My banking app is nagging me to do this, so suppose I must.
I'll do my Win7 Pro laptop first.
Have Googled it, but as usual as many questions as answers.
Ideally, the update would retain all my files data and apps. Obviously some apps may need updating too - but assume they'd tell me if this is so, if it doesn't happen by magic?
Ebay has plenty CDs etc for sale for a modest sum that promise to do just this.
I do have the laptop backed up - using the Win7 facility - to an external HD. Would I be able to retrieve my files from that if anything goes wrong to the new Win10 while installing? Or should I do a second backup of the files I know I might want later? JPGs and so on.
I use the USB stick route. It's simple to use. Although if you go down the DVD route you'll need media burning software.
To my knowledge all Windows 7 apps will all work on Windows 10. I haven't found one that hasn't (64bit).
I see no reason why any external drive visible to Windows 7 should not be accessible to Windows 10. You can do an update and retain everything. I recently did a new clean install as I had do much junk on this machine.
When I updated three computers from W7 to W10 at the beginning of the year, I used the media creation tool to upgrade
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More info here
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The process took about six hours for each computer. Worked fine, all by itself; upgraded both 32 and 64 bit computers; it knew what was what. You need to have a reliable Internet connection that isn't going to disconnect half way through, and keep an eye on the process in case it calls for some input at any time, and to be patient, very patient. The end result looked very similar to what I had before under W7 and everything seemed to work OK, just as before AFAICT.
*Don't* go here, using a Windows XP or a Linux setup.
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With a Vista+ machine and web browser, you will be offered a version of the MediaCreationTool.
You can do the installation with no physical media at all. Have the MediaCreationTool create an ISO9660 file (using the "updating another computer" type option, instead of letting it upgrade the PC directly).
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With the ISO9660 file mounted, look for a new (virtual) DVD drive in My Computer. There will be a Setup.exe file at the top level. Double-click to kick off your Upgrade Install. When it asks for a license key, click the "I don't have a license key" button, then carry on. Since the free Upgrade is still working, the OS should be activated later (use the Setup wheel in the menu, type "activation" in it and see if you can get the dialog for that to show).
If you want to make a DVD later (and you might want to do that), the ISO9660 can be burned to a new DVD using a program like the free Imgburn.
An Upgrade Install moves C:\Windows to C:\Windows.old, then it creates a new C:\Windows with Windows 10 stuff in it. The C:\Windows.old will be deleted after ten days, using automation. Do *not* toss C:\Windows.old into the trash. Use a tool to remove it! In the run box, you can use "cleanmgr.exe" as the removal tool, using the "system" button in that tool. You'll find the Windows.old listed as a ~20GB folder to be deleted.
If you use MediaCreationTool to directly update the OS, then you might not have any collateral materials for later. Doing it the ISO9660 way, you get to keep an image around for later. The image works best if burned to a DVD (both legacy BIOS and UEFI BIOS supported). If you load the ISO9660 with Rufus, only one of the two modes works with Rufus. If you use the MicrosoftStore USB flash stick loader, it has a similar limitation (legacy only???). To be fully functional, like you're going to a friends house to do a Geek Squad call, you want the physical DVD because it supports any mode the job calls for.
But on the initial Upgrade Install, you don't *have* to do it from a DVD. Making a DVD just makes you *more prepared*, like a boy scout. Not making a DVD, saves time. It doesn't install all that much faster using the virtual DVD drive idea, so that's not the reason for doing it that way.
Having a backup image of C: before starting this, covers your bases. You have nothing to worry about, if you can just restore from backup. You store the backup image on an external drive, one which is disconnected during the install attempt.
Do *not* have multiple hard drives running in the desktop, during the install. Best practice, is (with power off), to be disconnecting the SATA power and SATA data from your excess hard drives. Only the hard drive with Windows 7 should be present, when installing from the "virtual" DVD drive. You can leave your physical DVD drive cabled up if you want. This level of caution isn't strictly necessary, but is a means to assure yourself that there is "no way that installer could spew install materials onto my other disk drives". That's why you do it that way. When the install is finished, you can cable up the fleet again and carry on.
I've done a lot of multiboot setups, and this is the voice of experience (not skill) talking. For example, a couple times, I've had installers *erase* disks. Sure, it doesn't happen all that often, but who wants to discover the odds the hard way ??? For example, there's a certain sequence you can do with a Windows 2000 installer CD, that will erase a disk. One of my early lessons in hygiene... I got to see TestDisk put the MBR back and everything, so there was no data loss, but that was a bit of a miracle and not a sure thing.
Too late for you, but for anyone else with a similar problem try the free version of VueScan on Win 10 which seems to cope with every scanner ever invented. If you like it, the full version for about £50 is good. (Just used this to re-use an old Dimage, but now I use it on my Canon Lide and Brother "all in 1" too. Only one user interface to remember).
Only a certain class of scanners (really valuable ones), would justify using that. Like maybe one of the good slide scanners with 9600dpi resolution or so.
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You can use a virtual machine to run a scanner, but one of the decent images (provided by Microsoft) is no longer available for download. There was a Windows 7 Enterprise VM that doesn't need activation (but, it only runs for half an hour at a time...).
I crossed my fingers and just let the upgrade happen (files are regularly backed-up so were available if disaster struck) - all was well until a few weeks later when I got nags that my MS Office was not registered. I couldn't find the original licence info so, after arguing with MS support for a while, gave up and bought a cheap copy of the latest version. No problems since then.
I installed Windows 10 on an all-in-one PC with a touchpanel that shipped with 7. I did manage to get the touchpanel to work on Windows 10, but it took a lot of messing with force-installing old versions of the Windows 7 drivers.
Then a Windows 10 update came in and broke it. I never got it to work again.
if win10 sees some applications it doesn't like, it just tends to remove them during the upgrade ... it's only done this with "small utilities" to me, not eg whole office suites.
backup the PC, download the Win10 Media Creation Tool, put it on a 8GB+ usb stick, boot from the stick, and do an upgrade install ... should just work, I've done dozens.
In reality, I suspect a combination of the 46% 'freeze' and a slow Internet connection, not actual dial-up, but on about the slowest broadband rate - I don't need anything faster.
Who says that you should update? I'm not convinced its worth it for just one application myself. If its home banking you know there is now a version of Edge browser for windows 7, and it works very well. So much for Microsoft not wanting us to use it, if they did not want that, why make a bespoke edge for windows 7?
The one thing I'd like to see in windows 10, is the ability to keep software as installed, ie all the registry entries etc. I know for example that the adapted version of Outlook Express I am using here in windows 7cos I hate other solutions, will be unceremoniously trashed by windows 10, but will re install, but minus all the registry entries built up in kill files message rules etc over many years. If the damn thing can work in 10, which it does, why trash it? Cos they have to power to tell you they want you to get Microsoft 365 subscription and use outlook, a sledgehammer of a program. Come on Microsoft bring back some more domestic software at an affordable price or let us use the old stuff. The same thing will happen to my old version of word as well of course, but that won't run. Brian
You must have enough room on the drive though, so my feeling is to clone 7 over to a bigger drive, keep the old drive and update the new one, you can roll back anyway, but not after a certain time. Brian
I've already changed the HD to an SSD by cloning the original HD. Which is now in a caddy, and where I've backed up to.
That would mean re-installing all the non MS apps I use. I do realise some if not all will need updating, but hoped this could be done as part of the process.
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