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Does this mean I can still use my old PC that's running Windows 7 safely . $265 to buy Windows 10 seems steep . Computer is about 8 years old so would I be better just buying a new one with Windows 10 already installed ?
A) Not realy.
B) you can probably use your Windows 7 key to activate Windows 10, which you can download free from MS.
Does this mean I can still use my old PC that’s running Windows 7 safely
Regardless of what the Microsoft fan club will tell you, it very much depends on how you use it and what you call "safe".
It is no more likely to burn the house down than it was. If you have no network then risk is minimal. If you run Chrome with patching turned on, no plugins, connect to the Internet through a NAT router and don't keep anything confidential and which couldn't be replaced, probably be fine.
If you download a lot of dodgy software, tick yes on every pop up, run an old copy of Internet Explorer as Administrator and keep your one and only copy of your banking details on it then likely to run into problems.
On the other hand Windows 10 comes with its own usability and privacy issues.
Big thread on this very recently, worth digging up. In summary you should be able to install win 10 at no cost.
Like I said, dig out the thread, it was specifically about your forum topic.👍
Regardless of what the Microsoft fan club will tell you...
Always the best indicator of someone who knows exactly what they are talking about.
So basically run as a stand alone machine or casual Web browser with no security duties?
I got at least 3 viruses through 7 which was 3 more than XP (and everything before that) and 10. It was never a brilliantly secure OS IMO and 10 is a massive improvement. Of course if you want to make a statement and care about your MS Fanboi credentials by all means don't upgrade but don't be surprised if your computer ends up in the shit when some exploit comes to light. Yes it has it's own baggage but certainly no more than your average Google metadatamining app.
I followed the previous thread and upgraded my home PC for nothing!
Here, read this and then come back to us. I'm not typing all that shit out again.
Does this mean I can still use my old PC that’s running Windows 7 safely
No, it doesn't, unless you isolate it from the Internet. What you've got there now is a time bomb.
$265 to buy Windows 10 seems steep
I don't have a calculator to hand so can't be exact, but that's roughly about $265 more than you need to pay.
Computer is about 8 years old so would I be better just buying a new one with Windows 10 already installed ?
Not unless you want a new computer.
Also, listen to me rather than The Verge. (-:
What cougar said.
My old laptop is on win7, it's used very casually as a spare computer and I'm too lazy to bother upgrading it to win10
But also, crucially, I'd have no qualms flattening it and reinstalling windows if and when I feel the need, as its basically just used for watching films on the train or general Web surfing, there's no personal data on it etc.
I'm another one with a W7 (well actually was vista with a free W7 upgrade) laptop. Didn't bother with the W10 upgrade because I was happy with W7. Was aware that support was ending. The above thread prompted action and it went with no issues.
I've just done the free upgrade, too. All files and programmes work as before.
I've tried to upgrade to win10 whilst trying to keep all my files. Having a right arse trying to get it sorted, it keeps getting to installing the win10 updates then fails. I've done all the advice I can find for the error code that pops up but the same thing happened the next time so I've now decided to back up everything to an external drive and do a clean install. That's tonight's job. Joy.
I took Cougars advice. Download the installation files to a (16 MB) USB drive. Unplug the internet. Remove drive during start up. Plug it back in and go to the Setup file on the USB drive using file manager. Double click and follow instructions. That is how I ended up doing it and it worked fine. It will of course try and find drivers and updates the next time you re-connect the internet, but by then Win10 should be installed and working.
I have procrastinated long enough ...
Download the installation files to a (16 MB) USB drive. Unplug the internet.
OK done that.
Remove drive during start up.
What do you mean by this?
I have two HDD: one for OS and the other data storage.
Plug it back in and go to the Setup file on the USB drive using file manager. Double click and follow instructions.
Can I simply boot it from the USB stick and click upgrade or clean install?
Remove drive during start up.
What do you mean by this?
He means to remove the USB drive. Let W7 boot, plug in USB drive, go to setup etc If you can boot from the USB drive then that should work too.
What do you mean by this?
He means unplugging the pen drive I think.
