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Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10

strep3241

strep3241

Senior member
I am currently running Windows 7 and have been thinking about upgrading to Windows 10 since it is free. What are the pros and cons of upgrading to windows 10? A few people I have talked said 10 ran slower than 7 or 8. I was under the impression that it would be faster. Some have also said there could be hardware compatibility issues.

If I do upgrade to 10, would it be better to do a clean install of 10? Would I need to upgrade first before I can do a clean install of 10?

If I do choose to keep Windows 7, any idea how long microsoft will continue to support 7?

I do have a windows 7 cd to do a clean install of 7 if I don't like 10.

I am running an i7-920, 6gb's DDR3 ram, ATI HD 5870 card and 180gb SSD.
 
The only technical reason to go to w10 is for direct x 12. I would upgrade to w10 process just to lock in your upgrade. Then go back to w7 lol.
 
This sheet may interest you:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

Some things I like about 10:
- According to MS, the license will last as long as your hardware meets the specs of the current build. So an upgrade today would last you at least through 2025 (the cutoff for 7 is 2020).
- Windows 10 uses a different type of activation than any previous version. So if you don't like it, it still won't affect your Windows 7 license.
- It takes up less space than Windows 7. At least it appears to. After Windows Vista and 7, MS realized that the NTFS file system wouldn't be going away any time soon, so they have adjusted the hard links in the winsxs folder. Does this make it smaller? No. But it looks smaller to the NTFS file system, which, in all practicality, is all that really matters.
- Speed. I don't notice a difference. It may not be faster than 7, but it sure isn't slower.
- Reset. This was a really good idea that actually goes back to 8. You can reset your Windows installation, without losing any of your data (or you can let it wipe the drive, up to you).

I would recommend doing the upgrade first. See how you like it. Some people say a clean install runs better, but I personally can't tell a difference.
 
Ketchup said:
I would recommend doing the upgrade first. See how you like it. Some people say a clean install runs better, but I personally can't tell a difference.
Click to expand...

I think it depends what you have on the source OS and how old the installs are. I haven't noticed any issue in the 3 machines I have upgraded, but I keep my systems very clean without any 3rd party add-ons.
 
Ketchup said:
I would recommend doing the upgrade first
Click to expand...


One has to UPGRADE first to get the OS for free, so there's no fresh install until after that happens. And you don't lose your other licenses, that would be a doozy lol because then it would no longer be free.
 
thesmokingman said:
One has to UPGRADE first to get the OS for free, so there's no fresh install until after that happens. And you don't lose your other licenses, that would be a doozy lol because then it would no longer be free.
Click to expand...
Not since TH2, the installer will accept and activate with 7 and 8 keys (legit anyway). There has also been the genuineticket method for even longer and which I did for my Dell computer at work. I wasn't about to be doing no stinking upgrade, I have seen too many get screwed up or remain slower than 7 ever was. Clean installs are a must if possible.
 
Oh I did not know that about the new build. Thanks for pointing that out. Btw, the upgrade is pretty painless and you can choose the option to keep nothing, then use the cleaning option of deleting old files. That said, I might go back to 8.1 just the WMC for htpc duty. The wife has been bugging that she misses the interface.
 
Dumb question, what is TH2?

I will probably upgrade to 10 and see if I like it. If I don't, I will do a clean install of 7, probably about time for a clean install anyways.
 
memory said:
Dumb question, what is TH2?
Click to expand...

Nothing you need to worry about. If you run the update from within Windows, or download the media creation tool, it's the version you will get (or newer).

I will probably upgrade to 10 and see if I like it. If I don't, I will do a clean install of 7, probably about time for a clean install anyways.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan (aka "you think the way I think" on this).
 
I guess it would be a good idea to create a Windows 10 installation disk once I do the upgrade. But let's say I go back to 7 and keep 7 for several more years, would I still be able to use that windows 10 installation disk to do a clean install of 10?
 
memory said:
I guess it would be a good idea to create a Windows 10 installation disk once I do the upgrade. But let's say I go back to 7 and keep 7 for several more years, would I still be able to use that windows 10 installation disk to do a clean install of 10?
Click to expand...

Yes, so long as the hardware doesn't change. A Windows 10 installation will take it's own snapshot of your system, and will always be able to activate on that configuration. You don't even need to enter a key. The key would be to do the initial upgrade before the free trial runs out, and do not make a hardware change between first activation and actual use.
 
I just did the upgrade and so far I have nothing against it. In fact, there is an MMO flash game that I play and it seems much faster on Windows 10 and this is not on a clean install. Of course, I don't have much seat time on it

Will Office 2010 work with Windows 10? I am using 2013.
 
memory said:
Dumb question, what is TH2?
Click to expand...

It stands for Threshold 2 and is basically a major version number (as opposed to more minor updates).

I believe it's like how Windows 8.1 released major updates from time to time and I think is still currently at 8.1 Update 3. I'm not sure how direct a comparison can be made since W10's update model is inherently different but the concept should be similar.
 
memory said:
I just did the upgrade and so far I have nothing against it. In fact, there is an MMO flash game that I play and it seems much faster on Windows 10 and this is not on a clean install. Of course, I don't have much seat time on it

Will Office 2010 work with Windows 10? I am using 2013.
Click to expand...

Office 2010 works, but if you already have 13 I see no reason to use it. If you have Office 365, now is the time to move on to 16.

Windows 10 performs better than 7 in many cases. Most of the reasons people have given you not to upgrade are missing the boat. Windows 10 is the superior OS, it is more secure and is being updated as we speak.
 
I used Win 8 with Classic Shell for a machine that's almost two years old because I had no more copies of Win 7. I'll wait for the next hardware replacement before I have to use Win 10 or something else.
 
I am having a little issue with my 5.1 speaker setup. Not sure if this is related to upgrading to windows 10 but I can't get sound to come out of all speakers, only 2 of them. After I did the windows 10 upgrade, I reinstalled the new sound card driver.

I am using a sound blaster x-fi xtremegamer card with logitech x-530 speakers. I have been going through the settings and can't figure out how to get it too work. It is set on 5.1 speakers and when I do the sound test, every speaker works.

Unless something is different with windows 10, I had this working before with windows 7. But can't seem to get it to work now.
 
I am sure there is someone out there with one of these cards running Windows 10. I can only suggest that you get the latest driver from Creative (dated 1/21/16) and make sure the Windows Sound configuration for your card is set appropriately.
 
Yes the driver I installed is dated 1-21-16. As far as I know, all the settings for the sound card are correct.

Found something that seems odd to me. When playing music through youtube using chrome, sound only comes from front 2 speakers. When I play a music file through WMP that is stored on my computer, sound only comes from the 2 rear speakers.

Maybe I should create a new thread for this.
 
It is likely some weird audio virtualization stuff. When I set up 4.1 at first (I have an old Z560 set) the audio sounded downright awful. There was a weird Dolby digital plus thing in the audio controls that make it totally useless. Not sure the purpose of that, but turning it off made the audio normal again.
 
Of course stereo music should only come from the the front 2 speakers without any processing. Windows Speaker Setup is seperate from Audio Control Panel where each Mode has its own settings and levels. Likewise, players (or filters) and hardware may have their own effects settings. So generally they all must be disabled as a starting point at least.
 
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