Sometimes, it’s just a bit of maintenance that enhances your experience. Microsoft’s free upgrade offer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users ended a few years ago, but you can still technically upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge. While Microsoft has removed the special upgrade offer sites, the company continues to activate Windows 10 licenses for people who upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. That may even mean you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 11 for free as well — here’s how the free Windows 11 upgrade works. Select the “Upgrade this PC now” option to download the files and begin the upgrade to Windows 10. To upgrade your Windows 7 device, you need a valid Windows 10 product key.

  • When you are prompted, click restart to restart the computer.
  • You’ll also need to update at some point anyway because Microsoft does drop support for old versions of Windows 10 after certain periods of time.
  • For control freaks, Windows Update is a nightmare.
  • No—all versions of Windows have their problems, including Windows 10.
  • Voice navigation is also improved in Windows 11, allowing you to use your voice to launch apps, enter keyboard and mouse inputs, control the operating system, and basically anything else you could need.

The option to Receive updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows lets you receive updates for Microsoft applications you have installed, such as Microsoft Office or Edge. In many ways, Windows Update is now easier to use and safer for the average person. Unless a user is willing and able to use advanced tools, they won’t miss another security update. From a safety perspective, automated updates are a blessing. On the other hand, users are at the mercy of Microsoft, a company not exactly known for never messing up.

How to fix the ‘Network Error – Windows Cannot Access \\ Shared Drive’ Error?

Windows Update is a cloud-based service used to keep Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft software like Windows Defender updated. The patches and updates normally include feature enhancements and security updates that can protect Windows from malware. Windows users can also view an update history that shows previously installed updates. Fortunately, Windows will periodically check for the latest system updates and install them automatically. All you need to do is restart your computer to ensure the updates finish installing . As convenient as automatic updates are, there are times when you’ll want to manually check for updates, like when an important security patch is rolling out or if you’ve encountered a major bug.

should i update windows 10

What you need to understand is that not only are these symptoms annoying rocketdrivers.com/dll/rgss102e_dll, they are affecting your team’s productivity. The software that you are using needs updates too, and they are designed to work best with the latest operating systems. Spend the time learning how updates and new features can work to your advantage. Download the upgrade assistant program and then run it. It should launch itself after it is done installing, and it will leave a shortcut on your desktop and in your list of all programs that you can use to launch it later. Click the Installbutton to start the installation, then verify one more time that you wish to start the installation. Click on Operating Systems in the list of links on the left side of the Software Center window, then select the Win10 Upgrade item in the apps list.

Pause Windows Updates

I do not know if it will end up in Microsoft’s final list of supported CPUs, but maybe . As I said in an earlier comment, it’s, generally, a good idea to wait for a while after a new operating system is released to install it. I purchased my all in one desktop computer exactly one year ago. When I checked if it was compatible with Win 11, it responded that my Central Processor was not. When I checked against the actual listed requirements on the Microsoft site, my desktop was compliant with every single item listed, with the exception of the HP CPU in my unit.

If the problem is that your PC has an older CPU or it only has TPM 1.2, there’s a registry hack that will let you bypass the hardware requirements and install Windows 11 anyway. To protect your system and data, it is highly recommended that youback up your computer before updating. The following is a typical user case from the forum. When you install newer Windows 10 builds, Windows stores the system files of older updates on your device. This lets you uninstall an update or roll back the operating system to a previous version.