) to Windows 10.If you don't have a touch screen machine Windows 8, 8.1 is just plain silly stupid.
So if you have 8.1 ( since you were probably forced to this version from 8 ) I would recommend going to 10, but it might be a real pain.
For the least pain I would suggest this process.
Make sure you are logged in on your machine as the local Administrator ( the account that controls the machine), if you are not, and don't know how to be logged on as the local Adminstrator... you are the wrong person to be doing this upgrade.
1st back up your system drive ( C: ) to another hard drive.. a USB connected external drive is probably cheap enough and is most certainly the most convenient solution.
[using File Explorer is a sure way to not backup all of your files, as by default it hides from you many of them.
I would recommend http://www.ghisler.com/ Total Commander. I have been using this program since long before Blizzard existed, it is free to use, but worth the price to remove the startup nag.]
Make a list of all the programs/apps you use on a regular basis or find important enough to have available.
[If you really aren't a computer savvy person... now is also a good time to go into all of your programs and write down all the configurations settings you are using.]
You will probably find that you have programs that you have installed over time that you just don't use.. this is a good time for them to go away.
Once these two steps are done, it is time to verify you have enough free space for the upgrade.
The upgrade process creates a Windows.old folder and places in it your pre-existing Windows, Program Files, Program Files (x86), ProgramData and a few small folders.
This folder is suppose to allow you to undo/goback if your install fails badly.
For my notebook system with World of Warcraft and other stuff installed the Windows.old folder grew to over 79GB.
Add to that the ~6GB-10GB? need for all the upgrade files and processing space.
Having verified your backup worked, you can delete from your C: drive stuff to make space.
Oddly enough I would recommend deleting World of Warcraft.
WoW was the easiest recovery of all of my programs, just copy back, right click on the old WoW launcher and Run as Administrator to get WoW linked back into windows.
Download a new Battlenet client and launch.
OK you are ready to upgrade
It helps to have an always on auto connect Internet connection... but if you need to use a public wifi spot where you have to authenticate via the hot spots webpage, the upgrade process will still work (mostly)
Even if you enrolled in the upgrade program that pre-loaded much of Windows 10 on your computer, there will still be a lot of downloading during the actual upgrade process.
Trigger the upgrade and sit back and relax... handle the few prompts that might pop up (for example your login credentials for your internet router) and soon ( a variable meaning word ) Windows 10 will be active on your computer.
And after the final reboot
if your new windows 10 system comes up working as it should.. you are golden... lucky you.
[Don't be silly.. there have been many patches since Windows 10 was released.. you can force this updating by {Start button - Settings - Update & Security - Update} or it will happen automatically during a reboot anyway (new nearly no option default..updates will happen when Microsoft says they happen.)]
If on the other hand, like for myself, the new start button doesn't, you can't get to the start menu, the new search helper Cortana won't, and the problems notification app doesn't, and wifi refuses to auto-connect.. it is time for UPGRADE STEP TWO.
THIS IS WHERE YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE DONE THAT BACKUP.
And you can't just skip to this step first.. as the initial install generates the product key that allows you to run Windows 10.
The first step is go to this link http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... _wol_win10 and follow the instructions.
Supposedly you can do a direct reinstall in place... but I am paranoid enough to suggest going clean from boot upgrade.
Using the tool you will download a full windows 10 install set and create a bootable install.iso image.
You will need to burn that to a DVD platter or process into onto a bootable USB drive. The image is just over 3GB in size.
Boot from the image and you will be given the choice to do a FULL Reinstall.. or Repair.
FULL will wipe your C: drive
Repair works fine as it just handles the windows stuff and what is in Program folders AND what is known by windows in your Installed programs list.
Since this process acts like a new install with know key, it will almost certainly end with a fully working Windows 10 system, unless your hardware actually isn't compatible with Windows 10 in the first place.
A Removed.Apps.html file will be placed on your desktop.
This is a list of all the programs/apps that windows knows it deleted. (basically it is a list of all the programs in your Programs and Features list where you go to change or uninstall programs)
What this list doesn't show is any programs that might not fully follow Microsoft rules.
As an IT guy I have found and use a number of quick and dirty tools to get certain jobs done and these tend to not bother with the nicety of full integration into the registry and the uninstall list.
That is why you need to make that written list, since windows might not be able to do it for you.
Use Microsofts new Edge web browser to open Removed.Apps and your first re-installs should be your favorite web browser and your anti-virus software.
I prefer Firefox with Noscript and Adblock+ addons and either the free Avast or AVG anti-virus programs.
Then do the rest of your re-installs.
IF you are knowledgeable enough you can copy back the configuration data for all of your programs from your backup and have them up and running quickly.
When you are done you will find you have a number of older programs that just don't work with windows 10.
Typically these are old support programs and drivers from your hardware manufacture.
If you are in luck you will find they were pre-loaded into windows 10.
If you are not so lucky, then oh well, I hope you didn't really need them because the hardware vendor isn't going to spend money to support hardware they are no longer selling.
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