There is a new development now with the introduction of Windows 11. I will try to get that into the dialog below.
By now most all of you have upgraded your Windows 7 and 8 computers to Windows 10. Otherwise you are still getting a message that comes up on the screen saying that Windows 7 is no longer supported. What that means is that Microsoft is no longer creating security updates for Windows 7. You will no longer see the “windows is updating” when you start and restart your computer. As time goes on Windows 7 will now become less and less secure. You really need to be off of Windows 7 by now or you are taking a big risk. I don’t believe that there are any computers that can be upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 11 but most all can be upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
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Now we have a new date for the end of support of Windows 10. Supposedly we are looking at October 24, 2025. That is theoretically when support for Windows 10 ends. We WILL NOT know for sure until we get closer to that point. What this means is that you really need to think about whether or not you want to upgrade an older computer that will only run Windows 10 or buy a new one that runs Windows 11. If it is a minor performance upgrade that doesn’t cost too much it might be worth it. If you are looking at that let me know and I can help you decide.
What to do about that now?
I can help you with this issue. I will be more than happy to take a look at your computer and tell you whether or not it is a good candidate to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. We can also look at whether or not you want to put much money into a current Windows 10 computer or buy a new Windows 11 computer. All you have to do is bring it by and I will give you a free evaluation and let you know what it would cost to upgrade it. To upgrade computers from Windows 10 to Windows 11 there are a couple of requirements. The actual software for the Windows 11 upgrade is free. Below are the requirements to run Windows 11.
- Has to have newer generation AMD Ryzen 3,5, 7, or 9 that are 3rd generation or above or Intel i-Series 3, 5, 7 or 9 that are 8th generation and above Processors.
- Has to have a TPM 2.0 module on the system board because of upgraded security.
Some of the lesser Intel Celeron and Pentium as well as AMD Athlon processors will work. We just have to run the compatibility tool to check it.
The TPM module is a chip that goes on the system board. This is for enhanced security in Windows 11. If it does not already have it on a laptop it cannot be added. Some desktop computers will have a connector on the system board where the TPM module can be added to it and some do not. It just has to be physically checked.
What are the best options to upgrade it at this point?
The main thing I would recommend doing if it is upgradeable is to do a fresh install of Windows 10 or 11 on a new solid state drive. That solid state drive would replace your old spinning drive. The hard drive is really the one thing I would replace because it holds all of your data and a new one just gives you a fresh start. The solid state drives are also much faster so it really makes a marginal computer upgrade a much more feasible computer to upgrade. The nice thing is that solid state drives have come way down on price. If you buy the drive from me you get my one year warranty on it. If it fails I will reinstall everything back on it for free as long as you have it backed up. If you buy elsewhere and the drive fails you have to pay me or someone else to change it out and potentially reinstall everything on it.
By doing a “fresh install” that means that we start from scratch with an empty hard drive and put a new copy of Windows 10 on it instead of doing an upgrade on top of Windows 7. That is just a much better way to do it. This also means that you don’t have the old manufacturers software on it and all drivers will be upgraded to new versions.
By doing a fresh install it actually saves labor since I don’t have to spend time taking all of your data off of the old drive and copying it back and forth to the new drive. This also prevents us from potentially missing some important data from the old drive and over-writing it.
The upgrade would include a new solid state drive as well as a new copy of Windows 10 in whatever version you need. Some of you might think that you can go to Amazon or Best Buy and get a better price on Windows 10. I can typically sell you a copy of Windows 10 for $60. That is far less than the $120 or so that you pay for it from those sites. I can also get you a copy of Windows 11 for $60.