# Has Anyone Updated Win7 To Win10?



## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I am wondering if it worked OK. I am still on Win7 but I am starting to see software programs that I cannot upgrade to the next version without having Win10.

I would like to do the upgrade without ditching my current software setup, and I am wondering if it works? I know that it is best to format the pc and or get a new on and start with a fresh version, but at this time I would rather try to just update my current win7 pro to win10 pro.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

For a while, it was being done automatically by windows update. As far as I know, all installed software kept working though I can't say first hand.
I think it should work, but you could check around at sevenforums.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

For about as long as 10 has been out, i've been on a direct upgrade. No program functionality problems. I do have a 'fix your Microsoft accout' warning that pops up but doesn't affect function, so I've just ignored it.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Funny you should bring this up as I've been looking at this today. I quit using my desktop when support for 7 ended and it hasn't been turned on since then (I've been using another computer obviously). I was just going to ditch my desktop as it's nine years old, but today I saw I might be able to upgrade for free. Seeing as the computer doesn't owe me anything anyway, I'm going to see if it works, and if it dies in the process I won't be bothered. I'll report back.....


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> Funny you should bring this up as I've been looking at this today. I quit using my desktop when support for 7 ended and it hasn't been turned on since then (I've been using another computer obviously). I was just going to ditch my desktop as it's nine years old, but today I saw I might be able to upgrade for free. Seeing as the computer doesn't owe me anything anyway, I'm going to see if it works, and if it dies in the process I won't be bothered. I'll report back.....


I am going to update my backup clone of the c drive, then I will also try the upgrade. With the clone I can always go back to the way it was.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Win 10 has been around awhile now. It's stable and didn't deviate much from Win 7.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

keto said:


> For about as long as 10 has been out, i've been on a direct upgrade. No program functionality problems. I do have a 'fix your Microsoft accout' warning that pops up but doesn't affect function, so I've just ignored it.


I get that message too. It wants you to link your Microsoft and Google accounts. I said, no thanks.


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

I've done about 30 - 40 pc's so far. Everything seems to go well but be aware a of possible issues.


Make sure you have at least 8G ram. It'll run on 4 and 6 but works much better with 8.
Office 2013 - make sure you have your product key handy. I've done a few upgrades where 10 wiped out the product key. I didn't notice any issues with Office 2010.
I'd say about half the computers I've upgraded have issues with locking up. I've tried almost all suggested fixes but nothing seems to work. It might lock up once a day or once a month....or 4 times a day for a week then nothing for 5 months.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I have a Win 7 laptop, a win 7 to win 10 "free" upgrade laptop and I just finished getting working a '$10' macbook pro 13". The win 10 upgrade is on a Thinkpad T420. There have been and still are problems. The optical drive and bluetooth don't work. I had to download aftermarket drivers for the optical drive and use a bluetooth dongle. Depending what I want to do I use both but am looking for a good/new copy of XP. So far i've had no problems with 7 even tho it's not supported by microsoft any more. I have programs I use that sort of run on 7 that will not run on 10. My scanner won't run on 10 and neither will my negative scanner. Personally I prefer XP. Not too sure what I'm going to do with the macbook now that it's running. I bought a shell at value village and just kept adding parts until it worked....HDD, ram etc.. Now all I need to find is a used battery. One thing to consider is picking up a used laptop and convert that to 10, keeping your win 7 laptop as it is.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I'm in the process of doing it now. My computer might be too old and not enough power for the upgrade, but I'll soon find out. It's been a while, but I think there's only 4 gigs of ram on it.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

It's trying to download Windows 10. It's going slow and the computer is making strange noises.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

player99 said:


> I am wondering if it worked OK. I am still on Win7 but I am starting to see software programs that I cannot upgrade to the next version without having Win10.
> 
> I would like to do the upgrade without ditching my current software setup, and I am wondering if it works? I know that it is best to format the pc and or get a new on and start with a fresh version, but at this time I would rather try to just update my current win7 pro to win10 pro.


I’ve done over a hundred. Most went OK. Five or six didn’t and needed to be restored from a backup. It is still free. Google Microsoft Windows 10 download. Make sure you get it from Microsoft. They have a program to put it on a bootable USB stick. Backup your computer and run the setup from your existing Windows if you want to upgrade. If you want a clean install boot from the USB stick. Use your Windows 7 key when it asks for a key. If you make backup in Windows 7 be sure to create a bootable recovery DVD or USB. It is very complicated to restore a Windows 7 backup from Windows 10.


