just import the registry file and boom, you've got your libraries list back.

Be prepared before you start. I have an external drive that i keep installers on. Whether they are drivers, software, utilities, anything and everything that I know i'll want. That way after you've got Windows re-installed, you can just go through the Installers one by one until you're all done. It should all be doable in a day.

The most tedious part is often going through the Windows settings and making sure they are to your liking, and uninstalling all the crapware and bundled programs/games that come with Windows 10 these days. But it still shouldn't take too long.


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## JamieLang (Jan 31, 2019)

You need to do a fresh install regardless of which. You can't really clone from one motherboard to another--I mean, will it FUNCTION? Maybe...but...there's nothing good or appropriate or optimized about that. 

As to which one--if it's a new intel system, you don't have a choice, it has to be Win10. Done. You have to really hack it up to get the completely unsupported Win7 to install.


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## Kony (Jan 31, 2019)

+1 for a fresh install - I wouldn't clone unless it's for a replacement drive for your current system


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## JohnG (Jan 31, 2019)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Export your registry files too, especially for kontakt libraries. That way you don't need to reinstall them one-by-one, you just import the registry file and boom, you've got your libraries list back.



How do you do that? Sounds handy.


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## AllanH (Jan 31, 2019)

Windows 7 goes off extended support in January of 2020, so you really have to move to windows 10 at this point.


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## Jdiggity1 (Jan 31, 2019)

JohnG said:


> How do you do that? Sounds handy.


You can open your registry by typing "regedit" after opening your Start menu. Once there, you'll want to export two locations: HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Native Instruments, and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Native Instruments.
You do this by right-clicking on the 'Native Instruments' folder and clicking export. It will create a .reg file that you need to save somewhere so you can import it later once you've re-installed Windows.

What these registry files essentially contain are the "List Index" values for your libraries tab inside Kontakt. As long as your sample drive letters don't change, you won't have to reinstall any of your libraries or 'repair' them via native access once you import the registry files.


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## chapbot (Jan 31, 2019)

I finally moved to Windows 10 from 7, love it and have had no problems.


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## kitekrazy (Jan 31, 2019)

I have M-Audio legacy devices so I didn't do a clean install. I had no issues.


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## whiskers (Jan 31, 2019)

10, clean install


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## chimuelo (Feb 1, 2019)

Windows 10 is pretty nice once you dump One Drive and Cortana.
I waited for the dust to settle after a couple years before jumping on with one of my PCs.
Learned from previous desires to be “current.”
Years ago the 3GB Switch turned into 8GBs once everyone went to XP.
Windows 7 received NVMe Drivers once enough people went to 10.

I’d break down and buy 10 but make sure it’s legit and can be activated.


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## LFO (Feb 1, 2019)

Thanks everyone for the replies! This is a big help and removes any doubt about a clean install. I'll post my new system specs with some performance data once the build is complete in case it is useful info for other people building new systems.

Kevin


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## LFO (Feb 1, 2019)

This is really helpful. Does this work for all of Kontakt Ultimate? I can move everything to the same drive/path on the new system, VIs also, and it will work?




Jdiggity1 said:


> You can open your registry by typing "regedit" after opening your Start menu. Once there, you'll want to export two locations: HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Native Instruments, and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Native Instruments.
> You do this by right-clicking on the 'Native Instruments' folder and clicking export. It will create a .reg file that you need to save somewhere so you can import it later once you've re-installed Windows.
> 
> What these registry files essentially contain are the "List Index" values for your libraries tab inside Kontakt. As long as your sample drive letters don't change, you won't have to reinstall any of your libraries or 'repair' them via native access once you import the registry files.


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