Windows 10 will be available for public release this Wednesday and most certainly, you will be getting a free upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 / 8.1 users (genuine users). Now if you are planning to update your PC to Windows 10 as soon as it releases, here is how you can prepare your PC for it. I have outlined few steps for those who will upgrade to Windows 10 and for those who will be doing a clean install of Windows 10. 1. Chose between Upgrade and Clean Install Microsoft Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 users will be able to upgrade their PC to Windows 10 without losing any of their files if you opt for in-place upgrade. Note that you should be running Windows 7 or above to upgrade else the only way to get Windows 10 on your PC is through clean Install. You should opt for an upgrade if you are not facing any major system crashes and your PC is completely stable in its current state. This would also come in handy if you cannot leave your PC idle for few hours when the clean installation process is going on. On the other hand, clean installation of Windows 10 is recommended to anyone whose system is unstable and experiencing major problems in their PC. Through this, you can completely wipeout and clean the system to breathe a new life in it. The only drawback here is that you need to reinstall all your programs, games and move the files from your backup after the completing clean install. 2. Prepare your PC for Windows 10 Upgrade or Clean Install Upgrading to Windows 10? Before you proceed with the upgrading process, make sure you follow these step. Install All the Available Windows Updates and updates available for your drivers. Check and clean all the unwanted junk from your computer (use any disk cleaning software). Perform a complete scan using your Anti-Virus program. Clean Install of Windows 10? Keep your programs installation disks handy including hardware drivers. See if you have any licence key stored in your Computer and move it if any. Got program installation files on hard drive? Move it to external hard drive. 3. Create Complete Backup of Your Data Regardless of your choice of In-place upgrade or clean install of Windows 10, it is always recommended to take complete backup of your data. Even though, after upgrade process all your files and programs should migrate across versions, what if something goes wrong during the upgrading process? Having a complete backup of your data would never be a bad idea. If you are upgrading to Windows 10, you can create a complete system image, which will be the exact copy of your primary hard drive. You can save the system image in an external hard drive or on cloud based storage. With this, you will always have the option to revert the changes to what it was before the upgrade in case if something goes wrong. For the users who will be doing a clean install, they should backup their files manually on their external hard drive. Alternatively, you can also create a system image on external hard drive and extract the files and folders after performing a clean install. Make sure that you not only back up document files and media contents, but also work related files. For example, if you use Adobe PS then remember to back up the folder where you have stored all your projects and design files. If you use Steam, make sure you back the Steam folder, which would mostly contain your game progress data to an external hard drive. Need help in creating back up? These links might help you. Backup and Restore Center (Windows Vista) Backup and Restore (Windows 7) Backup and Restore (Windows 8 / 8.1) 4. Deactivate Your Programs Some programs such as Adobe CS can be installed on one computer only using a single licence key. Now if you make a clean install without deactivating this program first, you would definitely feel yourself in trouble. A good idea is to deactivate any such program before your clean Install Windows 10 on your PC. Later you can reinstall the program using your valid licence key. If you have followed the above given methods then you should be all set to go for Windows 10 upgrade or Windows 10 clean install. Just make sure you recheck your stuff before proceeding with upgrading process. Good luck.
