Upgrading Windows 7 To Windows 10 On Old Computer Without USB?

I have an old dell desktop that uses windows 7. I haven't used it in long time and it just stays there. But i want to upgrade it to windows 10 as well. I read you can still do the upgrade.



1. How do i update it from windows 7 to windows 10? I don't see option like on windows update when i go on start menu?


2. Can you do this without a usb flash drive? I read you need one that is 8gb at least. I have a 4gb one but also bigger ones but don't want to use it because this windows desktop, not sure if it has viruses/malware on it. So can i do the upgrade just like that?


3. Will upgrading to 10 delete everything off my computer? I prefer this because when i did the clean reinstall many times on my desktop, it always saved like old files in the c drive where instead of it showing like 430gb of 450gb total, it showed like 412gb of 450gb free.

paulyjustin said:

1. How do i update it from windows 7 to windows 10? I don't see option like on windows update when i go on start menu?
2. Can you do this without a usb flash drive?

Yes. See this tutorial: Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for Free

3. Will upgrading to 10 delete everything off my computer?

At Step 10 in the tutorial you can choose what to keep: all personal files and installed apps, just personal files, or nothing.


Once you have successfully upgraded to W10 and it has activated the PC will have a digital licence for the edition of Windows 10 you got in the upgrade (Home or Pro) stored on the Microsoft activation servers. This digital licence is linked to the unique hardware ID of the PC. You could then, if you wish, wipe the drive and clean install the same edition, skipping entering a key when asked. It will activate from the digital licence as soon as it can contact the activation servers.

hi thanks for response. So from looking at the beginning, i don't need a usb flash drive then to do this right?


yes i want to delete eveything on my desktop.


However i have one little issue. My desktop... is connected to internet via wifi. I bought one of those usb wifi adapters for it. The reason is because our modem is way too far from the desktop. So last time i bought this wifi adapter, then put in the cd rom key for my desktop then installed it.


Now would there be issues with this? Because after i install windows 10 on my computer and it wipes everything, wouldn't it need internet for me to finish the installation?


The thing is i can't use my wifi connection since i have to reinstall the wifi adapter program right?


At Step 10 in the tutorial you can choose what to keep: all personal files and installed apps, just personal files, or nothing.


Once you have successfully upgraded to W10 and it has activated the PC will have a digital licence for the edition of Windows 10 you got in the upgrade (Home or Pro) stored on the Microsoft activation servers. This digital licence is linked to the unique hardware ID of the PC. You could then, if you wish, wipe the drive and clean install the same edition, skipping entering a key when asked. It will activate from the digital licence as soon as it can contact the activation servers.[/QUOTE]

You don't need the internet to complete the upgrade. All the required install files would have been downloaded while you were still running Windows 7. But you will need an internet connection to get activation and a digital licence once Windows 10 is installed.

If you are lucky, Windows will have a suitable driver for your WiFi usb. If you are unlucky you'll have to download a W10 driver from the manufacturer's site and install it yourself.

If you're very unlucky it may be too old and there are no Windows 10 drivers available. In that case you may need to buy a new WiFi usb for it.

Bree said:

You don't need the internet to complete the upgrade. All the required install files would have been downloaded while you were still running Windows 7. But you will need an internet connection to get activation and a digital licence once Windows 10 is installed.

If you are lucky, Windows will have a suitable driver for your WiFi usb. If you are unlucky you'll have to download a W10 driver from the manufacturer's site and install it yourself.

If you're very unlucky it may be too old and there are no Windows 10 drivers available. In that case you may need to buy a new WiFi usb for it.

HI there. Earlier i went to the tp link website to download the driver for my wifi adapter. I put that in my small usb flash drive.


I then followed these steps in the tenforum instrutions and i clicked on do not save any files, so it just install windows 10 home and no files.


Right now im on the page of installing windows %, dont turn off your pc. This will take a while.

Good. As you found W10 drivers for your TP Link there's a good chance that W10 will include them, if not you have your usb to use.

