Windows 7 Microsoft Planning to Push Out End of Support Notifications

[Neemobeer]

Starting next month Microsoft is planning to push out notifications to Windows 7 users regarding support ending in January 2020. They will likely be similar to those pushed out for Windows XP. Working in IT these are always annoying because they generate unnecessary support calls.

Windows 7 to show notifications about upcoming support end - gHacks Tech News

 

[nmsuk]

About time. Just kill it already.

 

[Rich73Kelly]

My other (the wife's) machine is Win 7. Got it before I got this one, which was 7 upgraded to 10 Pro .... How much pain will it be to upgrade it to 10? I hear, a lot of people doing this. How much memory is sufficient for 10? I have 8gb in mine and that is the max the motherboard is built for.

 

[nmsuk]

8gb will be absolutely fine for windows 10 Pro.

 

[Rich73Kelly]

nmsuk, You misunderstood what I was saying, mentioning two different machines ... But, all the same, The wife's computer is the one needing the 7 to 10 upgrade ... It has 7gb of RAM and currently has Win 7 Pro installed.
It has an Intel i5-2400 [email protected]. It is a 64-bit OS with an activated Product ID. I could upgrade it to 8gb of RAM but, would need to go shopping.
Here are a few questions I currently have concerning this ...
Does Micro$oft still offer their free Win 10 upgrade?
Would it be a Win Pro upgrade or, just to Home?
Would I need to save all the stuff I have stored and don't want to lose? I am assuming 500gb is enough hard drive space. She doesn't do much file saving.
And again, how much of a pain is the transfer for a novice to intermediate user ???

 

[Neemobeer]

Microsoft doesn't offer a free upgrade anymore, but any Windows 7 licenses that were activated were all converted to Windows 10 licenses by Microsoft, so yes you should have no problem upgrading to Windows 10. What may happen is after installing Windows 10 is it may show as home. Simply re-enter the Windows 7 pro product key and it will install the pro components and reboot.

 

[Rich73Kelly]

I never received an answer to the lingering question of how much of a hassle is the 7 to 10 transition going to be? Will everything remain or do I need to back up all my files? What do I need to save and what will survive the change? This is the biggest worry I have. I don't want the machine ending up useless.

 

[Neemobeer]

You can do an upgrade which will keep all of your data and programs intact which is literally selecting the upgrade option in the Windows 10 installer (fairly intuitive). I've always been partial to doing a clean install (format the drive and install fresh) as this ensures everything is working properly as opposed to carrying over some hidden malware or corrupt data. With the latter you'd need to backup your data and re-install programs.

 

[Rich73Kelly]

Just to update, close this discussion and maybe give others a "heads up" ... In trying to do the 7 to 10 upgrade, I learned if your windows 7 version is dated before, I believe April of 2013, it is not available for the upgrade. So, I guess we'll again be shopping for a different computer. I seriously hope micro$oft continues support for windows 10 for years to come.

 

[Neemobeer]

You can still download the Windows 10 ISO and run the install and it will accept your Windows 7 product license

 

[HeyArchit]

Microsoft is planning to push notifications to Windows 7 users warning them about the upcoming end of support.
The software maker will stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14th, 2020,
..and it will start warning consumers about this cutoff date next month.
Microsoft’s end of support date means that Windows 7 and Office 2010 will no longer receive security updates
...and the company wants consumers to upgrade to Windows 10 PCs and Office 365.

 

[Fenway16]

The notification states that the best option for the win10 biz, is to buy a new machine with 10 installed rather than installing on an older machine. I have a Dell all-in-one that I would like to keep and can't really afford another new machine. Granted, it is rather ancient but still runs pretty good. Will I be able to install win10 on this old machine and have the 7 prod key honored? Or should I leave 7 on like so many XPers have done for years. I am hesitant to do so but I like many others still like 7. Thanks

 

[Neemobeer]

All existing Windows 7 keys will work on Windows 10

 

[Fenway16]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Rich73Kelly]

Alright, I have to say, I am impressed with myself! I installed Win 10 on my wife's Win 7 computer without a hitch! I waited a bit to post here just to be sure everything went smoothly. So far, so good.
I did some research here in the Windows Forums. In the "Windows 10 Upgrade and Installation" Forum, there is a thread titled "Getting Windows 10 for an Older Build". In that thread, livix07 provided a link titled "Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File)". The link requires you to first download the Media Creation Tool. I did this and somehow read, I had to have either a new clean DVD or USB zip drive for the download. So, I had a new Zip drive plugged in. Turns out, if you are on the computer, you are upgrading, you can start the upgrade right then. There is no need for the external media.
I found, the key to success is patience. I did it later at night, assuming it was going to take some time. It did ... a couple hours later, I had Win 10 on her computer. Nothing (old files and programs) was lost, everything (so far) still works. Just had to take the time to do a few checks for updates in "Windows Update" and get it all up to speed.