Locked Need to upgrade Windows 7 Ultimate x64 properly to 10 or 11. No Clean Install!

[MajorFludd]

I'll get right to the point.
I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installed. I want to upgrade (NOT a clean install!) to Win 10 OR Win 11 (from what I have read 10 must be installed first) without disturbing any of my files or configurations.
I have programs that keep warning of Win 7 support ending soon. Other than that it works perfect. Just some issues with app and game requirements. Can someone recommend a few releases here? Many thanks!

 

[Cyler]

Sadly for you, I think only full versions can be used for upgrades, as the lite and mini, etc have components removed and things can be unpredictable. So find any full version you like from here (without anything removed), prepare and try.

To be honest, there are no guarantees in general that it will work and my past experience shows that is more likely to have issues than to work flawlessly. Reasons can be many, from drivers, from leftovers of past applications, and Windows settings that work differently in 10... In general, as with any upgrade, you will inherit Windows 10, any flaw your current Windows has, and where Windows 7 can be forgiving, 10 or 11 might not.

Not saying it can't be done but I will say 7 in 10 upgrades in the past, had minor or major issues so no matter what, if you can, image your current partition to a different disk, so at least you will have a return point.

In general, make surer you do the following before the Win 10 upgrade:
* Drivers of your hardware components for Windows 10
* Make sure your current apps will work on 10 or 11 and if they need upgrades or patches, you must have them also.
* Enough disk space in the main partition as the upgrade will also keep a backup of your Windows 7 installation.
* Pray to your god or RNGesus

 

[Anggu1]

Coz many app now depend on at least Windows 10. No choice. Ram must at least 4gb if not will lagging a lot.

 

[MajorFludd]

@Anggu1

My system has 32GB RAM, 8-Core CPU and a high-end video card. Hardware specs are not my concern. Thanks for the reply though. What I need is a solid release for upgrading Win7 to Win10 without any need to perform a clean install.

 

[Cyler]

My system has 32GB RAM, 8-Core CPU and a high-end video card. Hardware specs are not my concern. Thanks for the reply though. What I need is a solid release for upgrading Win7 to Win10 without any need to perform a clean install.

I didnt say your system is not enough as I assumed that if you want to do the upgrade, you already must have the specs. I said you must have the drivers of your devices for 10 as Windows 7 uses different drivers. If you simply try to upgrade without said drivers already downloaded, windows 10 may try to use the ones 7 has and that could lead to bigger problems.

As for the build, we don't do recommendations in general, as it would be unfair to the OS creators to pick one over the others when they all do such a fine job let alone that a suggestion is a subjective point of view. Since the build should be a full one (not lite, small, tiny, etc) choose any you like based on your taste as they will all perform in a similar way, or maybe give some time and maybe someone has already tried it and has a recommendation.

Hope it helped

 

[MajorFludd]

Cyler, I can understand about not wanting to recommend 1 over another. And I'm very much aware of the driver and compatability issues. I appreciate the clear, quick response.

BTW the above post was in response to Anggu1 commenting on RAM requirements for Win 10. Just sayin'. Thanks again.

 

[Anggu1]

Upgrade is ok but from my view clean is better then upgrade. But if u insist also can but major problem will arise coz some app can adapt the changes some will have problem. Even update from version to version will have problem also. If minor still ok for me. Backup using the reliable one can be found on this teamos.xyz.

 

[pleiadians]

Make sure you create a full system backup. If it was me, I would buy a new drive and clone my existing system onto that to work from first so I would always have my original stuff. It doesn't need to be and expensive or high quality drive, just enough to experiment with. Software from terabyte, acronis, rdrive can clone your existing system. Next you will have to study the windows upgrade paths, as in, windows 7 pro, enterprise, ultimate etc and decide the most suitable upgrade path for you. Remember it is sometimes possible to change the version of windows 7 from home to pro to enterprise etc to begin with. As Cylar says, drivers can be a big issue and overall compatability for existing software to the new OS. Games in particular may not run on windows 10 without a lot of work. If your system as is is important to you, don't change it yet, get another drive, they are cheap now and you can always keep it as a backup drive. (Post edited to remove an upgrade path that may be incorrect to avoid confusion.)

 

[fantom]

@MajorFludd​

1.Take some of full/partition disk backup utility from here! /I use AOIMEI Backupper /
2. Make image of existing working W7 /extern disk preferable
and then try several of them...until You find one which satisfy Your needs!

I always work that way...and no headache at all .... except losing half-full hour between

 

[Jerry_Xristos]

Why don't you make a partition in your HDD and install there windows 10 and keep win 7 the same time.
You can explore win 10 or 11 and then decide, but have always in your mind that windows 10 or windows 11 is the only way, win 7 have died a long time now.