I've found the Windows 10 Upgrade process goes best for me if you follow these guidelines. There are a few steps to doing this, so ask questions where they are needed and I will try to help you along.
Preparation
Before you upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8, make sure your current operating system has all current updates.
Locate all program disks and install program for any software you will need. During the preparation stage, when you reserve your upgrade, the Windows 10 tool will scan your computer to find software and hardware components that are incompatible with Windows 10.
Make a note of its finds, but understand this is a preliminary compatibility test - it may not find everything and there may still be other issues that may develop because of your specific computer configuration.
Go to your computer manufacture's website and check to see if they make Windows 10 drivers available. Dell and HP both advertise Windows 10 readiness for your specific system. If you have an aftermarket graphics card, wireless card, etc. go to their sites to locate your drivers
What should happen during the install is the Windows 10 installation locates the updated versions of the hardware drivers for your system. But, it may not find all the components, especially if you use generic or no-name or generic hardware components. This seems especially the case with AMD/ATI driver components which seem to be problematic during installation.
Check with your Antivirus company to see if they have a Windows 10 compatible upgrade. This is important because you will want to keep Anti Virus protection on your new OS, unless you intend to use the free Windows Defender.
Find backup media Windows DVD for your old OS - you may need to buy the install media from the computer manufacturer, but this should not be more than $12. You can also locate these disks on eBay for about $12 a set - make sure this is for your brand of computer before you buy! You need these in case the backup doesn't go as planned and you are unable to revert the changes after the upgrade.
Have all of your important files and programs backed up to external media that you can access should the upgrade have problems. It is better to play it safe than to expect everything will be OK.
Windows 10 Upgrade Preparation
Assuming you are running Windows 7 or 8, you will have the Windows 10 notification icon in your taskbar. During the initial upgrade process you will be prompted as to how you will upgrade. You are given the option to download the upgrade as a Windows Update and apply the update when done or to create installation media. I recommend creating the install media and putting it on a USB disk.
You can do this two ways, you can create an ISO file and create a bootable upgrade disk using a USB formatting utility called RUFUS or you can burn the ISO to a DVD for deployment later. I suggest you choose these routes because it will immediately give you backup media.
As with your other backup files, copy this to your external backup so that you can access this again later, should you have issues with the upgrades. If you choose to upgrade through Windows Updates, I suggest you still look for a Windows 10 media option - find Windows 10 disk or download the ISO files at another time.
The Actual Upgrade
If you chose the Windows Update Option, it will first begin by downloading the 3GB files to perform the upgrade. This will take time depending on your internet connection speed. Once all files are downloaded it will begin installation.
If you choose to create installation media, you will need to load this and begin while your old Windows OS is in operation.
The initial stages will allow you to operate in Windows while files are copied. The latter stages will take control of the computer to apply the updates and may reboot your computer a few times.
You will be given the option to download Windows updates during the installation. I recommend doing this as it will also grab any new drivers and software changes needed to get your machine running.
You'll go through the prompts to set updates and security settings, you'll be prompted to enter wireless settings if you were using wireless previously and if the wireless drivers loaded properly, it will then load your username account from the previous Operating Systems.
Upon launch, check to make sure your existing software is still functional. check to verify that file are still there. Then check the control panel Device Manager and note any missing device drivers. You will need to locate and install drivers for the missing items.
Accepting the Upgrade Went OK
At this point you should have a working machine, but still have the option of going back to the previous OS. If you are certain everything is working right, I would suggest you now prepare for doing a clean install of the OS with your USB drive or DVD media.
As with previous upgrades in the Windows family, there will be leftover files from the old OS. Some issues from the old registry may still be present. Luckily, part of the upgrade process can help with this.
During activation, your new Windows Key is matched against your hardware information that is sent back to Microsoft. This means you no longer have to type in the Windows key after reinstalling Windows.
After you back up all your files and programs, boot from your Windows 10 media into the Install program. Reformat your drive, and begin installation. You will be prompted to enter your windows key, just click skip... and move on.
You will have to set up the user accounts and passwords, again, but once you load into the desktop, you will have a clean installation. Reinstall your programs and backups and you should be good to go.
Post Installation Tips
I have some additional tips for making the installation go smoothly.
Image your original OS drive onto a spare drive.
Instead of upgrading your original hard drive, purchase a second matching drive and image this installation to the new drive. Perform all upgrades on this new drive. That way, if you run into problems, you can revert to the original drive and lose nothing.
Upgrade your original drive but do the clean install on a new drive
This is a similar concept, except you keep your working upgraded drive to fall back on. This may also help if you have trouble locating drivers.
Consider adding a second internal drive to your system.
During my last upgrade, I chose to add a second drive to my system. I used this drive to keep backups of all my software, files, and drivers. This made recovering from the clean installation took minutes instead of hours.
Take the time to address other issues with your system.
While I was already going to have my machine open to install upgrades, I also took the time to clean the inside of the systems and around the working area. Remove dust, fluff, and any other junk around your computer area so that you can start with a clean system and work space. I also took the time to address cabling and ventilation issues.
Program Installation Compatibility Issues with Windows 10 Pro:
There are some cases where an installation program won't properly install in Windows 10, even with compatibility set to an earlier OS compatibility settings in the program properties. Some programs may check to see if a specific OS is installed. If it does not find that OS, it will error out and cancel the installation.
There are cases where Windows 10 will not allow you to install a program because the author of the software does not register their program with Microsoft. I found Irfanview would not install in the 1511 versions of Windows 10.
There are fixes involving using an elevated command prompt or using "Run as Administrator" when installing the program, which you should probably do anyway. There are also fixes listed by changing compatibility settings, Unfortunately, none of these worked for Irfanview.
What I ended up doing is activating the built-in administrator account, logging into Windows under this account, installing the software in question, then logging out and disabling the account. After which, I was able to use Irfanview without further issues.
Closing
I will be performing facility upgrades at work on a few dozen machines, so I may revisit this article with a few more updates. Please do ask question, I will try to answer if I can. Good luck with your update!
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