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Upgrade from Vista to windows 10 and have some questions

Kneedragger

Kneedragger

Golden Member
So my Mother in Laws laptop is a POS and needs a fresh install of an OS. Its probably over 6 years old... She has the option to upgrade to Windows 10 with the usual pop ups but I'm afraid of letting it update and failing with a blue screen. I don't have any Vista install disk and this is one of those HP laptops where you don't get copies of the OS.

So I know if Windows 10 update works I can do a factor reset and get a clean install, but what about if it fails what are my options?

I wish I can just make a install disk for Windows 10 and be done..

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
I'd make an image of the existing Vista installation so I always had something to fall back on.

Windows 10 supposedly will allow you to revert to the previous installation for 30 days, but I wouldn't fully rely on that. Even if it works, you'd be out of luck after 30 days.

I'd imagine there is some way to root around on the Internet and find a Vista ISO that you could install from, but I've never searched for it.
 
Did her laptop come with recovery disks?

Also check out the manufacturer's site for information about Windows 10 support and driver availability. Chances are Windows will detect and install the right drivers for most everything but some laptops require specific bluetooth or networking drivers, for example, and you might end up with a non-functioning component. That's what happened with a very old Thinkpad of mine. There are no bluetooth drivers for it. And there never will be.
 
Kneedragger said:
She has the option to upgrade to Windows 10 with the usual pop ups
Click to expand...
Interesting, I am not getting any Windows 10 popups on my Vista system, I don't use IE though.

Image your system first, just in case, as it's been suggested ^.

But definitely give W10 a go, it might just work fine.

Kneedragger said:
I wish I can just make a install disk for Windows 10 and be done..
Click to expand...
Use this.
 
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Magic Carpet said:
Interesting, I am not getting Windows 10 popups with my Vista system.

Image your system first, just in case, as it's been suggested ^.

But definitely give W10 a go, it might just work fine.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. There is no upgrade path from Vista. It is not a free upgrade. The upgrade offer extends ONLY to Windows 7 or 8.1 machines. It looks like this might actually be a malicious popup of some kind if a Vista machine is getting the upgrade offer message on screen. Look into this more closely.
 
Yeah, it could be malware. Just checked => definitely not getting any popups or free offers with IE, either. Only paid option available for Vista.
 
Yeah. AFAIK, unless MS's stance has changed just recently (unlikely), that Vista does NOT have a free upgrade option to Windows 10.

I second or third the "could be malware" idea.
 
ignatzatsonic said:
I'd make an image of the existing Vista installation so I always had something to fall back on.

Windows 10 supposedly will allow you to revert to the previous installation for 30 days, but I wouldn't fully rely on that. Even if it works, you'd be out of luck after 30 days.

I'd imagine there is some way to root around on the Internet and find a Vista ISO that you could install from, but I've never searched for it.
Click to expand...
I will try and do this for sure. Thanks
 
nerp said:
Did her laptop come with recovery disks?

Also check out the manufacturer's site for information about Windows 10 support and driver availability. Chances are Windows will detect and install the right drivers for most everything but some laptops require specific bluetooth or networking drivers, for example, and you might end up with a non-functioning component. That's what happened with a very old Thinkpad of mine. There are no bluetooth drivers for it. And there never will be.
Click to expand...
Yeah I will look into this when I get my hands on the laptop. Hopefully the WiFi works with minimal tinkering.

If the laptop came with recovery disc I doubt she still has them. I will ask though.

Sent from my E5306 using Tapatalk
 
nerp said:
Excellent point. There is no upgrade path from Vista. It is not a free upgrade. The upgrade offer extends ONLY to Windows 7 or 8.1 machines. It looks like this might actually be a malicious popup of some kind if a Vista machine is getting the upgrade offer message on screen. Look into this more closely.
Click to expand...
Oh crap didn't even think about it. Haha yes I will be digging into this to see what it really is. Will post pictures later this week.

Sent from my E5306 using Tapatalk
 
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Well I got lucky with her laptop. I thought it was Vista but it was actually Win 7 service pack 1. Also the Windows sticker with the key was still clear and visible. Backed up everything in two different places and installed a fresh copy of Win 7. Pushed the Win 10 update and everything is up to date and running.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
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