basically that is what I did, with one exception. I have a test server that has GP10, SP5 installed on it. I applied the 1779 patch to it and run the GP Utiliz. For GP2013, I want a New, Clean install of a Database server, sql2008r2. So I created a new server, installed sql r2, and installed GP2013 on it. Now I simply want to upgrade the company database. As I've followed the directions from Microsoft and can not get this to work, I have to be doing something wrong. The reason for the database copy is due to disk space. Either method works per microsoft sql team, but yes, the restore does other things. I'll add more disk to the server and try that next.
I understand the upgrading the server logic, but that won't get me to a production environment, which is why I'm going thru this pain today. :)
Thanks for the assistance.