Windows 7 will stop receiving support in 2020: how to switch to windows 10

Windows 7 was one of the best operating systems Microsoft released after the Windows Vista fiasco. We know that many of you have your equipment running on this operating system. Therefore, we believe that it is a good time to switch to Windows 10. If you want to know how, below we tell you how to do it.

Index of contents

End of Windows 7 support

On January 14, 2020 Windows 7 will stop receiving support, so those who have installed this OS will not receive any more updates. Therefore, it is time to switch to Windows 10, a highly polished, current software that works perfectly.

On the one hand, you can continue using Windows 7, although it is not recommended. You have to keep in mind that updating to Windows 8.1 is not an option because its support will end in 2023. So you have these options:

Ignore the end of support and continue with Windows 7. Buy Windows 10 and install it. Update for free. Buy a new PC with Windows 10 and pass all your old data.

Our advice is that you do one of the last 3 options because staying with Windows 7 means giving up security. Remember that Windows updates are usually security patches.

Do I install Windows 10 on top? Formatting?

The eternal dilemma. We recommend a clean installation at all times, be it Windows 10, OS X or Linux. It is best to format and install. Therefore, it is usually recommended to have an external hard drive to pass the old data to. However, I have occasionally installed on top and nothing strange has happened.

Do I or do I have to buy the software?

In principle, no. You can buy a Windows 10 license online at a good price or do it in an original way on the Microsoft page. Depending on the version, it costs more or less.

However, you can install Windows 10 without paying anything, by downloading it from the same website.

How can I upgrade to Windows 10 for free?

It is very simple. Follow the simple steps that we propose below and you will update your equipment satisfactorily.

Installation on top of Windows 7

We simply downloaded the Windows tool. As a precaution, save all important data you have on an external hard drive or on a Pendrive. In this way, we will not lose them, although that does not have to happen.

At this point, we proceed to do the following.

We will let you download Windows because we will install it later. After completing the entire installation, you will see that all the files we had in Windows 7 have not been lost. In fact, all the program installations will be found in a folder called " Windows.old " that will be at the root of our hard drive, normally. Once installed, we recommend removing it.

Clean installation

We will install Windows 10 on a USB to make it bootable , that is, that the motherboard detects it as a Windows installation disk.

IMPORTANT: you will need a minimum 8 GB Pendrive and a valid Windows 7 license.

First of all, take an external hard drive or a Pendrive and pass the most important data that you do not want to be lost after installation. If you want to install on it, it will not be necessary. Second, we will need an external hard drive or a Pendrive with at least 8 GB of memory. This done, you go to the Microsoft website.

You download the tool. You start it, it will take a while to load and you start clicking next. You choose " Create Installation Media " in USB, etc. Then you can configure the Windows you want, although by default it detects the equipment you have and you does an automatic setup. We remember that if your system is very old or has few features (less than 4GB of ram or the same), it may be better to install Windows 32 bits. You can modify the edition of Windows that you want.

WE RECOMMEND A patch to fix a bug causes more bugs in Windows 7

Click Next and it will start downloading Windows 10. Once finished, you have to do the following. We restart the PC and we will access the BIOS of our motherboard to change the boot , so that the motherboard gives priority to our Pendrive. Once that is done, we will begin to install Windows. When the time comes to choose between "Installation fast ”or“ Custom installation ”we choose the latter. Give it next until your hard drives come out. Choose the hard disk on which Windows 7 is installed and click " format ". Formatted, you select it to install Windows 10. Probably, after finishing the installation, you will have to enter the BIOS again to change the boot boot from the Pendrive to the hard disk.

Buy a Windows 10 computer

This option is the simplest, fastest and most expensive because we will have to buy a computer that comes with this operating system. It is true that some do not want tutorials, or go crazy to install Windows 10. On the other hand, it is not so difficult to do it and we will save a lot of money, if our equipment is good.

I only recommend doing this, if your computer is very old and you need a new computer.

So far this tutorial. I hope it has helped you and that you have understood everything. If you have any questions, let us know below.

We recommend reading our guides and tucos about Windows 10

Do you install on top or cleanly? What experiences have you had with Windows installations?

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