Windows 10 Problems upgrading from Windows 7

Hi luke;
sorry to hear about this problem for you. What program did you use to create your Image backup of your previous windows version (was it Win7?). It sounds to me like you may have used Microsoft's built-in Image backup program which is known not to work!! I've actually written volumes about this on multiple Tech forums during the last 4 or 5 years. The real lesson here is, do not trust the Microsoft provided Image backup program, and more importantly, you should never ever have only 1 backup location external to your computer itself. In the IT world we have a guideline called the "Grandfather Principle" which states you should never have less than 3 backups; 2 of those backups on external media outside of your computer, and 1 of those at least 5 miles physically away from your home or apartment (a Cloud backup would suffice for this one). Unfortunately, most home W10 users are not aware of this requirement even though I've been preaching this to students in my classes and my Clients for over 20 years and the word has just not gotten out there to everyone.

I don't believe Microsoft will lose any sleep over losing you due to your data loss, but, I could tell you that even if you intend to keep on running W7, you should follow the above guidelines and keep at least 3 backups of that W7 system. Continuing to use the W7 and telling MS to shove it are non-mutually productive. In the meantime, you should consider using one of these 3 following Image backups which we have thoroughly tested with Win7/8x/10:

1.) MACRIUM REFLECT: FREE
2.) ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE: FREE
3.) EASEToDo: FREE

I also recommend making frequent backups onto a couple of flash drives of your most critical daily you use on a daily basis; as these are inexpensive; under $15 US each, and use copy and paste on the files/folders you need most and stick these in a drawer nearby your computer. Make daily backups of your critical data onto these 2 flash drives, no less frequently than weekly and if you suffer another catastrophic event you have the ability to immediately recover at least some of your critical data you use often right away with no delay trying to figure out how to use the backup program to restore your data.

Lastly, it's vital that you create a "RESCUE MEDIA" for your existing W7 setup either on DVD/CD or USB stick and to boot it and test that it actually works. The new version of Macrium v6.1.1311 now has the ability to create a modified boot menu that let's you restore your backup image from an external drive without needing your Rescue Media (DVD/CD or USB stick). A very cool feature. I've installed this on several of my W10 machines here and tested it to work perfectly. However, this won't help if your hard drive crashes so it's a very good idea to make one anyway.

Food for thought.

Best,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>