No illegal step ever worth it. I’d advise you to get the Windows 10 paid version if you can afford it. But if you cannot afford it and you’d love to upgrade to Windows 10 for free with your Windows 7 activation key here is a guide for you. In this guide, I’ll explain a step-by-step procedure to Windows 10 free upgrade.
Starting from Windows Vista to Windows 10 I have always preferred to support the company for a good job. However, the Windows 10 features are appealing and you might not want to stick to your Windows 8 or Windows 7 anymore.
However, whichever way you choose to ply to get the Windows 10 free version upgraded to Windows 10 paid version on your computer, I wish you all the best.
The Windows 10 is probably not the last release. I believe Microsoft team are cooking something great to replace Windows 10 and fix the bugs once and for all in their upcoming release.
If you are scared of the bugs that delete your files unknowingly on Windows 10 quickly follow this procedure to upgrade to the latest version.
However, if you have not installed the Windows 10 on your PC not talk to about fixing Windows 10 bugs, you can freely upgrade to Windows 10 without spending a dime.
Note: As stated earlier, this post will explain to you Windows 10 free upgrade in detail. But, we are not liable for any glitch you might have with your Windows after you’ve successfully upgraded.
Meanwhile, if you follow the procedures step by step to upgrade either Windows 7 to Windows 10 or Windows 8 to Windows 10, you are assured that you won’t have a single problem with your PC.
Windows 7/8 Requirements
If your PC is already using the Windows 7 or Windows 8 it must meet the following requirements to be able to upgrade to Windows 10 successfully without affecting the PC’s performance.
- Processor: 1GHz clock speed or above
- RAM: 1GB for 32-bit PCs and 2GB for 64-bit PCs,
- Storage: At least 20GB free space (more is recommended)
- Display: 800×600 pixels or higher with DirectX 9 graphics support.
- Internet connection with a strong signal
You can check your motherboard specs whether your PC meets the 800×600 pixels minimum.
- Click on the Start
- Click on the Run (Win + R)
- Type “DXDiag” and click on the “OK”
Once your PC meet the requirement above you can easily upgrade to Windows 10 for free with this guide. Otherwise, we’d suggest you upgrade your PC hardware if you want the Windows 10 free upgrade to work for you.
Backup Windows 7 or Windows 8 first
The first approach to make before you upgrade to Windows 10 after your PC meets up with the minimum requirement is to back up your PC to an external drive. It could be a flash drive, DVD/CD, external hard drive, etc.
How to Backup Windows 7/8
There are various ways to back up Windows 7/8 but I’ll explain the fast means to backup only the important files on your Windows 7 computer here.
- Insert your removable drive to your PC
- Go to the folder where you have all your important files and highlight them all by pressing the Ctrl key while selecting them.
- Move or drag the files to the removable and wait until all the files are copied
This is probably the easiest way to back up your files from your computer without backing up to the cloud or the internet.
Find Windows 7 Product Key
This is very important if you are upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 10 directly skipping the Windows 8 version. However, even with the Windows 10 free upgrade, you’ll still need the original Windows key to complete your Windows 10 upgrade and make your Windows genuine.
There are various ways to find the Windows 7 product key. You can go through the registry, using a CMD, etc. However, here is the fastest approach to find your Windows 7 product key.
If you are unable to find your Windows 7 product key here are some confirmed and working Windows 7 keys.
- Download and install Windows 7 key finder on your PC before upgrading
- Launch the Windows key finder software by clicking on the icon on your desktop
- Write down the 25 digits key for use
- You can also export the Windows key gotten by the Windows key finder software
- The keys are separated by a hyphen and they are divided into 5 in total making 25 digits combined.
Download Windows 10 Installer
You can download the Windows 10 installer using the Windows Media Creation Tool or use a bootable DVD/CD to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.
The Windows Media Creation Tools need internet to download the Win10 installer from the Microsoft official site. However, a quick walkaround can be followed to download the Windows 10 latest version completely from the internet tweaking your browser.
- Visit the Windows 10 download page on Microsoft official download page
- Click on any part of the page and click on “Inspect Element” and a new popup will appear
- Now, scroll down and click on network connections. Under the user-agent untick select automatically and select Safari – iPad iOS 9.
- Close the inspect element page and refresh the Windows 10 media creation download tool page
- Now, click on the “download now” to download complete Windows 10 installer.
After this you can either move the installer to a removable or create a bootable with it so that you can install the upgrade directly from the drive.
Restart your PC, Access BIOS and Choose Boot Priority
Your computer BIOS is a section that monitors your computer functionality and makes sure that everything works perfectly from the startup. So, you should be able to access to complete the Windows 10 free upgrade before getting to use the Windows product key you saved from above.
- Restart your Windows 7/8 computer (make sure the drive with the Windows 10 installer is connected)
- Click to enter BIOS settings in your Windows. For Windows 7 you can simply follow this guide to access Windows 7 BIOS and for Windows 8, the BIOS key combinations could be any of these: F2, Alt+F8, Del, F8.
- Once you are in the BIOS settings use the arrow key [up and down] or the sign keys [+ or -] to scroll to the ‘Boot Priority’
- Select the USB/DVD drive you inserted into your computer just above the hard drive/solid-state as your boot priority
- Click on Esc to save and exit
- Reboot your Windows 7 again.
Enter Windows 7 Product Key as the Install Runs
You are at the verge of upgrading to Windows 10 directly from your USB drive.
- When the PC restarted with the pre-defined boot priority above your PC should open Windows 10 installer from above if followed correctly
- You will be asked to enter your Windows 7 key. Type the Windows 7 activation key you wrote down or exported.
- Now, the installation process will begin. This might take time to finish though but the Windows 7/8 will be upgraded directly to Windows 10
Once the Windows upgrade is completed the computer will boot into Windows 10 which is the mission.
Check for Windows 10 Update
Once you have successfully upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 7, the next quick step to take is to check for a security update and download directly from this internet. This won’t require much of your time. You only need to spend a few minutes doing this to make sure you are secure.
- Click on the Start button
- Go to Settings
- Click on Update & Security
- Tap on Windows Update
- Select Check for updates
If there is an update available kindly download and install. Once the available updates are downloaded and upgraded restart your PC and that is all.