Today is the day that the free upgrades to Windows 10 begin! I thought I’d go over some of the major points about this update. I’ve answered these questions before, but folks keep asking them. So let’s hit the high points.
Who gets the free upgrade? Users of Windows 7 Home, Windows 7 Pro, Windows 8 and 8.1 Home, Windows 8 and 8.1 Pro are entitled to a free upgrade. Windows 8 will have to be upgraded to 8.1 before you can download the upgrade, but that upgrade is also free.
How long do I have to upgrade? You have a year to download the upgrade for free. That means as long as you make the upgrade between now and July 29, 2016 – it’s free.
Will I have to pay for it after a period of time? No. Your upgraded license remains free – there’s no gotcha in there.
I haven’t gotten my upgrade options yet, what do I do? It could be because your computer isn’t up-to-date. Make sure you have SP 1 installed plus your other updates for Windows 7 and that your Windows 8 machine has been upgraded to 8.1 and received all of the 8.1 updates. This could take some time. Microsoft is slowly rolling out the upgrades, not everyone can upgrade today. So, it could be a couple of weeks.
Can I keep my Windows 7 or 8 and also install the free upgrade? What you’re getting here is an upgrade to your Windows 7 or 8 license, not a second license. If you want want Windows 10 in addition to the version of Windows you’re already running, you’ll have to purchase it. It also means you can’t install your previous Windows 7 or 8 license on another computer after you upgrade to 10 on your PC.
Can I go back to my previous operating system if I don’t like Windows 10? There’s really no easy way to downgrade here. This is a commitment to a new operating system.
What about Windows XP and Windows Vista or Windows 7 or 8 Enterprise? XP and Vista are not eligible for the upgrade and neither are Enterprise versions of Windows.
Will it overwrite my files and programs? Your pictures, documents, settings, e-mail and programs should remain intact when the system upgrades. It’s still a good idea to back your important files up before the upgrade.
Do I need a touch screen to use Windows 10? Windows 10 is designed to be keyboard and mouse friendly.
~ Cynthia
they say you can convert back to your old windows within a month time
Win 8.1 to Win 10 in 90 minutes! Whew, it worked! This sure beats loading floppy disks and trying to understand tech lingo of the old days. Win 10 asks a few questions like how much to you want to be tracked by MS and which MS applications do you want enabled (like their new browser).
Like any major operating system update it will take awhile to get used to the new look & feel. Your applications and system settings are there, you may just need to look around for them a bit.
Windows 10 so far has been great, and I am sticking with it, but I really did like Win 8.1. Yes, there is a commitment to Win 10, but you can go back to Win 8.1 within one month of downloading Win 10 as Jack said. If you want to revert here are the steps. On Win 10 click Start, then click on Settings, then in the box that comes up, click on Update& Security, when that comes up click on Recovery on the left of that screen. On the right side of that screen you will see GO BACK TO WINDOWS 8.1. That is all there is to going back within the 30 day period.
I upgraded to Win 10 2 weeks ago on a Dell Inspiron laptop running win 8.1 and now my wifi will not work. I turn it on it works for a few minutes then gone. Please help. I can connect directly to broadband but that defeats the purpose of wifi. Thank you very frustrating.