Elixer
Lifer
I know some people still have reservations about Windows 10, but it is definitely worth going through the process of doing an upgrade to windows 10.
You DO NOT have to use windows 10 right away, you just need to activate it, then you can go back to using your old OS if you want.
The new Windows 10 anniversary edition does indeed fix many issues that were wrong or just plain awkward with the original release of windows 10.
The easiest way to keep your old OS, and get the upgrade to windows 10 is to clone your old OS drive/partition using Macurim Reflect, Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Clone or one of the many other free (or free trial) clone software.
Then do the in-place upgrade just to activate windows 10, and then once you see your version of windows is activated, you can take the clone image you made before the upgrade process, and just restore that.
Personally, I do NOT recommend doing upgrades this way if you will keep using windows 10.
I much rather do a clean install, so you can be sure nothing from the old OS conflicts with the new one.
Since you already made the clone of the old OS partition/drive, all that is required here is to download the ISO image and 'burn' that to a flash drive either using MS's media creator, or something like Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie/), then install the OS that way.
Here is a pictorial of that process: http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/windows-10-create-install-media-or-download-iso-microsoft
There is a 3rd option possible, that involves dual booting (which means, at boot time, you can pick what OS you want to boot into, they are both on your storage drive), and if people are looking at this option, I can explain a bit more if this is requested.
You will need your old win 7 or 8 or 8.1 key to make this work, and activate windows.
Whichever way you install windows 10, be sure it is activated!
NOTE: if you still don't want to install windows 10, that is fine, this thread isn't for you, there is no use telling people you will not be doing this. There are other threads for that.
You can get the ISO or media creation from this link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
You DO NOT have to use windows 10 right away, you just need to activate it, then you can go back to using your old OS if you want.
The new Windows 10 anniversary edition does indeed fix many issues that were wrong or just plain awkward with the original release of windows 10.
The easiest way to keep your old OS, and get the upgrade to windows 10 is to clone your old OS drive/partition using Macurim Reflect, Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Clone or one of the many other free (or free trial) clone software.
Then do the in-place upgrade just to activate windows 10, and then once you see your version of windows is activated, you can take the clone image you made before the upgrade process, and just restore that.
Personally, I do NOT recommend doing upgrades this way if you will keep using windows 10.
I much rather do a clean install, so you can be sure nothing from the old OS conflicts with the new one.
Since you already made the clone of the old OS partition/drive, all that is required here is to download the ISO image and 'burn' that to a flash drive either using MS's media creator, or something like Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie/), then install the OS that way.
Here is a pictorial of that process: http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/windows-10-create-install-media-or-download-iso-microsoft
There is a 3rd option possible, that involves dual booting (which means, at boot time, you can pick what OS you want to boot into, they are both on your storage drive), and if people are looking at this option, I can explain a bit more if this is requested.
You will need your old win 7 or 8 or 8.1 key to make this work, and activate windows.
Whichever way you install windows 10, be sure it is activated!
NOTE: if you still don't want to install windows 10, that is fine, this thread isn't for you, there is no use telling people you will not be doing this. There are other threads for that.
You can get the ISO or media creation from this link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
