Windows 7 to Windows 10

[NDNDNDND]

Hello,

Looking to upgrade windows 7 to windows 10 on my work computer. Has anyone any advice or pointers? Slightly nervous as my business depends on it.

All work files (and personal files) are stored on a hard drive which is physically separate from the boot drive. I'm thinking of unplugging it during the upgrade, which might be paranoid.

I've purchased a couple of 32GB USB drives to produce a Windows 7 boot drive to get me back to where I started if it all goes wrong, and another to produce a boot drive for Windows 10, should I get it successfully up and running.

Can anyone recommend the best way to form these boot drives? I've also heard ISO or disk images referred to, not sure if these are better or different?

I've read in a few places online that there's still a free upgrade path available. Does anyone know if this is still the case?

I've also read in a few places that all my programmes will be deleted and will have to be reinstalled or re-acquired as Windows 10 compatible. However, I've also read that nothing will change and all will be retained when the upgrade takes place. Can anyone confirm either way? I assume I will still be able to run my CAD software and photo editing software in a 'compatibility mode' even if I can't obtain Windows 10 versions?

I've also purchased a 2TB external drive as a backup drive. Can anyone recommend the best way to run it? I know I could just plug it in and drag and drop, but is there a better way to set it up as a proper backup drive (self-overriding updated files etc?).

There's a lot of info online about these things, but there's such a quantity I'm not sure which advice to take in the end. I thought the Pistonheads hive brain would be able to cut to the chase!

Many thanks for any advice offered!

[underwhelmist]

NDNDNDND said:

Hello,

Looking to upgrade windows 7 to windows 10 on my work computer. Has anyone any advice or pointers? Slightly nervous as my business depends on it.

All work files (and personal files) are stored on a hard drive which is physically separate from the boot drive. I'm thinking of unplugging it during the upgrade, which might be paranoid.

I've purchased a couple of 32GB USB drives to produce a Windows 7 boot drive to get me back to where I started if it all goes wrong, and another to produce a boot drive for Windows 10, should I get it successfully up and running.

Can anyone recommend the best way to form these boot drives? I've also heard ISO or disk images referred to, not sure if these are better or different?

I've read in a few places online that there's still a free upgrade path available. Does anyone know if this is still the case?

I've also read in a few places that all my programmes will be deleted and will have to be reinstalled or re-acquired as Windows 10 compatible. However, I've also read that nothing will change and all will be retained when the upgrade takes place. Can anyone confirm either way? I assume I will still be able to run my CAD software and photo editing software in a 'compatibility mode' even if I can't obtain Windows 10 versions?

I've also purchased a 2TB external drive as a backup drive. Can anyone recommend the best way to run it? I know I could just plug it in and drag and drop, but is there a better way to set it up as a proper backup drive (self-overriding updated files etc?).

There's a lot of info online about these things, but there's such a quantity I'm not sure which advice to take in the end. I thought the Pistonheads hive brain would be able to cut to the chase!

Many thanks for any advice offered!

You can either do a fresh install of Windows 10, in which case you'll have to re-install your programs, or you can do an upgrade, which attempts to keep existing programs. My preference would be to do a fresh install but first make sure you can install the apps you need (do you have installation media? License keys?), and that there are Win10 versions available. There should be by now I would have thought.

An ISO file is just a disk image, you can copy an ISO to a USB drive and make it bootable using something like Rufus, described here: (I think there is a Microsoft tool to do the same thing specifically for Win10 media).

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-burn-an-iso-file-t...

Don't know about whether there's still a free upgrade path.

It's good that you've got your data on a separate drive, yes, for additional peace of mind disconnect it before you do the upgrade. You have got that data backed up somewhere else as well?

There are basic backup tools bundled with Windows 10, and there are lots of free/low cost options too. Ideally you want a backup of your data off-site so it's not subject to physical threats, and off-line so it's not vulnerable to ransomware. Physician heal thyself, I don't do either of these things but it's not business data, and important stuff is in either OneDrive, Evernote or Dropbox.

[sicarumba]

Just putting it out there but is there an option to buy a new PC with Windows 10 installed on it (or install it yourself if you prefer) and then migrate everything you need over to it? Takes away the risk because you don't have to do away with your old machine until you are completely happy.

[underwhelmist]

sicarumba said:

Just putting it out there but is there an option to buy a new PC with Windows 10 installed on it (or install it yourself if you prefer) and then migrate everything you need over to it? Takes away the risk because you don't have to do away with your old machine until you are completely happy.

Yeah, this would be a lot easier and involve less risk.

