I wish to upgrade Windows 7 pro to Windows 10 pro. I've read that I can no longer run something on Win 7 to do this. Can you direct me?
Must I go through Microsoft - they are very expensive. Is there a special version I need? What must I ensure when buying from a third party?
Thanks,
Welcome to TenForums @needsleep
Yes, you can still upgrade Windows 7 (and 8/8.1) to Windows 10 and it will be activated with a digital license. There are examples of successful upgrades posted on these forums as recently as this month. The last time I upgraded a machine to Windows 10 was a few months ago.
Use the Media Creation Tool to download the Windows 10 install media to a USB. then from within Windows 7 run the Setup.exe you'll find on the USB to start the upgrade.
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 | Tutorials
To upgrade using the usb, see step 6: Upgrade to Windows 10 | Tutorials
You install 10 and use the license from 7. I just did it with my old 8.0 Pro license, to upgrade 10 Home. MS will not remove that feature, since it allows them to stop piracy of the OS.
The first thing you need to do is backup your current install. The best way to do this is to use Macrium Reflect Free to make an image backup to an external hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive now is a good time to get one as regular backup should be a part of your normal process. You can get a 1TB external hard drive for $60 (less if on sale).
Then do the free upgrade to Windows 10.
I used an 8.0 key last week and it worked just fine.
Back to the original question of upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 10....
1. It is a very good idea to do a system image backup of your Windows 7 before doing the upgrade, in case it fails.
2. Bree's method is the most commonly used method, and you can use the USB flash drive later to do a clean install of Windows 10 if you want. Run setup.exe on the flash drive from within Windows will do the upgrade. Boot the computer from the same flash drive to do clean install.
3. Another way to do the upgrade is to save the ISO file to your hard drive. Then use a program in Windows 7 like WinCDEmu to mount the ISO file. Then run setup.exe from the mounted ISO file. The only advantage to this way is it will be a little bit faster.
WinCDEmu - the easiest way to mount an ISO. And more...
4. If you use the USB flash drive method, when the computer restarts during the upgrade, it might boot into Windows setup from the flash drive. If it does that, just unplug the flash drive and restart the computer.
I've used a flash drive and a DVD within the last two weeks to upgrade Vista to Windows 7, then free upgrade to Windows 10.
I've also used a mounted iso via WinCDEmu to do the free upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10.
Today I upgraded a HP TouchSmart IQ524 from Vista to Windows 7 Pro and once I get the touch stuff working again I'll then upgrade to Win 10 Pro via a flash drive.
All this stuff works, you just have to try it, and and @Na vyLCDR said,1. It is a very good idea to do a system image backup of your Windows 7 before doing the upgrade, in case it fails.
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