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I still use Win7 and wanna move to Win10. But it's gonna take days to install and configure all apps I need. It's a troubling process as I'd become limited on using my PC while I do whole installation and backup.

I'm thinking then on doing it on a VMware VM. Then when all installation is finished I'd backup its partition and restore it on my PC.

My question is if if'd work. How would Windows behave upon being moved from a VM to a hardware PC. Would VM's drivers be a burden or just rest still and not cause any trouble. Would Win10 work as if it was installed there to begin with or would it be crippled and should I forget the idea?

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Another easier way of doing this would be to have a dual boot or to boot on separate drives.

Dual boot:
Dual-booting Windows 7 and Windows 10 (with windows 10 installed first)
What should be the installation order for the Dual Boot Windows 10 and Windows 7

Separate drives:
Install Windows on separate drive WITHOUT dual boot

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  • Yes, that helps but would still require to alternate. I can't be working on new Windows and use current one at the same time. That's what I wanna achieve by working on it in a VM.
    – Hikari
    Mar 10, 2019 at 13:34
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This might work, but might not be straightforward. There are some issues to be aware of:

Driver issues

While P2V (Physical to Virtual) is usually straightforward, what you are planning to do is the reverse (V2P, Virtual to Physical), which is not. As the underlying hardware changes from generic "virtual" hardware to your specific physical hardware, there might be issues with basic drivers, disrupting the boot process or subsequent installation of drivers for your specific hardware.

Windows 10 is generally good at resolving these kinds of driver issues but it might not work in every case. If you run into issues, you would need to use a tool like Microsoft Sysprep on the VM to prepare the virtual machine before moving it to new/physical hardware.

License issues

If you are using a Windows OEM license (if you are using a privately bought PC this is probably the case), you're not allowed to move this license to another machine (either virtual or physical). In this case it means you will likely run into activation issues before or after the V2P process.

Advice

There is a high probability the V2P process will not work as intended and will cause you to spend a lot of time troubleshooting. It might cost you less time to just bite the bullet, backup or image your current Windows 7 installation, and perform a fresh and clean Windows 10 install on your (physical) PC.

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