The ironic thing is that it is actually still possible to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, it would seem. Which is what the cybercriminals behind such phishing campaigns are relying upon. (£119 in the U.K.) and rising to at least $199 or £219 depending on which side of the pond you are for a Windows 10 Pro license, many Windows 7 users are naturally going to be keen to see if money can be saved. With a Windows 10 Home license now starting from $139 in the U.S. If you have slow or inconsistent Internet, you should go to some place that has a strong connection and follow the instructions for creating a USB install disk you can use at home.The Microsoft promotional offer that gave Windows 7 users a free upgrade path to Windows 10 officially expired on July 29, 2016.

Though you can walk away for large portions of the process, you can expect all the downloading and file copying to take at least 60 minutes and, in our case, closer to two hours on a fast Internet connection.

Show the full folder path in File Explorer on Windows 10įinally, make sure you have 1 to 2 hours free to run the install.

If you don't have a system restore disk already, it's a good idea to make a full system backup using disk imaging software such as Macrium Reflect, which makes a bit-by-bit copy of your hard drive. Before you begin the process, make sure you have all of your data files backed up, preferably to a cloud service such as Microsoft's own One Drive (opens in new tab), where you can download them again if your computer crashes.

Windows 10 should install without a hitch, but driver problems are a possibility and, during any system update, there's always a chance something will go wrong.

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