win 7 & vista to 10 upgrades??

Hi all, hope your having a great day.. I have a few desktop's I would like to upgrade, I have 3 that have windows 7 that I installed not long ago.. and I have a desktop that has the factory key to vista,but the HHD is formatted, it has the factory product key on the case, the other 2 I did a fresh install of win 7 pro.. they both have their own keys that come with the installation disc, I have 2 later desktops that have win 10 in them with separate keys and disc, heres the question.. can I upgrade the pc's that has the win 7 using the win 10 disc from my other pc's and use the key from the win 7 to activate it??,would like to get win 10 in all of them.. Thanks guy's.. and also,can I upgrade the pc with vista even though the HHD is formatted??

A bootable Windows 10 iso can be used on multiple computers for upgrades.

Some computers have tested drivers for different Windows versions.
Without tested drivers it is by trial and error for drivers.
Many are using computers without computer manufacturer tested drivers.

Each computer manufacturer has a link for tested or untested computers:

Hewlett Packard (HP) /Compaq: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05195282
Dell Inc: http://www.dell.com/support/article/...ows-10?lang=en
Lenovo: Windows 10 Update July 2016 / Version 1607 "Anniversary Update" - Systems List - US
Acer
Samsung: Windows 10 Update Information
Sony Vaio: Support
Toshiba: Toshiba : Model List
Packard Bell: Choose your country | Packard Bell
MSI: Support Center | MSI USA
ASUS: Windows 10 MDA Microsites


In case there are problems activating:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...troubleshooter

Extra steps to have product ID and activation:
Activation troubleshooting


Upgrade check list:

Code:

UPGRADE CHECK LIST:
Run through this check list before the next upgrade attempt:

1) remove nonessential hardware
docks
USB devices
printers
headset
speakers
joysticks
projectors
scanners
plotters
portable optical drives (CD, DVD)
microphones
cameras
webcams
smartphones
bluetooth devices
USB drives (other than a windows 10 iso if used for the upgrade)
USB Wireless Mouse or Keyboard Receiver, USB Wireless Network Card
secondary monitors


2) These should be the only attached devices:
wired mouse
wired keyboard
monitor

Any of these that have been done in the past week are not necessary to repeat:


3) open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste: (repair file system)
chkdsk /r /v 
This may take many hours so plan to run overnight
Find the chkdsk report in the event viewer using the information in this link and post into the thread:
Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/40822-read-chkdsk-log-event-viewer-windows-10-a.html 

4) open administrative command prompt and copy and paste: (repair operating system)
sfc /scannow 
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth 
When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread

5) update windows (have all recommended updates installed) and reboot after updates

6) List and uninstall all non-Microsoft antivirus software
(This includes always on and manual software.)
(This includes running the applicable antivirus uninstall tools for any AV that could have been incompletely uninstalled)

7) List and uninstall all non-Microsoft firewall software

8) List all Microsoft and non-Microsoft drive encryption software. 
Uninstall all non-Microsoft disk encryption software

9) Run disk cleanup to clean temporary and system files

10) Verify that the drive has > 30 GB free space (At least 25 GB is needed for creating dumps)

11) Place the computer in clean boot:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/29876.how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-10.aspx
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/41804-perform-clean-boot-windows-10-troubleshoot-software-conflicts.html


12) Detach all SATA devices other than the disk drive that has the Windows operating system
(Make sure that the only disk drive that is attached to the computer at the time of the upgrade attempt is the disk drive containing Windows)
(Other disk drives may be able to be detached by disconnecting cables or if necessary to remove the drive from the computer)

13) Make sure that there is no metered connection:  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17452/windows-metered-internet-connections-faq

boatmoter said:

H...also,can I upgrade the pc with vista even though the HHD is formatted??

Do you mean the drive is wiped clean (no OS) and all you have is its Vista key? I'm afraid that Vista key will not activate Windows 10, only upgrading from Win7 or later will get activation. The PC may be capable of running W10, but you'll need to buy a legitimate W7/W8/8.1/W10 key in order to activate it. Unless it's a top-spec machine that may not be worth it. Have you thought of trying Linux?

As 7 was just installed as long as its activted download free the latest windows 10 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10 simply hit upgrade it wont ask for a key and keep all files let it update it will take about 2 hours there is no sense installing from an older 10 dvd as it will then take another 2 hours as it will update to the leates version

If you are not able to upgrade 7 to 10 I would do what Bree suggested and install Linux.

There are so many to choose from but the easiest and friendliest for new users are as follows:

Linux Mint

Ubuntu

Manjaro Linux

MX Linux

My personal favourite is MX Linux. It comes packed with tons of features but is extremely light on resources. I have it currently running on an 8 year old Intel Atom netbook with 1GB of RAM and it runs smoothly.

Something to consider...

Hi all, hope your having a great day.. I have a few desktop's I would like to upgrade, I have 3 that have windows 7 that I installed not long ago.. and I have 1 desktop with vista that came with it from the factory, it has the product key on the case, the other 3 I did a fresh install of win 7 pro,all separate installation disc with keys, I have 2 later desktops that have win 10 in them with separate keys and disc,heres the question.. can I upgrade the pc's with the win 7 using the win 10 disc from my other pc's and use the key from the win 7's to activate them??,would like to get win 10 in all of them.. Thanks guy's..

> (1) hp compaq dc7700 ultra slim desktop, windows 7pro W/key , 4 gb ram, dual core 250 GB HHD,
(intel)
> (2) hp 7700 Dual core's CMT's desktop's, windows 7 pro W/key's, 4 GB ram, 500GB HHD'S ( intel )
> (1) ACER w/ AMD Dual core, 3500, 160GB HHD windows Vista (factory), but HHD is formatted, has
original Vista Key on case, I bought this new in 2005
> (1) Dell 790 optiplex-i3 windows 10, W/disc & key 4 GB ram, 250 GB SSD
> (1) Dell 790 optiplex-i5 4 GB ram, Quad processor 250 GB SSD windows 10, W/ disc & key, the Dells are mine & my wife's primary's, the others are one's I bought & used long time ago and would like to get them updated with windows 10 and all latest drivers and windows updates, I know time is short for windows 7 support to run out,I was wondering why the windows 7 pro installation disc W/Key's were so cheap on Ebay, found out later bout the support for 7 to be running out,shame,these pc's work great and cruise the net pretty quick for oldie's and are pretty stable on the net

dalchina said:

Note that for a few older PCs Win 10 may only work up to a particular build of Win 10.

The only specific case I know of is for PCs built with the Intel Atom Z2760, Z2580, Z2560, Z2520 processors (Clover Trail). Those cannot be upgraded beyond 1607, but on the plus side MS will provide them (and only those PCs) with extended support for 1607 until 2023.

As part of our commitment to customers, we will be offering the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to these Intel Clover Trail devices on Windows 10, which we know provides a good user experience. To keep our customers secure, we will provide security updates to these specific devices running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update until January of 2023...

...The affected devices include those running Intel Atom Processors Z2760, Z2580, Z2560, Z2520.

Microsoft agrees to extend support deadline for Clover Trail PCs | ZDNet