Windows 10: PC issues, Reinstalling Win 7, then upgrading to Win 10 - is it possib

A few years back, I bought a Win 7 laptop from Costco which was upgraded to Win 10 once it became available. Recently, the laptop failed and so I downloaded Win 10 from the Microsoft site and installed it.

My son said that since doing this, the performance has been poor and the laptop has been freezing. He never had this issue when the laptop was Win 7 and upgraded to Win 10. The issue only started after installing a vanilla version of Win 10.

What I am wondering is if this is a driver issue of some sort. When we bought the PC, it was Win 7 and then we upgraded to Win 10.

I have found the original Win 7 DVDs for this laptop. If I was to reinstall Win 7 on the laptop, how would I upgrade it to Windows 10 again?

:)

 

update to win10

is it possibe to update to win 10 if not able to reseve it before 29th july..??

btw i am running win8.1 single language..so is it upgradable to win 10??

 

How to downgrade the Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Home (upgraded from Windows 7 Home)

It means there is no way for Win 10 Pro downgrade to Win 10 home (upgrade from Win 7 Home) unless I reinstall the win 7 home then upgrade to win 10 home?

If I do the clean install of that PC installed Win 10 Pro upgrade from Win 10 Home (upgraded from Win 7 Home) and skipped the inserting key steps then connect internet, will my PC activate automatically for Win 10 Home or Win 10 Pro?

 

Hi, first you can (and should) clean install Win 10 rather than reverting to '7 then upgrading to '10, if you want '10 on your laptop.

However, you should check with the manufacturer's site if it's approved for upgrade to '10, given your comments about drivers.

You should also check for any BIOS update.

In some cases with older PCs it's necessary to use an older driver version- e.g. for a graphics card, when it is also necessary to prevent that older version being overwritten (details in the Tutorial section). However, it's not worth making assumptions, and either some analysis or careful experimentation would be necessary.

That said, freezing can be very hard to diagnose, as there may be no error report. You may be aware that the anniversary edition caused a good number to experience freezing, but the updates since then are supposed to have largely resolved that.

I would also run some basic diagnostics on your PC before reinstalling- check the disk (SMART parameters, surface scan.. e.g. Crystal diskinfo, Macrorit diskscanner - free, portable).

Make sure you are using the latest Win 10 when installing.
Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

 

Thank you for your response.

I'm assuming that this laptop was approved for Win 10 for two reasons:

1. When I did the upgrade, I thought Microsoft did a hardware check and everything appears to have passed and the install was performed.

2. Once The laptop was upgraded to Windows 10, my son did not complain of any freezing issues. He was using this Win 10 laptop for a good couple of months without issue.

I know you said to troubleshoot the issue a bit more and I understand where you are coming from, but my challenge is my son uses the laptop for school and I just want it to work for him.

As such, I know I can use the Costco install disks to put it back to Windows 7. Is there a way then to have Microsoft upgrade it to Windows 10 like the automated upgrade that I underwent a few months back? That worked the first time and I'm assuming this would get the laptop up and working the quickest way possible.

 

Hi, Installing 2 OS's is inevitably slower than installing 1.
Plus you may get some garbage carried over if you upgrade.

Checking that your manufacturer has your PC on its approved list is not the same as MS offering an upgrade or checking that. If your manufacturer has approved it for upgrade, that means it's been specifically checked.

Example: ASUS
Windows 10 - Which model supports upgrade to Windows 10?

It is however encouraging that there were no issues for a period. Note, though, that a PC can run a later edition of Windows than it was designed for, but exhibit heat management issues e.g. in Safe Mode, because of low level driver incompatibility.

In other words, you can try upgrading, and if it works, which it often does, that's fine.

You may have encountered freezing issues because of different driver versions, or a later Windows update, comparing the two instances of your experience in using Win 10.

 

To upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10, download the Windows 10 ISO file, use a program like WinISO, to mount it, then run setup.exe from the drive letter that appears from the mounted ISO file.

 

Thank you, I will give this a try.

Two questions:

1. I assume upgrading from Win 7 to Win 10 won't require me to enter a license of any kind, as the license must be on a Microsoft server somewhere?

2. In terms of mounting the ISO, can I just burn it to a USB like you suggested I do when I tried a clean install of Win 10 recently - How to reinstall Windows 10 on a laptop that was originally Windows 7 - Windows 10 Forums

Thank you

 

1. Activation should be automatic. If it asks you for a product key during an upgrade, then something is wrong.

2. You can also use a Windows 10 installation flash drive or DVD instead of mounted ISO file.

 

I just saw this laptop freeze this evening. It happened while my son was in Gmail and the laptop froze while he was typing. We left it frozen for quite a while but it didn't recover.

We did try the steps suggested on the below URL to regain control, but we ended up having to do a hard boot

How to Unfreeze a Frozen Computer in Windows 10 - dummies

I'm just wondering, since there was a recent freeze, are there any logs that we can refer to now that might suggest what caused it to lock up. If it is something as simple as a driver needed, that would might be easier to install than reimaging as Windows 7 and then upgrading to Windows 10.

Thank you

 

Hi, what are your PC specs?
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums - Windows 10 Forums
- include Home/Pro and disks.

Have you updated the BIOS? Is it listed by the manufacturer as compatible with Win 10?

Freezes leave no log files as far as I know, but by all means look at your event log and Reliability History.

A clean install is better than an upgrade from a previous version.

You should also do so basic hardware checks bearing in mind your comments in your first post. Freezes could be due to hardware problems or updated and incompatible drivers- amongst many other possibilities.