It can take a while, particularly on older slower machines, so just be patient. It could take a couple of hours.

Bree said:

Good. As you found W10 drivers for your TP Link there's a good chance that W10 will include them, if not you have your usb to use.

It can take a while, particularly on older slower machines, so just be patient. It could take a couple of hours.

hey there. yea i got this usb adapter not long ago so the version of the driver should be recent.


yea its at 29% now... its going very slow

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Well when it asked me what did i want to install, there were 3 options


install windows files and apps

install windows files


install nothing



I chosed nothing since i want everything deleted. So when my computer is on the main screen where it show 450gb hard drive, it should have a lot of space empty right? Thus this would be like a brand new windows 10 desktop since i picked install nothing?

Yes, if you keep nothing then it should be like a clean install, you may not have as much free space as you expect though. It would still create a Window.old folder with you old system (and files) in it, in case you wish to go back to Windows 7.

That would be automatically deleted after 10 days or, if you are sure you won't want to go back, you can delete it yourself.

Delete Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

When the Windows 7 to 10 upgrade has completed:

a) Open disk management > by default some columns are compressed > widen each Status and Volume > make sure the contents within the parenthesis are in full view and that none of the characters are cutoff > view disk 0 > widen this row as needed so that all of the characters are in full view > post an image into the thread
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of

Bree said:

Good. As you found W10 drivers for your TP Link there's a good chance that W10 will include them, if not you have your usb to use.

It can take a while, particularly on older slower machines, so just be patient. It could take a couple of hours.

Im on screen


sign in with microsoft


email phone or skype

create account



So do i create a new account? I dont want to sign in with my regular skype account.

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I saw this posted on another site



How to Create a Local Account When Initially Setting Up Windows 10
You can create a local account when you are installing or upgrading to Windows 10. Near the end of the process, you will encounter the “Make it yours” screen, which tells you to sign in with an existing Microsoft account or create a new one. At that point, follow these steps:

1. Select the “Skip this step” option in the bottom left corner of the “Make it yours” screen.
2. In the “Create an account for this PC” screen that appears, enter your name or another identifier in the “Who’s going to use this PC?” field.
3. Enter a secure password and a hint that will help you remember the password in case you forget it.
4. Click the “Next” button to continue the installation or upgrade.

Once the installation or upgrade is complete, your local account will be active.
What to Do If You Already Set Up Windows 10 to Use a Microsoft Account
If you already set up a Windows 10 computer to use a Microsoft account to log in, you can switch to a local account. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Windows 10 computer using your Microsoft account.
2. Click the “Start” button and select “Settings”.
3. Choose “Accounts” in the Settings window.
4. Select the “Your email and accounts” option in the left pane.
5. Click the “Sign in with a local account instead” option in the right pane. This will bring up the “Switch to a local account” wizard.
6. In the first page of the wizard, enter your Microsoft account password. Even though you signed in with your Microsoft account, you need to provide your password again for verification purposes.
7. Click the “Next” button.
8. In the second page of the wizard, enter your name or another identifier in the “User name” field.
9. Enter a secure password and a password hint.
10. Click “Next”.
11. In the last page of the wizard, review the information and then click the “Sign out and finish” button.

The next time you log in to your Windows 10 computer, you will need to use your new local account credentials.
Help Is Available If Needed
Although Microsoft does not make it obvious, you can log in with a local account on Windows 10 computers. You just need to change some settings. If you do not feel comfortable configuring Windows 10 to use a local account, your IT service provider can help.

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Earlier it asked me to connect to internet. I put in my wifi connection password and it seemed to work... thus im surprised if it did since i put install nothing... so i figure the driver for my wifi adapter probably did not get installed.


It did show it worked but im not 100%. But it should right?


So right now how do i go about the sign in microsoft screen? On what i posted, they say you can skip it or create local account. How do i do this? Click on create account? Only thing i can click on is either


Enter email phone or skype
create account


or click on


learn more and next


The thing is im not 100% sure if im online now as im using a wifi adapter and not 100% sure if the driver still is in it...