Today We will be showing you How to upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 free of cost? As well as We will share free yet legal methods to activate Windows 10.
We are making this tutorial on a Windows 7 PC but You can follow this video on a Windows 8 or Windows 10 powered device.
Can You Still Upgrade To Windows 10 For Free After 2020?
Windows 7 or Windows 8 product key can still be used to activate Windows 10. This activation method works both ways. You can activate your copy of Windows 10 during or after installation.
One of the best benefits of this method is that It takes less time than Windows 10 upgrade assistant or Media Creation Tool. Activation process normally takes 1 to 3 minutes. Clean installation takes 15 to 30 minutes.
You just need to make sure that the product key, You are going to use, is genuine and not blacklisted by Microsoft.
Correct Windows 10 Edition
Before You download or buy a Windows 10 installation DVD, The only thing You need to take into account is that Make sure Your Windows 7 or 8 product key match Windows 10 version You’ve installed or going to install. For an example, Use Windows 7 or 8 Pro product key to activate Windows 10 Pro.
Requirements
We highly recommend to clean install Windows 10 on a SSD hard drive. Otherwise You may experience plenty of speed and performance issues.
You need a USB flash with 8GB of size. Though You can use a DVD but USB flash is a better option.
We are not going to use Windows Media Creation Tool for upgrade process. Windows 10 Media Creation Tool takes too long to complete the installation.
Alternatively We will be using Windows ISO Downloader to download Windows 10 and Rufus to create a bootable installation USB flash. You may skip downloading and USB creation part If You have Windows 10 installation DVD.
Recommended – How To Upgrade From Windows 7 To Windows 10 Via Media Creation Tool
We suggest to download Windows 10 in your spare time If you use a slow and unreliable internet connection. As well as Do not download If you use an internet connection with limited bandwidth.
Preparations Before Clean Install Windows
Do not perform a clean installation without proper planning and preparations. You need to do three very critical things before clean install Windows.
Make sure You have enough free disk space. Windows 10 requires over 20GB of free disk space. 30GB is recommended.
Windows clean installation formats drive C or any other partition Where Windows is already installed. This is why, It’s very important to backup or move important files from drive C to any other drive or external storage device.
You have two options If your PC has only one partition and You have stored all your data in it along with Windows files and You don’t want Windows installation formats or deletes all data.
Install Windows 10 without format. This way Your data will not be deleted. You can delete files of previous installation via Windows Disk Cleanup utility after Windows 10 installation completes. Your data will still be safe.
Before clean install Windows, If you don’t have the driver DVD then Download and save all device drivers specifically WiFi, Ethernet and VGA drivers.
If You use paid programs then Don’t forget to note down keys before clean install Windows. You can use any Windows key finder software to extract serial, registration or license keys from Windows.
How To Download Windows 10?
Visit Heidoc to download Windows ISO Download Tool.
After download completes, Open up Windows ISO Download Tool.
Tick mark Windows 10.
Select your desired Windows 10 edition and click Confirm. We’ll choose Windows 10 Pro.
Choose Your preferred language and confirm.
Click to download according to your system type. We’ll download 64Bit version.
How To Make Windows 10 Bootable Installation USB Flash?
After Windows 10 download completes, Download Rufus or any other bootable USB creator from here.
Before proceeding any further, It’s better to move data of USB flash to local hard drive or any other storage device. This process will format or wipe out all data.
Plug in USB flash drive into any available USB port and then Open up Rufus after download.
Click Select button to locate Windows 10 ISO image We’ve downloaded earlier.
Switch Partition Scheme from GPT to MBR.
You may give it a name If You like. Otherwise leave rest of things default and click Start to begin the process of creating bootable installation USB.
Click OK to let Rufus format USB flash.
It normally takes 7 to 15 minutes depending on transfer speed of hard drive and USB.
The installation bootable USB is now ready to use. Let’s move to the next step.
How To Boot USB Flash?
Before You restart to kick start the installation, Kindly find out which keyboard button opens the Boot Menu. You can use Google for this purpose.
Boot menu may look different in your PC or laptop brand or model. The main purpose to go into Boot menu is booting USB flash We’ve created for installation.
Boot USB.
How To Clean Windows 10 To Upgrade/Simple Installation?
Press Space or any other key to begin installation.
Installation
Choose your preferred language and other things and click Next.
Click Install now.
Type in Windows 7 or Windows 8 product key and click Next button. You may skip this step by clicking on I don’t have a product key. You can activate your copy of Windows 10 after installation completes.
Click on I don’t have a product key.
Highlight your preferred Windows 10 edition
Click next
Check mark I accept the license terms and click Next.
Click on the first option, If you don’t want to format Drive C. Afterwards, You will be able to delete files of previously installed Windows.
You can go for the second option If you have done backup or transfer your data from drive C or any other drive where Windows is installed, to another partition or storage device such as USB, memory card, external hard drive and other external storage devices.
Click on second option for next step.
Here you have to be extra vigilant. Your one wrong click could delete all data from other partitions.
Highlight Drive C or any other partition Where you want to install Windows 10. We would like to recommend to make sure You highlight the correct partition. Before you click Next, Please recheck.
We are going to install on Drive C. Click format.
Click OK to confirm.
The format is complete. Click Next for final step. This step takes 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the system and hard drive speed.
Installation is almost complete, Now installation process will set things up. It may take 1 to 5 minutes.
You now need to make your preferred settings.
How To Activate Windows 10 After Installation With Windows 8/Windows 7 Product Key?
Windows 7 or Windows 8 product key can also be used for Windows 10 activation If You’ve already installed Windows 10.
Open up Settings app.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Activation.
Click Change Product Key.
Copy paste or Type in Windows 7 or 8 product key and Click Next.
Click Activate. It will activate If product key is genuine and not blacklisted.
Activation is complete. Your copy of Windows 10 is now activated and genuine.
Final Words
Team Soft Suggester & Simple Tutorials hope You find this video informative and helpful.
Ask Team Simple Tutorials via the comment section for any explanation and help If We could not explain anything properly. The comment section can also be used for questions, feedback and suggestions.
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