Best way to get old hardware and software to work on windows 10.

Hi,

I have found from past experience that its better to have your hardware and software installed in an old OS before upgrading to the newer OS and maybe trying to install it then, as somehow I am of the impression that it has a better chance of working if installed in the old OS first that you are upgrading from. Anyone else had a similar experience?

So I have windows 7 and windows 8 on different partitions on my computer, windows 8 has a lot less software installed.

I was going to upgrade 8 to windows 10 to see how it goes, but wondering now if maybe I should go ahead and upgrade windows 7 (OEM) instead, (more of my old applications on it and all working).

Though the official news is I can always go back to to windows 7 from windows 10 (I do have drive images made with acronis) I am still that bit worried that the windows 7 (OEM) product key might somehow in the future be seen as invalid by Microsoft. if I downgrade to windows 7 again.

Is everyone confident doing an upgrade from windows 7 (OEM) to windows 10 and maybe thinking if it doesn't work out , that if they go back to windows 7 everything will work ok as regards showing genuine software?

Thanks
Joe

Windows provides the feature of "rollback" to the old system. But it can only be used within the first month after you upgrade.
Since you got hard drive image of acronis, there's no need to worry about that.

Joe, If you post your System Specs, it will be easier to give specific advice. I use very old hardware with Windows 10 without problems, but some much newer components may struggle.

I don't know what sort of license (or edition) you have for Windows 8 - if a full retail version, then it is not tied to your current hardware, and can be transferred to newer equipment if required. Any upgrade to 10 will also have the retail channel and comparable edition (core or pro) and will be likewise transferable.

The Windows 7 OEM, and any upgrade to 10 will be tied to that hardware, and if a home edition or lower, will be a 10 home edition.

Personally I would upgrade the Windows 8, and over time swap my essential Windows 7 stuff there. If you don't like 10 better than 8, you have less to lose on reverting back.

You have a year to think whether upgrading 7 is for you. Don't rush it.

Hi there

Particularly with DRIVERS -- sometimes the old hardware will work (printers for example) whereas after a CLEAN install there isn't an available new driver and the OLD one won't install.

However for stuff that REALLY won't work don't forget you can always keep running your OLD OS in a VM. These days on modern hardware using a Virtual Machine involves very little overhead for typical applications on the Guest OS.

You can Virtualise your old running physical OS quite easily -- use the FREE VMware converter to create the Guest OS and use VMPLAYER to boot and run the VM.

Download VMware vCenter Converter Standalone for P2V Conversion

Cheers
jimbo

Fafhrd said:

Joe, If you post your System Specs, it will be easier to give specific advice. I use very old hardware with Windows 10 without problems, but some much newer components may struggle.

I don't know what sort of license (or edition) you have for Windows 8 - if a full retail version, then it is not tied to your current hardware, and can be transferred to newer equipment if required. Any upgrade to 10 will also have the retail channel and comparable edition (core or pro) and will be likewise transferable.

The Windows 7 OEM, and any upgrade to 10 will be tied to that hardware, and if a home edition or lower, will be a 10 home edition.

Personally I would upgrade the Windows 8, and over time swap my essential Windows 7 stuff there. If you don't like 10 better than 8, you have less to lose on reverting back.

You have a year to think whether upgrading 7 is for you. Don't rush it.

Tied or not once in use you have 10 years support doesn't matter if it is OEM or Retail.

The thing is if you are tied in, once the motherboard goes down, so does the OS, however many years of support are left, unless there is a suitably similar motherboard replacement available, which years down the line is less likely. Once upgraded, Microsoft gives you about a month to change your mind and revert to the original system.

I am running it just fine on a Dell Inspiron 537s with Intel Core Duo and 4 GB RAM. Only thing that I have added for testing purposes is Google Chrome. A lot more zip with 10 than 8. The GUI is worse than the Windows 8 Desktop. Even with Start10 running.