Installing Windows 10 - Version and installation info
Although Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 in January 2020, not all Windows users have installed the latest Windows 10 operating system. One month after the end of support, about a quarter of all computers worldwide were still using Windows 7 as their operating system. Using this Windows 7 instead of the new Windows 10 is a security risk for every user that should not be underestimated. It is easy to bring your computer up to date with a Windows 10 upgrade. Until a few months ago, Windows users could download Windows 10 free of charge. This offer from Windows has now expired – now you have to buy Windows 10 to get the licence key. There are several ways to install Windows 10. Windows 10 as a download can be installed like an update. Alternatively, you can download a Windows 10 iso file and install it from there. We present which variant is the right one for you in this blog article.
Windows 10 as an update
Installing Windows 10 as an update is particularly easy for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. With these two operating systems, the Windows 10 upgrade can be installed almost like a normal update. If you choose this option, Windows will automatically offer to install the corresponding Windows 10 version. There are differences between the upgrades. Depending on the installed version, you will receive a corresponding Windows 10 version. This can be seen in the following table:
After entering the Windows 10 key, the installation programme takes over the installation almost completely independently and retains most of the system settings, passwords, bookmarks, preferences and already installed programmes should continue to work after the update. With this variant, the Windows 7 or 8.1 user must click on the small icon for the Windows 10 Update in their taskbar. The computer then starts the Windows 10 download automatically. The installation of Windows 10 is then almost completely automatic, the user only has to enter the Windows 10 key and some preferences during the installation. Although experience has shown that this form of installing Windows 10 runs completely smoothly, it is still advisable to back up your own files, such as documents, photos and music, on an external data carrier before the upgrade.
Re-installing the system with Windows 10
Those who do not want to keep their old system as much as possible can also rebuild the system. Before the installation, all important files should be backed up again! After the Windows 10 update, users can then select the item „Recovery“ and „PC“ via the system settings in the submenu “ Update and Security„. A complete reinstallation of the system can be carried out here. Alternatively, the system can also be deleted manually and the new operating system installed with a Windows 10 iso file. To do this, the file must be downloaded from Microsoft using the Media Creation Tool. This Windows 10 iso file must then be installed on an external data carrier, via which the installation runs after the system has been deleted. This method is also suitable for installing Windows 10 on a PC that was not used to download Windows 10.
Windows 10 as a second operating system on a computer
Those who want to keep their old operating system can buy Windows 10 and also install it as a second operating system. For example, the old Windows 7 installation can still be used offline, while Windows 10 serves for all online tasks. Users who still often have to fall back on older programmes that are not compatible with Windows 10 should opt for this variant. To do this, a second hard disk partition must first be created for Windows 10. With Windows 7, this can be done via the disk management. For Windows 10, the „NTFS“ format must be used for the new partition! For this installation, Windows 10 must be downloaded via the Media Creation Tool. Here, the option „Create installation medium for other PC“ is selected. The installation on a partition other than drive C: works best via a Windows 10 iso installed via an external data medium. During the setup of the installation, the option „Custom“ must be selected so that the installation path itself can be selected. Otherwise Windows 10 would automatically install itself on drive C:. The following Windows 10 versions are available from us:
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