In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps

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  1. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps


    Note   Note
    In-place upgrade, upgrading Windows to a later version or a superior edition of the same version is the only method to upgrade Windows without losing the installed apps and programs. Certain rules apply to an in-place upgrade:


    • The bit version must remain the same, a 32 bit Windows can only be in-place upgraded to another 32 bit Windows, a 64 bit only to 64 bit
    • The language version must be exactly the same, Finnish Vista cannot be in-place upgraded to Swedish Windows 7, US English Windows Seven cannot be in-place upgraded to UK English Windows 8
    • The Windows edition must remain the same or be superior, for example Windows Vista Home Premium can be in-place upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate but not to Windows 7 Home Basic or Starter

    If and when all three conditions apply, you can in-place upgrade and keep the installed software (subject to compatibility with new OS version).

    As many other things about and around Windows the in-place upgrade divides us geeks; some are strictly against it preferring a clean install whenever upgrading Windows, some see no problems in in-place upgrade preferring not to reinstall all software after the upgrade. Personally I have never understood why in-place upgrade shouldn't be used, time after time I have both used it by myself and shown to other Windows users how easy and safe it is. I have even written some simple instructions for in-place upgrade at our sister site the Seven Forums.

    The argument most often used by the opposing users is that by in-place upgrading you transfer all possible underlying OS issues to the new OS. However, these same users are often recommending a so called Repair Install to fix some Windows issues. The repair install is nothing but an in-place upgrade to same OS version and edition; opposing in-place upgrade while at the same time getting the newer (and better?) OS but advocating it when keeping the old problematic OS, this logics I have never been able to understand.

    Anyway, each and every user is free to decide whether to do a clean install with a new version of Windows or if at least give in-place upgrade a try. My point with this post is not to advocate in-place upgrade but just to show it is a realistic and easy alternative.


    I was interested to see how well the in-place upgrade would keep my apps working if done on the same machine from Windows XP via Vista, Seven and Eight to Windows 10 Technical Preview. To test this I selected some apps which I first installed in Windows XP: a browser (Maxthon), a media player (VLC), a PDF reader (Adobe), Windows Live 2011 and MS Office XP.

    My choice for a third party browser was Maxthon because for the first it is my favorite browser after IE11, and for the second because it allows signing in with a Maxthon account which then automatically syncs settings, saved passwords, favorites and so on. I wanted to see if these were properly carried into next OS version.

    I set up a POP3 email account in Outlook XP and an IMAP email account in Windows Live Mail, interested to see if these emails and their settings would be carried over.



     Windows XP to Vista Ultimate

    All set up as I wanted, here's a screenshot of the start situation, XP set up and Vista in-place upgrade installation started:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-11-30_21h12_31.png

    Upgrade was surprisingly fast and after a reboot or two I was in Vista desktop:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-11-30_22h52_56.png

    All programs, native Windows apps and those I had installed, all working fine. Outlook and Windows Live had the accounts set up, Excel and Word still showed recent documents in File menu, Maxthon had all my settings carried over, passwords and favorites remembered, ready to go:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-11-30_23h23_33.png



     Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate

    Windows 7 Ultimate had only one compatibility warning, the Vista Ultimate Extras are not compatible with Seven and would be disabled:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-11-30_23h28_02.png

    Other than that there was again no issues, I had successfully in-place upgraded Windows XP via Vista to Windows 7 Ultimate:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_00h45_39.png



     Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro

    As I had started with a 32 bit Windows XP Professional, I had to stay in 32 bit. I had no Windows 8.1 Pro 32 bit ISO and no patience to download one so I gave up and used Windows 8 Pro for which I had an ISO file.

    Launching the Windows 8 installer told me all apps, files and settings would be kept:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_00h50_48.png

    A problem free in-place upgrade and moments later I was in Windows 8 desktop. Again no issues with installed programs, everything was working as they did in Windows XP when I started:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_01h31_42.png



     Windows 8 Pro to Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 9879

    Last step in my in-place adventure starts promising, Windows installer tells me everything is kept. No compatibility issues:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_01h57_16.png

    Arriving in Windows 10 desktop, everything working. Email accounts set up back in Windows XP in Windows live Mail and Office XP still working, Word XP and Excel XP showing my recent documents I had saved in XP, Maxthon browser automatically logging in to my favorite sites:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_02h39_43.png



     Conclusion

    Although this was not even close to a real life situation, a "chain upgrade" in one sitting from XP via Vista, Seven and Eight to Windows 10, it at least shows that there's nothing preventing an XP user keeping all his / her installed compatible software, personal settings and files all the way from XP to 10. The direct in-place upgrade from XP to 10 is of course not supported but all the user has to do is to get Vista, Seven and Eight install media (DVD or ISO) and do it. The in-between operating systems (Vista, Seven and Eight in this example) do not even have to be activated and do not require a product code when the in-place upgrade is done within the 30 day grace period each of these operating systems have.

    Clean install is of course the preferred way to upgrade but keep in your mind that an in-place upgrade is always an alternative.


    Tip   Tip
    For virtual machine users:

    I did the above test in a Hyper-V virtual machine, installing first Windows XP on it and in-place upgrading it to each next Windows version.

    Before I started the first upgrade, XP to Vista, I created a checkpoint. I then created a new checkpoint after each upgrade:

    In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-2014-12-01_03h18_18.png

    Now I have one virtual machine which I can revert in a few seconds to any of the Windows versions: I can go back to Vista, install software, save files, anything, then shutdown it and create a new checkpoint replacing the original Vista checkpoint, then return to Windows Eight (or XP, Seven or Ten).

    Practical!


    Kari
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,667
    Windows 10 Home 22H2
       #2

    You are a super geek my friend

    A Guy
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Did this mostly for fun but at the same time showing in-place is a viable alternative :).
      My Computer


  4. whs
    Posts : 1,935
    Windows 7
       #4

    This is a masterpiece. You have been a really busy beaver. And a very good path from XP to Win 10. I guess it would only require XP > Win7 > Win10.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #5

    whs said:
    This is a masterpiece. You have been a really busy beaver. And a very good path from XP to Win 10. I guess it would only require XP > Win7 > Win10.

    Wolfgang, you need at least two steps (Vista & Seven) between XP and 10, the Eight can be bypassed:
    • XP can only be in-place upgraded to Vista, not Seven or later
    • Vista can be in-place upgraded to Seven but not Eight or later
    • Seven can be in-place upgraded to 10
    • Ergo: XP to Vista is a must, as well as Vista to Seven but then you can bypass the Eight and jump to 10
    Last edited by Kari; 30 Nov 2014 at 23:50. Reason: Typos
      My Computer


  6. whs
    Posts : 1,935
    Windows 7
       #6

    Thanks Kari. I did not remember that. I am getting old, LOL.
      My Computer

  7.    #7

    Kari,
    You are a Geeks, Geek. The King of all Geeks. The Master Geek from the Dark Side.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails In-place upgrade - XP to 10 without losing the apps-darkside-masters.jpg  
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thanks Computiac but there's nothing special or extra geeky in this procedure. Every user can do it by simply following the in-place upgrade rules and instructions.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 5,833
    Dual boot Windows 10 FCU Pro x 64 & current Insider 10 Pro
       #9

    Very well constructed with detailed explanations, Kari.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Thanks HG :).
      My Computer


 

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