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## Brian Johnston (Feb 24, 2019)

My computer crashed not long ago and had to upgrade (automatically Windows 10). However, I was told by a computer tech that 'eventually' (later this year) Windows will send your computer a message to indicate "no longer supported," and your computer will fail to function... or function properly. In other words, they force you to upgrade in one way or another.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

For a minute I thought someone revived a 5 year old thread.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Kerry Brown said:


> I’ve done over a hundred. Most went OK. Five or six didn’t and needed to be restored from a backup. It is still free. Google Microsoft Windows 10 download. Make sure you get it from Microsoft. They have a program to put it on a bootable USB stick. Backup your computer and run the setup from your existing Windows if you want to upgrade. If you want a clean install boot from the USB stick. Use your Windows 7 key when it asks for a key. If you make backup in Windows 7 be sure to create a bootable recovery DVD or USB. It is very complicated to restore a Windows 7 backup from Windows 10.


I will go with a clone of my c drive.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

The install was going alright, but it's been frozen now for quite a while with the Microsoft icon on the screen. The Ethernet cable isn't flashing either. I forced a shutdown and tried rebooting, but the icon just comes back up and the computer sits frozen. 

Any ideas?


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Buy a new one.

I put 10 on both my laptops a long time ago and only thing I lost was the Dragon dictation program.

Can't say as I like 10 though.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> The install was going alright, but it's been frozen now for quite a while with the Microsoft icon on the screen. The Ethernet cable isn't flashing either. I forced a shutdown and tried rebooting, but the icon just comes back up and the computer sits frozen.
> 
> Any ideas?


Let it sit overnight.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Wardo said:


> Buy a new one


or a used one with Win 10 on it.
I have three desktops. XP, 7 and 10 (current).
I use them depending on the program that I want to run.
My 7 has all the music/video software that I use.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

laristotle said:


> or a used one with Win 10 on it.
> I have three desktops. XP, 7 and 10 (current).
> I use them depending on the program that I want to run.
> My 7 has all the music/video software that I use.


It's mainly because of music software I am looking at upgrading to 10. Presonus Studio One Pro 5 only runs on win10. Also Scuffham S-Gear (amp sims and speaker sims plugin) also has an update that only runs on 10. 

I really like my win7 box. I spec'd it out and got Canada Computers to build it for me back in 2013. At the time it was a killer pc. I was looking at the nice silent Corsair case (Obsidian) and they are around $230. I have 32 gigs of ram, mutiple drives, an i7 3770 and it is fast enough to do what I need. A new box would be probably $2K.

So if it will update and take my software with it, it will be worth the effort to try.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I got it installed on the old computer after a few attempts. The computer kept aborting the install in the second phase. After the thrid failed attempt I did a factory reset then tried the install and it worked. So far everything is running but it's a bit sluggish. I'll see how it holds up over the next few days.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> I got it installed on the old computer after a few attempts. The computer kept aborting the install in the second phase. After the thrid failed attempt I did a factory reset then tried the install and it worked. So far everything is running but it's a bit sluggish. I'll see how it holds up over the next few days.


I am afraid of that sluggish thing. How much ram and free hard disk space do you have?


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

player99 said:


> I am afraid of that sluggish thing. How much ram and free hard disk space do you have?


4 gigs of ram and 415 free gigs on a 450 gig hard drive on a computer I just wiped clean.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> 4 gigs of ram and 415 free gigs on a 450 gig hard drive on a computer I just wiped clean.


Not enough ram. Jack that up to 12-16 gigs. Check the motherboard specs and see how much ram it will handle... Otherwise it will be sluggish.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

player99 said:


> Not enough ram. Jack that up to 12-16 gigs. Check the motherboard specs and see how much ram it will handle... Otherwise it will be sluggish.


I'm not putting any money into a nine year old computer.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> I'm not putting any money into a nine year old computer.


Perhaps not, but that's why it's sluggish. I bought ram used off Kijiji for cheap a few years ago.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

butterknucket said:


> 4 gigs of ram and 415 free gigs on a 450 gig hard drive on a computer I just wiped clean.


Could definitely use more RAM but run it for a few days. Windows 10 is actually pretty good at watching how you use the computer and optimizing itself. With that much RAM it will be slow starting up. It may take ten minutes before it is totally loaded and up to speed. Windows 10 quickly loads what it needs to display a screen and lets you start working but then it slowly loads everything else in the background. Doubling the RAM to 8GB will make a big difference. What CPU? Windows 10 likes lots of cores. Do you have an antivirus installed? If you do uninstall it. Windows 10 has a very good antivirus built in and 3rd party ones need more RAM.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Kerry Brown said:


> Could definitely use more RAM but run it for a few days. Windows 10 is actually pretty good at watching how you use the computer and optimizing itself. With that much RAM it will be slow starting up. It may take ten minutes before it is totally loaded and up to speed. Windows 10 quickly loads what it needs to display a screen and lets you start working but then it slowly loads everything else in the background. Doubling the RAM to 8GB will make a big difference. What CPU? Windows 10 likes lots of cores. Do you have an antivirus installed? If you do uninstall it. Windows 10 has a very good antivirus built in and 3rd party ones need more RAM.