[xeny]

NDNDNDND said:

Looking to upgrade windows 7 to windows 10 on my work computer. Has anyone any advice or pointers? Slightly nervous as my business depends on it.!

Image the entire OS disk before you start, using something like Acronis or Macrium Reflect. If you're paranoid, deploy the image to another drive, swap the drives over (ideal time to do an SSD upgrade?) and upgrade the copy.

I believe the free upgrade path still works.

[crowfield]

Download theMicrosoft Windows 10 upgrade assistant, click the upgrade button and leave it to it. 2 hours later you will be running Windows 10. This is the old free upgrade Microsoft were offering - it still works , but they no longer advertise it

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/windows-...

[colin79666]

Windows 10 has been about for 5 years already. If your PC originally came with Windows 7 (rather than a downgrade) you would likely be best off replacing it.

[NDNDNDND]

underwhelmist said:

sicarumba said:

Just putting it out there but is there an option to buy a new PC with Windows 10 installed on it (or install it yourself if you prefer) and then migrate everything you need over to it? Takes away the risk because you don't have to do away with your old machine until you are completely happy.

Yeah, this would be a lot easier and involve less risk.

That's an interesting point, but it feels a little profligate buying a new computer when the one I have serves me perfectly well. That said, it's probably something I ought to look into. I just checked and I bought this one, an office-refurbished machine, almost exactly four years ago for about £300. I then stuck a graphics card in it. I think I had the option to buy it with either Windows 7 or Windows 10 at the time and stuck with what I know. I use it primarily for CAD duties, document compilation, using Affinity photo/publisher and the odd cheeky stint on Assetto Corsa when my wife isn't looking!

[NDNDNDND]

xeny said:

Image the entire OS disk before you start, using something like Acronis or Macrium Reflect. If you're paranoid, deploy the image to another drive, swap the drives over (ideal time to do an SSD upgrade?) and upgrade the copy.

I believe the free upgrade path still works.

Thank you - I'll check this out. I could use my new external drive, but I guess that would get awkward. All my work files are already on a separate drive, so all I risk is my software, which should be downloadable/replaceable... I think I already have an SSD boot drive.

Is the image smaller than the actual drive? Can I take an image of 100GB HDD and put it on a 32GB USB stick (sorry if that sounds like a daft question!)

Edited by NDNDNDND on Saturday 30th January 09:50

[NDNDNDND]

crowfield said:

Download theMicrosoft Windows 10 upgrade assistant, click the upgrade button and leave it to it. 2 hours later you will be running Windows 10. This is the old free upgrade Microsoft were offering - it still works , but they no longer advertise it

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/windows-...

Thank you very much for this link. I'll check this out. I assume it sound still be prudent to take an image of the drive etc. beforehand?

[S6PNJ]

NDNDNDND said:

xeny said:

Image the entire OS disk before you start, using something like Acronis or Macrium Reflect. If you're paranoid, deploy the image to another drive, swap the drives over (ideal time to do an SSD upgrade?) and upgrade the copy.

I believe the free upgrade path still works.

Thank you - I'll check this out. I could use my new external drive, but I guess that would get awkward. All my work files are already on a separate drive, so all I risk is my software, which should be downloadable/replaceable... I think I already have an SSD boot drive.

Is the image smaller than the actual drive? Can I take an image of 100GB HDD and put it on a 32GB USB stick (sorry if that sounds like a daft question!)

I'd go with the SSD upgrade suggestion as well, but with a fresh install - it keeps your Win 7 disk in tact and available if anything goes wrong. I've bought SSDs from MyMemory (not to be confused with MrMemory) https://www.mymemory.co.uk/memory/data-storage/ssd... If you compare the specs for the MyMemory drives, you'll find the 'propper' one that they've simply re-badged, so don't fear buying their own brand. Download the Win10 ISO here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/... and use Rufus to put it on one of your blank 32Gb pen drives. https://rufus.ie/ You will probably need to check if your laptop is UEFI or MBR - which is the main 'option' but if all else fails, try one - if it doesn't work try the other - all you've lost is 10 mins or so while rufus writes the image to the USB drive.

Remove your Win 7 disk, plug in the new SSD and the pen drive, then boot and follow instructions on screen. Once Win 10 is installed (and you've turned off all the Cortana crap etc) then set about reloading your programmes and pointing them to your other disk / data store.

At any time, if you are unahppy, simply remove the new SSD, plug your old Win 7 disk in and everything will be back to 'normal' - or as norrmal as it was when you removed it.


