Windows 10 free upgrade

snaver

Hi

What are people's thoughts about upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 at the moment? Are any initial bugs fixed by now and will I still be able to use Windows Live Mail, or transfer my email accounts and messages over to the new system please? Also, how long does it take to perform the upgrade? (I see that it must be scheduled?) Any help or advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

esuhl

I prefer Windows 7 so I'm sticking with that for now. I'm not a fan of the UI in Windows 8 or 10, so if I had 8, I'd probably upgrade. It's really up to you. So long as you keep the installation media/files and your product key, you can reinstall Windows 8 if you don't like 10.

You don't need to upgrade by scheduling it and waiting for Windows Updates. You can download the Windows 10 ISO image, burn it to CD/DVD or USB. Don't activate it during installation; once installed you can activate it using your Windows 8 product key.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/clean-install-windows-10/1c426bdf-79b1-4d42-be93-17378d93e587

N.B. Make sure you know your product key before installing Windows 10!

paddyrg

I went from 8.1 to 10, absolutely no regrets

Jivesinger

One option, for those uncertain about Windows 10, is to

1. take a full backup of everything in Windows 8.1 with Macrium Reflect Free or similar. As mentioned you should make a note of the product key, although with luck you won't need it.
2. Download the windows 10 ISO as mentioned (you actually don't need to burn it to a USB unless you want to clean install, which is a more complicated procedure)
3. run setup.exe from the ISO, within Windows 8.1, and then upgrade to Windows 10. Make sure it connects to the internet and activates - this should happen automatically
4. Immediately restore the backup to Windows 8.1, especially if you don't like the look of Windows 10

That way, you have established your machine's digital entitlement to run Windows 10, so if in future you do install it, it should activate OK, but you can wait a little longer, beyond the 1 year when you're entitled to the free upgrade, which runs out in July (assuming Microsoft don't extend it).

I have a machine (currently on 8.1) which I want to clean install Windows 10 on, but there's loads of software I'd need to reinstall and configure, so I'm seriously considering the above approach as a way to grab my Windows 10 entitlement within the year.

Depending on PC spec/ software installed etc., the upgrade itself should be done in around an hour; it's the backup which takes longer (and whatever else you do, I recommend taking a backup).

As to whether you should upgrade to Windows 10 and stick with it, for a new user, Windows 10's user interface, is easier than Windows 8.1, but if you're used to 8.1 already, it isn't such a big benefit. I have a suspicion that reliability-wise, Windows 8.1 is a little more solid at the moment - I don't think all the foibles from Windows 10 are quite gone yet, especially on old hardware.

But overall Windows 10 is pretty decent, as long as your hardware has drivers available.

grumpycrab

If you have 8 or 8.1 I'd certainly go to 10 now.
If you have 7 the main reason for going to 10 would be get the extra product life (10's end of life is currently 2025; 7's end of life is 2020); (assuming 10 doesn't require a yearly subscription by then!)

PS. If you have Vista, there are some cheap 7 OEM licenses around which may be worth a try (whether used as a stepping stone to 10 or not).

Le_Kirk

Jivesinger wrote: »

...... overall Windows 10 is pretty decent, as long as your hardware has drivers available.

This is the reason I am sticking with Windows 7 (for now) along with the fact that I am not certain that some of my programmes will run with Windows 10.

I use MS Money and I still use an old version of MS Publisher (to be honest I was surprised it worked with W7, having upgraded from XP).

However, I have just "assisted" an elderly neighbour to purchase, install and set up a brand new PC with W10. It went well and was relatively painless. It took a bit of getting used to where everything is (about 4 minutes for me and neighbour still rings for advice after 6 weeks) but overall I like it.

I will probably update the laptop first (as it doesn't matter if the programmes don't work) and make sure I can get drivers for all my peripherals.

luzy9090

Windowns 7 is far way better. I have 10 on one of my computers and regret for the downloaded.

S0litaire

Upgraded from Win7 to Win 10 with no problems.

I did wipe and reinstall Win 10 a few weeks later, only because I was changing around disks and upgrades always leave a lot of Crud in the system.

A fresh install is usually the best way to go.

I'm also using the "insiders preview" option where you get to beta test the more stable builds (currently on SR1 build it's got a few nice visual tweaks)

snaver

Thank you all, really useful! How long does the actual upgrade take to perform/download please?

S0litaire

It can take a while.
Can take around an hour or more to upgrade.

The download will depend on your internet speed, but you should already have it downloaded.

wongataa

snaver wrote: »

Thank you all, really useful! How long does the actual upgrade take to perform/download please?

The download time will depend on your internet speed. In my experience the actual upgrade takes around half an hour.

You can always download the installer from MS at any time and create an install DVD/USB stick and use that to upgrade so you don't have to download and upgrade at the same time.