Getting familiar with the Win 10 GUI before upgrading from 7

I give · 30 Dec 2019

Hello all. I'm preparing for the upgrade, and would like to get familiar with the Win 10 GUI before upgrading. Can anyone recommend a place to learn the basics? Thanks.

dalchina · 30 Dec 2019

Hi, you could create a live boot disk from this iso, boot your PC from that and play.
Toolkit Item: Kyhi’s Rescue Disk – Win10.Guru

Burn that to a DVD, or to create a bootable flash drive, see instructions for that in the tutorial "Clean install Window 10"

Then there are youtube videos if you care to search (forgive the search term I used- I thought of the book)

Getting familiar with the Win 10 GUI before upgrading from 7-1.png

Upgrade: make sure you have a current disk image e.g. Macrium Reflect (free) of Windows before starting to upgrade. Things occasionally go badly wrong.

Upgrade to Windows 10
Uninstall or at least disable any security software, at least 30Gb free on C:, disconnect anything unnecessary. It's a good idea to ensure you have only the system disk present, but not essential.

Run basic checks on your disk and e.g.
chkdsk C: /scan

swarfega · 30 Dec 2019

Having used both I'd say 10 is easier to navigate than 7. I am sure there are tutorials on Youtube.

Ztruker · 30 Dec 2019

The main difference is the Start Menu. To get around that install Open Shell (download button is near bottom of page). That makes the Start Menu look and feel much like Windows 7 Start Menu.

I use and prefer Stardock's Start10 which costs $4.95. There are many other Start Menu replacements.

Kyhi's rescue ISO is based on Windows 10 and has the same basic GUI but with many other tools and replacements for normal MS stuff might not give you the feel you are looking for.

You could also install Oracle VirtualBox under Windows 7 then install a Windows 10 Virtual Machine under Oracle Virtual Box to play with. You don't need a key, just use it for a month or two to get a feel for it. It's not hard to learn how to use VirtualBox or setup a VM and will definitely give you the best environment for playing with Windows 10.

hsehestedt · 30 Dec 2019

I tend to be very much a "hands on" learner. Books are great for a start, but there's nothing like actually playing with something to help me learn. One strategy I like to use is creation of a Virtual Machine. That way you can experiment extensively before making the switch.

Ztruker · 30 Dec 2019

Beat you to it by seconds

swarfega · 30 Dec 2019

hehe.

hsehestedt · 30 Dec 2019

Ztruker said:

Beat you to it by seconds

LOL. Gotta learn to type faster or use voice recognition for quick transcribing

lx07 · 30 Dec 2019

I agree with the virtual machine option given in above answers but I'd suggest it is a bit of an effort to go to as you'll realize there isn't really much change between 7 and 10 after a few hours use and it would be just as quick to just upgrade

I'd say the apart from start menu (which is a trivial cosmetic change for me), the new-style apps (which you can safely ignore until you think you may want to use them) the most important change you want to look at settings. Half (or more) have moved from control panel to the new settings app but some (like Network Adapter settings) still stubbornly remain in the old Windows 7 control panel.

Press the

key and type "settings" to see the difference (or

then "Printer" or

then "update"). It is a moving target as every update changes where things are so searching is pretty much a must.

Depending where you live you could go to the library (all PC's here have used Windows 10 for years) or perhaps even a supermarket. They may start bugging you to buy something after a while in a shop though.

Ztruker · 30 Dec 2019

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP

The first thing you need to do is backup your current Windows 7 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).

That way no matter what happens you can always get back to where you were when the backup was created.

... or pick up a new SSD (1TB for $75 to $80) then when you're ready, clone the existing HDD to the SSD, remove the HDD and install the SSD and boot. Upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10 and you're all set. That leaves the original HD as a good backup in case you need it. You can mount it along side the SSD (after the upgrade to Win 10 is comlete) to give you additional drive space and to access the data from it as needed.