Upgrade to Windows 10

Important Notice: I wrote incorrectly the other day that these directions would help in creating recovery media. That is not the case. I have edited the instructions here to be more factually correct and will post new instructions later on how to create recovery media. I will try to post a link of that on these instructions once I have completed them.

Second Edit: I have now created a post for creating recovery media here.

Final Edit: If you have decided you want to revert to your old Operating System from 10, here's the post with directions on how to do so.

Hey there, I know this post isn't on the 9:30 schedule that I've done for the last two days, but for those of you who want to upgrade to Windows 10 and haven't, here's the easiest way to do so. I'll also be showing how to create installation media if you can't download Windows 10 directly onto your PC.


First, you need to go to microsoft.com. The first thing you'll see will look like this (click on any image to increase its size):

Next, click "Upgrade for free* >". The star means it's only available for those with Windows 7 (non-starter edition) and Windows 8.x.  Scroll down, not too far, and you'll see a screen that looks like this:

On the bottom of that image you'll see a line that says, "If you'd like to create a USB drive or DVD to download once and upgrade multiple PCs - click here." Click that link, and it will take you to this page:

 From there, scroll to the bottom and you'll see this:

Now click the download that you need. I personally recommend to download the 64-bit version, but if you know you need it, the instructions will be the same for the 32-bit. On Internet Explorer, I do recommend you click "Save" rather than just "Run" when the download prompt comes up, because if it doesn't download properly, you'll know right away, and not have issues later. For those using Firefox, just click "save file". For those on Chrome, it should download automatically once you click the link. After downloading the file, click on it to open it. Internet Explorer, that means you can click "Run" now once it has run its scan. Firefox, click on the blue downward-pointing arrow on the top right of your screen. Chrome, click on the download bar that popped up when it began the download.

Click yes on the prompt that shows:

You'll then get a window that looks like this:

If you need to create installation media, I highly recommend using a flash drive, because the process is much easier than burning onto discs.

Here's where we diverge on instructions. If you choose to "Upgrade this PC now", it will lead you through some prompts that you just have to click "Yes" or "Next" on. After it finishes downloading what it needs to, it will perform several restarts on your computer and then perform the upgrade. If you do not have a Microsoft account, which it will ask you for during the process, you do not have to create one or sign into one. There is an option to continue the process without one, which I recommend for ease of use. Once the majority of the upgrade is done, it will then ask you to login to your user account. This part is important, as I've had to help many older folks with this. If your user account currently has a password, enter it as normal, but then press enter to login. There will be no login arrow next to the password field during this step, but it comes back after the complete upgrade is done. Once you've logged into the user account, the last bits of the upgrade will finish, and you'll be the new owner of a Windows 10 computer.

For those of you who choose to "Create installation media for another PC", or those of you who upgraded already but want to create your installation media for another computer, these next steps are for you. After you select to create the media and click "Next", you'll see this screen:

I hope you already know what language you speak, but in the Edition and Architecture, let me give you a good rule of thumb. In the Edition, if you know you have Windows 7 or 8 Pro, select Windows 10 Pro, if you know you have Windows 7 or 8 Home, or don't know at all, it's safest to select Windows 10 Home. In Architecture, if you don't know it, select 64-bit (x64). All others will know what they need. Once you have the right information, click "Next".

The next screen you should see is this:

If you choose the option to create an ISO file, after you click "Next" your File Explorer will automatically open, asking you where your disc drive is that has the blank disc for creating the installation media. Just select the drive and follow the prompts. The method I recommend, as stated earlier, is to create the media on a flash drive, mostly because of its simplicity, but also because flash drives don't get scratched, discs do. If you select "USB flash drive", you will see a window similar to this (Note: You do need at least a 16 GB flash drive for this):

If you have more than one flash drive, select yours from the listed options.  If you only have one plugged in, like I do, simply leave it highlighted and click "Next".

A new screen will pop up that will look like this:

It will then quickly move on to a screen similar to this:

Once that is complete, you'll see this screen:

Just click "Finish", and you can either go back and re-run the download from earlier to install Windows 10, using the same steps, or you can use the installation media you just created (the easier route) to install it. To install from the installation media, just open it up in File Explorer (flash drives will usually get renamed to "ESD-USB"), double click "setup.exe", and it will run you through the same screens from earlier to allow you to now install Windows 10.

I hope this post was helpful to everyone reading it. If you have any questions or comments, absolutely leave them. I will try to answer every question I can, and will read every comment, but I am working a full-time job, and will soon be back in school, so what I will do and when I
can do it are two different things.