Upgrade To Win10 Pro

[Marianna]

Ifyou are installing Windows 10 on a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista, or if you need to create installation media to install Windows 10 on a different PC, see Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC section below.

Note: Before you install Windows 10, check to make sure your PC meets the system requirements for Windows 10. We also recommend going to the PC manufacturer's website for any additional info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.

After downloading and installing, the tool will walk you through how to set up Windows 10 on your PC. All Windows 10 editions are available when you select Windows 10,except for Enterprise edition. For more information on Enterprise edition,go to the Volume Licensing Service Center.

If you have Office 2010 or earlier and choose to perform a clean install of Windows 10, you will need to locate your Office product key. For tips on locating your product key, check Find your Office 2010 product key or Enter the product key for your Office 2007 program.

If your PC does not automatically boot to the USB or DVD media, you might have to open a boot menu or change the boot order in your PC's BIOS or UEFI settings. To open a boot menu or change the boot order, you'll typically need to press a key (such as F2, F12, Delete, or Esc) immediately after you turn on your PC. For instructions on accessing the boot menu or changing the boot order for your PC, check the documentation that came with your PC or go to the manufacturer's website. If you do not see the USB or DVD media device listed within the boot options, you may need to reach out to the PC manufacturer for instructions for temporarily disabling Secure Boot in your BIOS settings.

If changing the boot menu or order doesn't work, and your PC immediately boots into the OS you want to replace, it is possible the PC had not fully shut down. To ensure the PC fully shuts down, select the power button on the sign-in screen or on the Start menu and select Shut down.

If you downloaded an ISO file for Windows 10, the file is saved locally at the location you selected. If you have a third-party DVD burning program installed on your computer that you prefer to use for creating the installation DVD, that program might open by going to the location where the file is saved and double-clicking the ISO file, or right-click the ISO file, select Open with and choose your preferred DVD burning software.

If you want to use the Windows Disk Image Burner to create an installation DVD, go to the location where the ISO file is saved. Right-click the ISO file and select Properties. On the General tab, click Change and select Windows Explorer for the program you would like to use to open ISO files and select Apply. Then right-click the ISO file and select Burn disc image.

If you want to install Windows 10 directly from the ISO file without using a DVD or flash drive, you can do so by mounting the ISO file. This will perform an upgrade of your current operating system to Windows 10.

Note: This article was originally published in January 2017. It has been updated multiple times since then to reflect the most current information. The most recent update was on May 15, 2024.

When Microsoft released Windows 10 in 2015, it offered the new operating system as a free, no-strings-attached upgrade for anyone still running a supported, fully activated previous version of Windows. That offer was only supposed to last for one year, but Microsoft quietly kept its activation servers running for more than eight years, granting free digital licenses to Windows 10 on hardware originally licensed for use with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

That loophole officially closed on September 20, 2023, when Microsoft posted an inconspicuous announcement on a website for its hardware partners. (For details, see "It's official: No more free Windows 10 upgrades".)

Since that announcement, I've heard from multiple readers who confirmed that their Windows 7 and Windows 8.x systems are not properly activated after an upgrade to Windows 10. (Systems that were previously activated still continue to work properly, though.) Surprisingly, I've also heard from a handful of correspondents who had been successful in activating their PCs after upgrading an old Windows version to Windows 10.

I'm not surprised by those sporadic reports of success. Microsoft's activation servers work in mysterious ways, and they're often generous in terms of granting digital licenses even when an installation doesn't follow the letter of the licensing rules. Given that uncertainty, there's probably no harm in trying to upgrade an old PC to Windows 10, as long as you're prepared to deal with activation issues.

Most hardware that originally shipped with Windows 7 or Windows 8.x is perfectly capable of running Windows 10. Under most circumstances, the upgrade succeeds, even if the system fails the activation check at the end. You can still install apps, play games, run productivity software, and install security updates on a PC running an unactivated copy of Windows 10; you won't be able to personalize the Windows interface, though, and some optional updates won't be available.

In this post, I cover the basics of how to install Windows 10 as an upgrade on older hardware. I'll also talk about the licensing issues involved, which are (as always) confusing. And, of course, there's the looming end-of-support deadline for Windows 10. As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer offer updates to Windows 10 PCs unless you've paid for Extended Security Updates. (For details, see "When Windows 10 support runs out, you have 5 options but only 2 are worth considering.")

Every technique I describe in this article works the same for Windows 11 as well, although most older PCs will be blocked from upgrading to Microsoft's newest operating system by the stringent Windows 11 hardware compatibility requirements. For those PCs, Windows 10 remains a viable option until at least October 2025.

With those preliminaries out of the way, go to the Download Windows 10 webpage and click the "Download Now" button. After the download completes, double-click the executable file to run the Media Creation Tool.

If you've downloaded the Media Creation Tool on the machine you plan to upgrade, and you plan to upgrade that PC and only that PC, you can choose "Upgrade this PC now." That option installs the most recent version of Windows 10. It typically takes about an hour, depending on your hardware. (Having an SSD as your system drive is the best way to speed up the process.)

If you know you'll want to install Windows 10 (as an upgrade or as a clean install) on more than one PC, or if you just want more flexibility in the event that the instant upgrade fails, choose the second option and save the installation files to a USB drive or as an ISO file. The download takes a little time, but when it's complete, you can run the Windows Setup program manually to install Windows 10 on any PC running any supported Windows version. (Sorry, this won't work with PCs running Windows Vista or Windows XP, but those PCs are probably so old that you'll encounter other issues anyway and maybe you should consider retiring them.)

Then, just follow the prompts to complete the upgrade to Windows 10. You will not be asked for a product key during the upgrade process. When the upgrade is complete and you've connected to the internet, all your apps and data files will be available. To check the system's activation status, go to Settings > Update & security > Activation. If you're lucky, you'll have a digital license that is valid for the most recent Windows 10 version. More likely, you'll see a message telling you Windows isn't activated and asking you to enter a valid product key.

A Windows 10 digital license is associated with a specific device, which means you can reformat the disk and perform a clean installation of the same edition of Windows 10 anytime. (If you're thinking of upgrading your old system drive to an SSD, I recommend you perform the upgrade to Windows 10 on the old hardware; after confirming that the new Windows 10 version is properly activated, install the SSD and then either restore from a backup image or boot from the USB flash drive to do a clean install. You won't need a product key, and activation is automatic.)

The entire "free upgrade" offer was always accompanied by language that was, to put it politely, a bit squishy. And the language around the end of that offer was similarly vague. For example, see the answers I've highlighted here on Microsoft's Windows 10 Upgrade FAQ:

That's very odd language. The free upgrade through the Get Windows 10 app ended on July 29, 2016. Likewise, the discussion of product keys says a key will be necessary "for this tool to work" (not true), but it doesn't say a word about licensing.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and this column isn't legal advice. But I will say that I am personally confident in the activation status of any PC that upgraded to Windows 10 and was granted a digital license using the Media Creation Tool.

So why did Microsoft keep making these free upgrades available even after the original offer had officially expired? That was, I think, a very obvious nod and a wink, designed to make it easy for those who wanted a Windows 10 upgrade to still get it while placating the OEM partners who were none too happy about Microsoft's emphasis on upgrades rather than new PC sales during the original upgrade offer.

I would like to use WSUS to perform in-place upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on our PCs that are Win11 ready. The Win10 PCs are all running 22H2. In the Products section of the WSUS console, I have checked the following items:

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