I was using Microsoft Security essentials but I think it was causing some problems with the install so I removed it. I plan on just using what came with Windows 10. I'll let it run for a few days and see how it runs on Windows 10. Consideringg I didn't even think it would run at all the way it is, this is a bonus for me.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

player99 said:


> I am wondering if it worked OK. I am still on Win7 but I am starting to see software programs that I cannot upgrade to the next version without having Win10.
> 
> I would like to do the upgrade without ditching my current software setup, and I am wondering if it works? I know that it is best to format the pc and or get a new on and start with a fresh version, but at this time I would rather try to just update my current win7 pro to win10 pro.


I did when it first came out. No issues at all. You'll lose a bit of control and Microsoft automates more tasks but that wasn't a big issue. I just updated my PC, I didn't start from scratch.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Kerry Brown said:


> Could definitely use more RAM but run it for a few days. Windows 10 is actually pretty good at watching how you use the computer and optimizing itself. With that much RAM it will be slow starting up. It may take ten minutes before it is totally loaded and up to speed. Windows 10 quickly loads what it needs to display a screen and lets you start working but then it slowly loads everything else in the background. Doubling the RAM to 8GB will make a big difference. What CPU? Windows 10 likes lots of cores. Do you have an antivirus installed? If you do uninstall it. Windows 10 has a very good antivirus built in and 3rd party ones need more RAM.


Actually, I might consider more ram if it can take more and I can do it inexpensively.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> Actually, I might consider more ram if it can take more and I can do it inexpensively.


You need to find out what amount your PC can handle. I assume you are running a 64 bit version of win10? Check the specs online for your pc from the model number on the back if it is a brand name unit like Dell. Otherwise you can check the motherboard and google it to see what it will handle. I have a core 2 dual and it will handle only 8 when running 64 bit windows. My other PC is holding 32 gigs. Then you need to know what type it is. Most likely DDR 3. The final spec is the mhz or speed that it runs. Some boards will limit that speed as well. Look and see how many slots you have. Are they all full? What speed is your current ram? If you add ram, it will only run as fast as the slowest installed. Most likely you will need DDR3.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> 4 gigs of ram and 415 free gigs on a 450 gig hard drive on a computer I just wiped clean.


My win 10 laptop is 4 gigs of ram and 200 free gigs on a 300 gig HDD. I could bounce it up to 16 gigs of ram but I can't see the point. It's faster than the macbook and the win 7 laptop is faster than both. Speed isn't an issue for me but I guess it depends on what you use it for. Antivirus....I run win. security which I guess came with win 10 and Malwarebytes (free). Auto updates is turned off on everything except win security and the last time I scanned for windows updates has to be at least 4 months ago. 
If you're lucky your PC will take DDR2 ram. Another item I've seen cheap at value village. For that matter until I started to work on the macbook I didn't know there was DDR3 ram. Everything I have/had took DDR2 or earlier.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

butterknucket said:


> Actually, I might consider more ram if it can take more and I can do it inexpensively.


In your search bar, type 'about'. 










Click 'Device specs'. It'll tell you what you have.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Here's my $0.02 on PC upgrades / WIndows 10 (I look after about 400 PCs for tech support):

1. 4gb ram will work if you're doing light tasks and generally one thing at a time. 57 tabs open in chrome is not you.
2. A solid state drive is the best upgrade as far as $ for performance. I just bought a 480gb sata drive at Staples for $98, and if you get rid of the PC later you can keep it and put it in an external enclosure.
3. Windows 10 built in Antivirus is fine. 
4. Malwarebytes is worse than useless. Haven't needed something like this in 15 years or so. Seriously over-hyped junk software.
5. If you do want a good third party antivirus, Sophos Home is awesome and does not impact performance much. Unlike the big players (Macaffee, Symantec) it's not in your face all the time proving its doing something so you'll renew the subscription, it just works, and it's free (must create a free account).
6. Do yourself a favour (everyone with Windows 10) turn off Windows Update "delivery optimization" - search for it in the settings and disable it.
7. Most people blame their computer when their internet is slow. If you want better internet performance, change your DNS settings to the fastest DNS provider in your area. A useful DNS benchmarking tool is here GRC's | DNS Nameserver Performance Benchmark
8. For the advanced Geek to squeeze every bit of performance out of an old dog PC, edit the virtual memory settings - switch from system determined to a fixed size equal to the amount of ram installed. I won't explain the why, but it works.


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I did 2 here, one upgraded with no problem, and the other (an Alienware X51 gaming box) had issues with display drivers so was more painful.


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