Can't keep settings when upgrading Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro RTM

2

I'm trying to install Windows 8 Pro RTM on top of a Windows 7 Ultimate, but the only option I get when asked "Choose what to keep" is Nothing, which seems rather drastic.

A friend of mine tried to do exactly the same thing and was actually allowed to keep all settings and applications, which is exactly what I want to do.

Both Win 7 Ultimate and Windows 8 are genuine, and the keys are valid. I've tried using a Windows 8 instead of a Windows 8 Pro key on the setup but the outcome was the same.

My exact version of Windows 7 is (from winver): 

Windows 7 Ultimate
Version 6.1 (Build 7601: Service Pack 1)

I've tried running the setup from a Daemon tools-mounted iso, from a bootable usb stick and unpacking the iso image onto a folder (on a different hard drive than the current installation) and running the setup from there.

Any help/ideas on the matter would be appreciated.

Sergi Papaseit

Posted 2012-08-18T07:19:07.830

Reputation: 131

I wonder if it's because you're going from Ultimate to Pro, which is technically a downgrade, edition-wise? I'm guessing. I've installed 8 so many times the last month my head is spinning. – None – 2012-08-18T08:13:00.197

I upgrade from Windows 7 ultimate to Windows 8 Pro, so this shouldn't be a problem, see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8_editions

– Andrew – 2012-08-18T08:55:29.550

1Did you move your profiles off the system drive? Windows NT 6.x doesn’t allow you to upgrade if you do this. – kinokijuf – 2012-08-19T04:51:20.427

1@RandolphWest I went from Ultimate to Pro and was able to keep everything. – Louis – 2012-08-19T05:10:19.893

Answers

1

Ok, problem solved: The issue seemed to be that I had moved my user profile from C:\Users to D:\Users. That caused the installation to be unable to keep any of my settings.

After moving my profile back to C:\Users I do get the option to keep all my settings and applications in the setup. I'll have to move it back out of C:\Users again after the installation though since my main drive is a not-so-large SSD. Oh well.

Sergi Papaseit

Posted 2012-08-18T07:19:07.830

Reputation: 131

How did you managed to understand what was the problem ? – Nison Maël – 2012-09-14T04:09:33.517

@Nison, I looked for setup*.log files, and in the fileI foind, I searched for "compatibility scan." an "hardblock". It wasn't random searching, Scott Hanselman himself helped me along :) – Sergi Papaseit – 2012-09-14T08:18:53.357

Asked: 2012-08-18T07:19:07.830

Viewed: 3 090 times

Active: 2013-01-09T02:30:37.257