Can I simply boot it from the USB stick and click upgrade or clean install?
Yup.
If you run Setup from within Windows then it will do an in-place upgrade. If you boot from USB then it will give you the option (unless it's changed radically since the last time I did it).
An in-place upgrade can take a very long time to complete, but it gives you the option of rolling back to W7 if you need to. My preferred route would be to fit a new SSD if you don't have one already, then your roll-back option is "put the old drive back in." See my notes on the other thread around licence keys though.
I tried that first off (booting directly from the USB drive on start up) and it went so far into the installation and then stopped and said I had to do it the other way since I was doing an in-place upgrade! Hence my advice to unplug the USB drive and then plug it in after WIN7 is running. It is what worked for me.
He means to remove the USB drive. Let W7 boot, plug in USB drive, go to setup etc If you can boot from the USB drive then that should work too.
Thanks for the clarification.
I have installed one on my backup non-SSD PC using clean install so I am just considering other "easier" methods without having to install all other compatible apps. i.e. Microsoft Office 2010.
Yup.
If you run Setup from within Windows then it will do an in-place upgrade. If you boot from USB then it will give you the option (unless it’s changed radically since the last time I did it).
Ahh good because that is the familiar technique I have used. I did that to my back up PC few months ago so hope nothing change much.
An in-place upgrade can take a very long time to complete, but it gives you the option of rolling back to W7 if you need to.
Arrghh ... will allocate a day to do that.
My preferred route would be to fit a new SSD if you don’t have one already, then your roll-back option is “put the old drive back in.” See my notes on the other thread around licence keys though.
I see. Yes, I have new SSD but that is for another PC. I am going to use my genuine W7 licence key (arrggh ... need to find that as it is in a box somewhere ...). The other new W10 licence key is for my other new computer yet to be built ... arrghh ... but getting busy at work that needs computer at the moment. Damn! All things happening at once.
I tried that first off (booting directly from the USB drive on start up) and it went so far into the installation and then stopped and said I had to do it the other way since I was doing an in-place upgrade! Hence my advice to unplug the USB drive and then plug it in after WIN7 is running. It is what worked for me.
Sounds like an "easier" way to upgrade rather than booting directly from USB drive.
Could you advice me on the exact steps please as I have not done this method of upgrade before. Well in fact I have never done an upgrade before and all clean install.
Just run Setup from the pendrive.
Doing it that way, you won't need a licence key (now or ever again). If it asks you for one, click "Skip" or "I don't have a key," it'll pick it up from the existing install.
will allocate a day to do that.
For clarification, it takes a long time (IME) once it's going but you don't need to keep doing stuff. The one I did, I set it off then went to bed.
Thanks Cougar for the advice.
Excellent. I will do the Setup method.
I will move my working file to my back PC first then let it upgrade through the night.
Tick
I think my laptop hard drive has failed (tried to run chkdsk from CMD which didn't fix all sectors so ran it again from the GUI) and now it won't boot up.
(Unmountable Boot Volume and BSOD).
This may or may not be related to a Windows Update which was installed shortly before the failure (I can't get it to boot up to somewhere where I can roll-back).
Anyway, I'm gonna try installing a brand new SSD as the laptop was very slow booting up. I'll be restoring a full Acronis backup from a couple of weeks ago from an external HDD.
I have used another laptop to create a Win10 installation USB.
I assume steps are:
(1) Remove existing HDD and replace with SSD. (Will I need to partition the new drive first?)
(2) Install Windows 10 from USB
(3) Install Acronis
(4) Connect external HDD and restore
(5) Do whatever s/w updates are needed once restore complete (I recently upgraded from Win7 to Win10 and can't remember whether the backup was done before or after the upgrade)
(6) Connect old/broke HDD via a USB > SATA cable and (hopefully) pull off any new files/photos added since the backup was done. (Am I likely to be able to access the old HDD bearing in mind it wouldn't boot up?)
Anyone see any glaring errors/omissions in the above steps?
Also, appreciate some advice about partitions.
I haven't bought the SSD but I've read Samsung, WD and Crucial are all ok...do they generally include any s/w on the drives to steer me through this, or are they typically completely empty drives?
