Windows 7 to 10? I notice that LLCC is not compatible with Windows 7 any longer. I have been avoiding going to Windows 10. Is now the time? Is it still available for free? thanks for...

crbuckjr Loc: Naples FL

I notice that LLCC is not compatible with Windows 7 any longer. I have been avoiding going to Windows 10. Is now the time? Is it still available for free?

thanks for your advice

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

crbuckjr wrote:

I notice that LLCC is not compatible with Windows 7 any longer. I have been avoiding going to Windows 10. Is now the time? Is it still available for free?

thanks for your advice

You can download the ISO for free from Microsoft (to a thumb drive) and then purchase a registration number from EBay for less than $15 - least expensive way I’ve found, now that the free upgrade has (long) passed.

marty wild Loc: England

crbuckjr wrote:

I notice that LLCC is not compatible with Windows 7 any longer. I have been avoiding going to Windows 10. Is now the time? Is it still available for free?

thanks for your advice

You might have missed the boat to move over to Windows 10 for free. You should have set sail months ago. My only advice is computer technology only moves forwards and never in reverse. Windows 11 will be next. Get ready to Go! Go! Go! "But you will have to pay for this one" Bill needs to top up his pension, 😉

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Not absolutely sure you can still upgrade for free, but, here's a link to a ZD Net article on the subject, updated on October 29, 2018, which suggests it might still be possible.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

As much as many would like to stick with Windows 7, in a few months it will no longer receive security updates from Microsoft. Security updates are critical nowadays.

I was there myself a while ago, and I also considered switching entirely to Linux to get away from Windows. Gave up on that total switch. Very important apps that have no Linux equal, printers can be a lot of trouble to get working with Linux, finding help/support difficult, having to resort to the command line a lot, its funky in a lot of ways..... Win 10 is my main OS but I have computers with Linux Mint also.

Windows 10 should not be feared. Actually, I like it a lot....the interface, customizability, etc. The bothersome features, like the biggie Cortana, can be mostly disabled.

It's not available for free anymore.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

From what I experienced when I had to reinstall Win10 after a crash and I had no product code written down or sticker with a product code, I could install from the microsoft website and not register or provide the product code as long as I was willing to live with a nag screen on restart or startup. One thing I learned from going from Win 7 32 bit and 8 32 bit to win 10 64 bit was many of my peripherals like my printer and scanner and external sound card interface had to be replaced because they were obsolete and no win 10 64 bit drivers has been created. Some 32 bit programs worked with 64 bit but not all. Going from win 7 32 bit to win 8 32 bit I had none of those problems. I don't know if win 10 32 bit would have been a better upgrade but I wanted 64 bit to be able to use 16GB of RAM.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

32-bit operating systems are more or less obsolete. Less and less software available that runs in 32-bit systems. Even major web browsers like Chrome and Firefox are no longer offered in 32-bit.
If you have a 64-bit computer you are much better off with a 64-bit OS.
I have found that Win7 drivers and Win8 drivers work in a lot of cases in Win10. You can try them without hurting anything.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I use chrome on my 12 year old HP Pavillion 32 bit laptop running Win XP SP2. It wasn't even able to upgrade to XP SP3. I get a nag notice when I start Chrome that my OS is not supported and another one telling me to update to a new OS but I just dismiss the notices. It works fine for gmail and online shopping and visiting forums and web browsing. I don't do any post processing on it.

nadelewitz wrote:

32-bit operating systems are more or less obsolete. Less and less software available that runs in 32-bit systems. Even major web browsers like Chrome and Firefox are no longer offered in 32-bit.
If you have a 64-bit computer you are much better off with a 64-bit OS.
I have found that Win7 drivers and Win8 drivers work in a lot of cases in Win10. You can try them without hurting anything.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Bobspez wrote:

I use chrome on my 12 year old HP Pavillion 32 bit laptop running Win XP SP2. It wasn't even able to upgrade to XP SP3. I get a nag notice when I start Chrome that my OS is not supported and another one telling me to update to a new OS but I just dismiss the notices. It works fine for gmail and online shopping and visiting forums and web browsing. I don't do any post processing on it.

I would avoid on line shopping on that ancient machine. Too many vulnerabilities.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Bobspez wrote:

I use chrome on my 12 year old HP Pavillion 32 bit laptop running Win XP SP2. It wasn't even able to upgrade to XP SP3. I get a nag notice when I start Chrome that my OS is not supported and another one telling me to update to a new OS but I just dismiss the notices. It works fine for gmail and online shopping and visiting forums and web browsing. I don't do any post processing on it.

If 32-bit Chrome is on a computer it still works, but I don't think it still gets updated. You cannot download 32-bit Chrome or Firefox anymore.

"Opera" browser is still available and supported in 32-bit and is a good browser.

DNW

nadelewitz wrote:

As much as many would like to stick with Windows 7... (show quote)

bleyton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

nadelewitz wrote:

It's not available for free anymore.

I beg to differ. If you have a valid Windows 7 product key, then you can use it to install Windows 10. What you can't use is the upgrade software that they came out with a couple of years ago that did an in-place upgrade.

I just did the upgrade last week. I installed a new SSD, then loaded Win 10 onto it. Once installed, I went through and reinstalled all of my old software. The whole process was much faster than I had expected. It set up as a dual boot, where I could choose to boot either from Win 7 or 10. I had planned to use that for at least several days until I could get all of my old stuff reinstalled, but after one day I was pretty much up and running on 10.

So far, I am very happy with the speed and stability, and I don't have to worry anymore about MS not supporting Win7 anymore.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

bleyton wrote:

I beg to differ. If you have a valid Windows 7 product key, then you can use it to install Windows 10. What you can't use is the upgrade software that they came out with a couple of years ago that did an in-place upgrade.

Okay. This has not been clear and consistent from Microsoft, from what I read. It's not always the case. I upgraded-in-place from 7 to 10 last year when MS had the program to do so. And since then, the same license key has been good to activate 7 OR 10.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

crbuckjr wrote:

I notice that LLCC is not compatible with Windows 7 any longer. I have been avoiding going to Windows 10. Is now the time? Is it still available for free?

thanks for your advice

I uploaded Windows10 for free a few years ago. Have had nothing but problems. Windows XP gave me the least number of problems. That was a good reliable OS. but of course XP did not contain all the bells & whistles that W10 does. But at least it worked.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

With all due respect, I doubt it is Win 10 that is causing the issues/difficulty you had. It may be that your system has compatibility issues - outdated drivers, insufficient hard ware, malware, ...There are many reasons that might explain the difficulty you had. I along with most others, have had Win 10 installed and operating almost trouble free for years. It is an excellent OS - in my opinion, the best OS Microsoft has produced.
Mark

FiddleMaker wrote:

I uploaded Windows10 for free a few years ago. Have had nothing but problems. Windows XP gave me the least number of problems. That was a good reliable OS. but of course XP did not contain all the bells & whistles that W10 does. But at least it worked.