Upgrade to Windows 10

[Eookany]

The older Windows 7 gets, the harder it will be to upgrade to Windows 10,is it true?I want to know what the best way to upgrade to Windows 10?

[the86d]

With a clean install, I think you can use any Windows 7 key that hasn't been used for another 10 system... but upgrades don't always work for me.

It may not seem to activate right away... but give it a day and see later...

[bruss01]

I just upgraded to Win 10 for free.

Check zdnet, win 10 free upgrade.

Simple instructions, very easy.

MS intended to turn off their free upgrade offer, and did remove the link, but the portal is still live and usable.


Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

[Zamsung]

Are you sure you need to do that?I don't think the Windows 10 is better than Windows 7,the best way that i think is to buy the upgrade directly from Microsoft.

[Dragunov]

The older Windows 7 gets, the harder it will be to upgrade to Windows 10,is it true?I want to know what the best way to upgrade to Windows 10?

Yes... Don't. Unless you know how to completely shut down Win10 updates, and restart them when you need to, and eliminate (as much as possible) telemetry.
I recommend Win8.1, and Classic Shell.

[bruss01]

Are you sure you need to do that?I don't think the Windows 10 is better than Windows 7,the best way that i think is to buy the upgrade directly from Microsoft.

7 will no longer receive support after this year.

Switching to linux is about the only way to get away from telemetry/ remote snooping.

[therealnickb]

I upgraded an old dell laptop. Once I got all the drivers updated it works fine. Pretty buggy before that.

[Zamsung]

Why not just install a Windows 10 to replace Windows 7 on your computer,because I think there are a lot of pitfalls in upgrading to Windows 10.

https://www.androidphonesoft.com/resources/install-windows-10-from-usb-on-new-pc.html

[C.G.]

Why not just install a Windows 10 to replace Windows 7 on your computer,because I think there are a lot of pitfalls in upgrading to Windows 10.
https://www.androidphonesoft.com/res...on-new-pc.html

Yup, a clean install is always the best, but a lot of people don't want to go through the hassle of reinstalling the other programs etc.

[Cincinnatus]

Win10 is hardware dependent, i.e. some machines have components that cannot function in Win10.

Therefore, sometimes you may have to upgrade your machine to get Win10 to function.

[Dragunov]

Win10 is hardware dependent, i.e. some machines have components that cannot function in Win10.

Therefore, sometimes you may have to upgrade your machine to get Win10 to function.

In a previous post, I mentioned an HP15/WinX system where the Wi-Fi didn't work. I had to install Win 8.1 on it, and it's perfectly fine now.

I bought this as a NIB, "Bare Bones" system, and built it for Mrs K. I know that HP sold this particular model complete. Wi-Fi doesn't work on those either.... Unless you install Win 8.1 (Not supported by HP, for this particular model). Even though (for a budget laptop) it's a fairly decent laptop, they had most of them returned for that reason. Don't know if they fixed the issue, and I don't care. Her laptop runs peachy on Win 8.1/Classic Shell.

I couldn't pass it up though. She LOVES her HP15 Budget touchscreens (go figure).

Touchscreen
256gb Intel SSD
12gb/RAM
Numerical keyboard
AMD A8 "Extreme" Quad Core, and mid-range R5 graphics (Meh).

I was able to put this together, everything but the SSD was NIB, for pennies over $200.

She's had it for three years.

[Dragunov]

Yup, a clean install is always the best, but a lot of people don't want to go through the hassle of reinstalling the other programs etc.

It wouldn't be an issue, if people would simply image their drive after they first get their software installed, and do a nice clean up before imaging.

You're literally up and running again in five minutes.

[Dragunov]

Why not just install a Windows 10 to replace Windows 7 on your computer,because I think there are a lot of pitfalls in upgrading to Windows 10.
https://www.androidphonesoft.com/res...on-new-pc.html

I mis-read your post. Sorry. I know this wasn't your point, but I thought I'd just leave it here anyways.

Going from Win10, to Win7:

The problem with this is, unless you have a Skylake (6thGen) processor or older, you're most likely are not going to find proper drivers for Win7. This is why I recommend Win8.1/Classic Shell, for the Kaby Lake processors.

Only a few Kaby Lake based laptops, will run Win7Pro properly. Almost ALL, will run Win8.1 properly.

I have an MSI (i7-7700)Gamer, that runs Win7Pro, quite nicely, but that's because the CHIPSET drivers in MSI/Win7 work on it perfectly. Your CHIPSET drivers are the biggest problem. they MUST work perfectly, otherwise your system will be missing features, run flaky, or not run at all.

[Mute]

Best way to upgrade is a clean install. I know it's a pain to re-install all your programs, but I've always found that generational OS changes are less likely to have issues if you go full install vs the upgrade route.

[vino68]

Having done many of these for family and friends, the upgrade is relatively easy, with a few caveats.
As others have stated, older hardware platforms with either suck or not upgrade at all. Also gather all the latest drivers for your hardware, if they do not have Win10 compatible drivers, reconsider the upgrade. It is very important to upgrade firmware.
Windows 10 also has a very different update/upgrade path moving forward. At some point, older hardware will not be eligible for continuing support. Right now 1903 is the current version. At some point a future version will determine your hardware will not be supported for the update, then you have maybe a year left before you are no longer supported.