Transitioning to Windows 10
Transitioning to Windows 10
Hello, I recently purchased a Windows 10 license and often delay upgrading due to my tendency to worry about potential issues. Here are my thoughts before making the switch from Windows 7:
First, the Windows 7 installation is likely more than five years old and may be nearing its end of support. Upgrading to Windows 10 could refresh the system, but would that require a full reinstall?
Second, during the upgrade process, I need to confirm what remains. Would my Steam library and all games still be intact across three drives? When I tried installing on a USB stick, the system incorrectly selected Windows 10 Pro even though I had Windows 10 Home selected as my key. Should I adjust this before proceeding?
Overall, I’m concerned about possible complications and want to ensure a smooth transition.
Optimal approach for a fresh install on a formatted drive, along with reinstalling Steam and Office, and other updates. It’s worth noting that five years is a considerable amount of time for an operating system to accumulate file problems and slow down. I personally perform annual OS refreshes. The Home/Pro folder files remain consistent, and the key dictates which features are accessible. Someone might challenge my understanding, but I believe this reflects standard practice.
I used to reinstall quite often, but then I stopped and now I'm anxious about doing it again. I'm afraid I might lose everything if I forget to back up, and they could be gone forever. It seems like it's my responsibility because each time I skipped reinstalling, another year of memories risked being lost when I finally do it. I was thinking about moving all my photos and documents to the D drive and installing Windows 10 on the C drive fresh. I planned to go through the update process, hoping it would fix everything. But if the update isn't enough, is there a way to reinstall Windows 10 on its own? I don’t think just updating would be sufficient, aside from the mouse issue. Also, a quick note: if I download Chrome and log in with my Google account, it should restore everything properly, provided the settings are correct.
Installation should display several Windows 10 options since multiple series exist. You cannot apply the Home key for Windows 10 Pro.
It wasn't available to me, I executed the .exe and it proceeded with updates. It then prompted whether you wanted to retain everything during an upgrade or start fresh, and I selected keep. It mentioned I opted to keep everything but upgraded to Pro; however, I didn't confirm that choice. I questioned whether the decision was influenced by my Windows 7 Ultimate version.
That is because you did an upgrade. A clean install involves booting from USB flash drive with Windows setup files (Microsoft's very own Media Creation Tool does this, and get you started with the latest version of Windows 10) or Windows disk/usb flash drive that comes with the purchased license. You cannot downgrade an edition of Windows to another. Here is the Upgrade paths chart: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...rade-paths Windows 7 Home can be upgraded to Windows 10 Home or Pro Windows 7 Pro can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro only Windows 7 Ultimate can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro only If you want to downgrade an edition, for example: Windows 7 Pro down to Windows 10 Home, you'll need to clean install.
That's frustrating. The safest approach would be to store your files on the D drive and then install Windows normally on the C drive. Regarding your Steam games, they should remain intact unless you delete them through Steam before installing Windows. Once on Windows 10, the system should recognize the games from the D and E drives and count them accordingly.
Windows installs only the effects you select to install. You can arrange and format other drives in the installer if needed. You might also disconnect drives during installation to avoid accidental clicks. If Windows finds an existing install on the drive you chose (like when it wasn<|pad|>, didn’t format), it will ask whether you want to retain old files. Those will be moved to the windows.old folder. You can retrieve all Steam and Origin games you already own by simply installing client software (including GOG and Blizzard titles, though I’m not familiar with Uplay). Most programs let you re-enter settings and config files as usual.