Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for Free  

Groover said:

I complete the upgrade on both my workstations. Initially, I linked the digital license to my MS account on one machine and found it was using approx 30% of CPU. Let it sit for a few hours and no change so I reverted back to a local account. On the second workstation I didn't bother trying to link to my MS account.

You made me worry for a minute. I just checked my CPU usage and it's only 2% and I just did the Windows 10 upgrade yesterday and create a linked account to Microsoft.
What are you getting for CPU readings on the local account now?

2 - 5% with Outlook and Chrome open running on local account.

Bree said:

Correct. And that applies whether or not you have linked to your MS account.

Did a clean installation of Windows 10 Pro today. Everything went great. Windows was activated once I was done and I didn't enter my product key during the install. It was saved on Microsoft's end.
It's a lot of work re-loading all my programs but it'll be better in the end.
To Bree and Brink and others here that helped me with suggestions and/or tips: Thanks for your help!
It was truly appreciated!

Steve in Central Vermont

I don't really consider it an upgrade. This tutorial works great. There was some variations. For instance, "After you upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10, you can link your Microsoft account to the Windows 10 digital license to be able to clean install Windows 10 and activate with your Microsoft account." I never experienced that and a couple of other ones. But all in all it wasn't a bad experience. I put it on a MSI laptop that had Win7 on it. OS is working great and I am on a steep learning curve. I would recommend reading this tutorial in its entirety before changing to Win10

Hi,
Yeah more of a update than a upgrade for sure
7 has been effortless since 2009 outside of ms updates screwing it up once in a while and more so after win-8 & 10 releases
10 needs a lot of work to tame.
Roughly 20 .reg files from Brink

Brink --- My activation screen looks like the one you posted. So I must have staggered through some way or another.

Thanks for this thread!!
Updating OS for a Family Member who is OLD. They like win7.
1- Should I install win8.1? (I'm leaning towards installing 10 for them, but they crab at me for "Classic Mode" win8 -which I shouldn't have told them about, lol).
2- Their machine is running SMOOTH win7. Cleanest of clean. Do I even need to 'upgrade' them to win8 or win10? Antivirus MBAM (real time).

**My Biggest Question, BIOS SETTINGS**
3- "If' we decide to update this machine, what about BIOS settings? I sifted through a few pages here, but didn't look through them all. Currently, ACHI installed, win7 Pro (SP1), i5-6400 CPU, 2.7ghz (4core), HP 750-114 (but rolled-back to a win7 and Retail Key), been using Simplix Update7R2 update packs for win7 SP1 updates.... 12gb RAM, SanDisk 500gb Ultra3d SSD (OS disc), Western Digital 2tb "black" 2nd Drive.
4- The user is an avid Outlook 2010 emailing and Office 2010. (my fear is they would get into trouble using Outlook 2010 for email -if I leave win7 on their machine). Internet Explorer 11 is installed (but I have encouraged them to use Waterfox or Firefox). .netFramework 4.7.2 (some older programs relying on predecessors, like PictureIT, e.t.)

So biggest question, can I roll the dice and leave win7? They have a few older programs. I've tweaked their registry perfectly to suit their needs. This win7 EOL is a real pain in the behind for most of us... so for this family member, should I even change OS? I tend to think "yes", but man this machine is FAST, 'mint' registry... I dunno.

That's it, sorry to ramble... any feedback would be SO HELPFUL! My biggest concern is BIOS Settings when installing win10 (I also have this question for other machines, so any detailed feedback, regarding nVme, SATA m.2, e.t., would be SO appreciated). THANKS AGAIN!~