(Original HDD had two partitions with the D drive for system recovery IIRC)
Alternatively, should I just consider cloning the HDD to the SSD?
(Is this even possible if the laptop won't boot up, and would cloning simply recreate the problem sectors/damaged or missing files in the SSD?)
Anyone see any glaring errors/omissions in the above steps?
Sounds about right, assuming you've a compelling need to restore rather than just reinstalling stuff from scratch. Doubly so if it's an upgrade from W7, that's something of a retrograde step and something I'd avoid if possible.
Check whether your version of Acronis is SSD-aware, you might need to configure / enable TRIM (google it).
Also, appreciate some advice about partitions.
Delete any existing partitions, hit "go" and let the W10 installer deal with it.
I haven’t bought the SSD but I’ve read Samsung, WD and Crucial are all ok…
Samsung EVO FTW.
do they generally include any s/w on the drives to steer me through this, or are they typically completely empty drives?
They often come with some sort of cloning tool, but you already have Acronis so...
Alternatively, should I just consider cloning the HDD to the SSD?
(Is this even possible if the laptop won’t boot up, and would cloning simply recreate the problem sectors/damaged or missing files in the SSD?)
Exactly. If you clone a broken HDD install you'll wind up with a broken SSD install. That's what cloning does, it's a direct copy.
Am I likely to be able to access the old HDD bearing in mind it wouldn’t boot up?
Assuming it simply "won't boot" rather than the disk being Donald Ducked then yes.
... yell if I missed anything BTW, that's a lot of questions.
`
<blockquote>Sounds about right, assuming you’ve a compelling need to restore rather than just reinstalling stuff from scratch. </blockquote>
Thanks Cougar - I was hoping you'd sanity check this for me!
I'll poke around with Acronis once the fresh install of W10 is done on the new SSD.
If a can pull & restore just my photos & music plus the Adobe Lightroom and iTunes libraries/catalogs plus other "documents" stuff then I won't bother doing a complete system restore. Just hope I can remember all the cached user IDs and passwords that Chrome has saved on the old HDD (I don't think I was signed into Chrome)
bit old man grumpy about it....as win7pro for me does what i want and seems bomb proof reliable...anyway I just ran the update to 10 directly on the home office pc no problems excepting finding the files where the download goes (google sorts) then finding no exe file...turned off 3rd party security stuff and that sorted...all in all including download time and installation drinking a beer and doing other stuff probably 1,1/2 hours...took longer to do an extra manual back up to a portable hard drive prior to starting....pleasantly surprised hope it survives the next update
Edit didn't get asked for key presumably the install prep checked was in their somewhere (hidden in the bios settings i believe)
Regardless of what the Microsoft fan club will tell you, it very much depends on how you use it and what you call “safe”.
The "Microsoft fan club" pretty much always advise to upgrade to Win10 using the free upgrade (there seems to be a thread on this pretty much every week, with the same advice repeated over and over again). The exception to this is if you have some niche hardware or software that is no longer supported and you have to run an older version of Windows. In that case, the advice is consistently to use that machine only to run that application and isolate it from the internet.
Also, I don't think there's a fan club. I think there are people who find that Windows gets their work done and they are pragmatic about that. I use some specialist software for my work that is only available for Windows because the market is so small, so Mac OS is a non-starter.
Are the system requirements similar across win 7 and win10? Just checking that my aged laptop could take the update without an issue.
My daily driver is an 11 year old laptop, shipped with Vista and is now running W10.
4GB of RAM and you'll probably be reet, treat it to an SSD if you haven't already.
Just downloading the win10 stuff to do a fresh install on my aging laptop to repurpose for the kids.. but having done a fresh bloatware free 7 install on my Sony Vaio when it was new and dropping an SSD in, I seem to remember having seek out, download and manually install a bunch of drivers for the various hardware (cam, fingerprint, stamina/speed switch) etc
I'm also sure i've paid for a Win7pro upgrade for remote desktop so will that still work?
Worth it to do it clean, or likely a pita?
so much for that the win10 tool keeps failing