When Windows 10 was released, Microsoft provided a free upgrade to millions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. As is par for the course with Microsoft, this offer isn’t available forever, so you need to upgrade sooner rather than later. This article will walk you through the process of performing the upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 using either an ISO or recovery disc.
Let us assume that you are still running Windows 7 on your computer. It may be a good idea to upgrade to Windows 10 because Microsoft has stopped support for Windows 7 as of January 14, 2020. Read on to see how you can upgrade to Windows 10.
Before You Start
It would help if you did the following system checks first before initiating the upgrade process from Windows 7 to Windows 10:
- Check if your system has the hardware capability to support Windows 10. Head over to https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/windows/windows-10-specifications to check if your hardware is compatible. If not, you may need to buy a new computer.
- Ensure you have a legal, licensed copy of Windows 7 with a proper activation code. When you buy Windows, you get a 25-character activation key. If you have the key, great. If you do not know or do not have the activation key, but Windows 7 on your computer is activated, no problem. If you do not have an activation key, you may need to buy a valid license to continue.
- Ensure your copy of Windows 7 has the latest updates.
- Make sure you backup important files before you try the upgrade. This is a precaution in case you lose data while upgrading.
- Turn off any anti-virus software that may interfere with the upgrade process.
- Make sure you have at least an hour or more because that is how long it may take. Please note, it may take more or less time depending on the speed of your Internet connection and hardware configuration, but be prepared to wait.
The Upgrade Process
Here are the steps on how to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10:
- Now head over to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and select Download tool now. This should download the tool to your computer. Once downloaded, you need to run/execute the tool by clicking it or running it.
- When you run the tool, you will see the following warning:
- Click Yes to continue, and see the following:
- On the Applicable notices and license terms screen, go through the license terms. Then click Accept to continue.
- You can choose between Upgrade this PC now or Create installation media… The first option will upgrade your computer. Select it and click Next to see the following windows as the installation progresses.
- Once more, you see the Applicable notices and license terms. Click Accept and continue. You should see the following windows as the installation progresses.
- In the Ready to install, if you click on Change what to keep you go to the window, Choose what to keep. In this window, you can choose to Keep personal files and apps, Keep personal files only, or Nothing. Make the choice you want and click Next.
Take note, that if you choose Keep personal files and apps, please understand that some apps may not work in Windows 10. If you choose to keep Nothing, everything gets deleted when Windows 10 gets installed. When you click Next in the Choose what to keep window, you come back to the Ready to install window. - In the Ready to install window, click Install to continue. You see the following screen. Wait as the installation takes place. The computer will restart many times in the process.
- Once Windows 10 is installed, you see this image and it will notify you where it gets the latest updates, and you are ready to go in Windows 10.
Final Words
There may be a few more settings you have to tweak. You may also have to reinstall apps and software, but that is part of the upgrade process.But still there are ways to downgrade from windows 10 to windows 7 if needed.
Summary: Do I upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10
- If you've already upgraded to Windows 10, that's great! If you haven't, here are the most important things to know about upgrading.
- You can upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for free.
- You can continue using Windows 7 because it won't expire and stop being secure until January 14, 2020.
- It's complicated but possible to get a clean install of Windows 10 without upgrading from an existing version of Windows.
- It’s pretty easy to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 by downloading the setup tool and running it on your PC. It will ask you a couple of questions and do everything else in the background.
- Microsoft is not offering automatic upgrades to its latest OS anymore, so if you want to upgrade, you have to do so manually.
- Upgrading is really easy