Oh and as to imaging a 100Gb disk to a 32Gb pen drive - yes it's possible but only if you have less than 32Gb on the 100Gb drive - you might need to partition the 100Gb drive down to a sub 32Gb drive though. If you've got more than 32Gb stored on it - no chance!!

[S6PNJ]

NDNDNDND said:

crowfield said:

Download theMicrosoft Windows 10 upgrade assistant, click the upgrade button and leave it to it. 2 hours later you will be running Windows 10. This is the old free upgrade Microsoft were offering - it still works , but they no longer advertise it

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/windows-...

Thank you very much for this link. I'll check this out. I assume it sound still be prudent to take an image of the drive etc. beforehand?

Ah, update to my post above - my method won't work as you don't have a valid Win 10 licence yet!! You'll need to do the upgrade route. My new suggestion is use Macrium Reflect https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree to clone your Win 7 disk to the new SSD, do the upgrade on the SSD version - that get's a valid Win 10 licence, then do a fresh install (as in my other post) on the SSD to clear out any old crap you've accululate over the years.

[FourWheelDrift]

One thing to remember, you will still have Windows 7 on your PC when 10 is installed, it has been put into a folder called Windows.old which means you can go back to 7 if for some reason you can't do what you want to do with 10 (highly unlikely now) or if there is a problem during the install of 10 it will roll back to 7.

Then when everything is installed you will probably want to remove windows.old as it'll be quite big here's how - https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/remove-windows-dot...

[Shadow R1]

FourWheelDrift said:

Then when everything is installed you will probably want to remove windows.old as it'll be quite big here's how - https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/remove-windows-dot...

I wouldn't straight away, some of the files contained in the windows.old will be needed by subsequent updates.
We had a problem with an office component needing them, other companies had problems with different software.

After a while, it will be deleted by win updates anyway Without manual intervention.

[xyz123]

Windows 7 to Windows 10 free upgrade is still available. Google "windows 10 upgrade media creation tool".

I did this in December for a 2011 bought laptop. Took an hour and no files/programs were lost during the process (there is an option to select during the process foe this)..

[Fore Left]

NDNDNDND said:

All work files (and personal files) are stored on a hard drive which is physically separate from the boot drive. I'm thinking of unplugging it during the upgrade, which might be paranoid.

Doesn't sound like it but I really, really hope you have them backed up somewhere. Hard drives can and do fail, often without warning.

[NMNeil]

Keep Windows 7.
Windows 10 has more bugs than a junkyard dog.
https://betanews.com/2021/01/22/microsoft-releases...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2020/06/0...

[NDNDNDND]

NMNeil said:

Keep Windows 7.
Windows 10 has more bugs than a junkyard dog.
https://betanews.com/2021/01/22/microsoft-releases...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2020/06/0...

Hmmm... one reason that's prompted me to update is I bought an offer on a Microsoft business suite for Word, Excel etc., which is non-refundable... and realised that it's Windows 10 only. Given that security updates to Windows 7 have stopped, I wondered if this was a wise prompt to upgrade.

Most online reviews seem fairly positive?

Fore Left said:

NDNDNDND said:

All work files (and personal files) are stored on a hard drive which is physically separate from the boot drive. I'm thinking of unplugging it during the upgrade, which might be paranoid.

Doesn't sound like it but I really, really hope you have them backed up somewhere. Hard drives can and do fail, often without warning.

You're quite right, which is why I've bought a 2TB external drive to do just that. I'll probably also use it to burn an image of my HDD with Windows 7 while I do the upgrade.

Can you recommend backup software?

xyz123 said:

Windows 7 to Windows 10 free upgrade is still available. Google "windows 10 upgrade media creation tool".

I did this in December for a 2011 bought laptop. Took an hour and no files/programs were lost during the process (there is an option to select during the process foe this)..

Thanks very much! Hopefully I'll take a deep breath and tackle this tomorrow...

Thanks for everyone's advice!

[KingofKong]

NMNeil said:

Keep Windows 7.
Windows 10 has more bugs than a junkyard dog.
https://betanews.com/2021/01/22/microsoft-releases...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2020/06/0...

Yeah, keep Windows 7, this guy knows what he’s talking about.

Also waiting for a reply stating get Linux.

[snuffy]

NDNDNDND said:

Can you recommend backup software?

I use Acronis : https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/

I have it set to backup all changed files once a day (after the initial backup, which can take some considerable time). I have a 4TB external drive for backing up to.

And I have another external drive that I every so often image my system drive to.

You can buy it cheaper from resellers, so it's worth having a good look around for it.