Member Avatar for Abdullah_29

I was trying to upgrade to windows 10 from windows 7 ultimate. But when the setup completes installing windows 10 and it restarts nothing happens and my previous window 7 starts again. Like nothing happened. Neither any drive space is eaten up after the install.
I know if i clean install through booting iso or usb i won't find such problem but i don't want to lose the data on it just want to upgrade. I'm installing it through creation tool.
I also tried just upgrading it through usb through boot but it said to do it form windows by setup when i did that this problem comes up.
Also really don't know what's the reason of this but I think the reason might be that there are two windows already installed the other is also windows 7 when laptop boots up it asks to choose an operating system. The other doesn't work and i can't delete it from the other drive where it is saved. It just won't delete. I don't know but maybe i think when computer restarts by the installation setup the problem might happens there. I don't know you guys tell.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 902 Views
  • 33 Minutes Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt

Dani AI

Generated

The behavior described by — setup finishes, the machine restarts and returns to the old Windows with no visible disk-space change — is a textbook Windows setup rollback. is correct to flag modified/pirated activation tools and third‑party security hooks as common blockers; those and background drivers/services often force a silent rollback rather than a clear error.

Recommended diagnostic checklist (read first, then act):

  • Gather the setup logs: key files live under C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther and C:\Windows\Panther (look for setupact.log and setuperr.log). These show the phase and error codes for the rollback. Windows setup log file locations.
  • Run Microsoft SetupDiag to parse those logs for likely causes and suggested fixes (SetupDiag is included with setup or downloadable). Example: setupdiag /output:setupdiag.xml /format:xml. SetupDiag.

Likely root causes and remediation notes:

  • Low or non‑contiguous free space on C: can make setup unpack then rollback. Windows 10 requires ~20 GB on 64‑bit systems as a minimum; freeing 20–30 GB and running Disk Cleanup/DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup helps. Windows 10 system requirements.
  • Remove/disable third‑party AV, VPNs, snapshot/backups and any activation cracks before attempting an in‑place upgrade; these modify system components that the installer must migrate. Use the Media Creation Tool or a mounted ISO and run setup.exe from the running Windows (choose “Upgrade this PC now” / keep files and apps). Media Creation Tool / Upgrade instructions.
  • If the machine shows a dead second Windows entry, reclaim that partition with Disk Management (or diskpart) and clean obsolete boot entries with bcdedit /enum and bcdedit /delete {GUID}; if boot records are damaged, use WinRE and the bootrec tools. See Microsoft docs for both bcdedit and bootrec. bcdedit · bootrec.

Caution: editing partitions or the BCD store risks data loss — create a full image backup before making changes. The log files and SetupDiag output are the quickest way to identify the exact failure phase and actionable fix.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

Here's a think we ran into at the shop. Too many Ultimate versions were cracked or pirate copies and what was done for the crack breaks the upgrade process. That aside and you should know if that applied there are a few old PCs with virus boot protection which must be disabled as well as removing old antivirus suites before the upgrade.

In closing you write about "lose the data". Are you revealing there are no backups? If so, do not upgrade until there are backups. Also you can't install to another drive if there is an OS there. Can't? Yes. I will not enter a debate about workarounds as I use the straight and narrow path without hacks.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.