Upgrade From Vista To Windows 7

[amaltman47]

I want to upgrade from vista but wonder what windows to upgrade to, which will not lose everything on my computer at the moment.

[VHG]

Whatever you upgrade to you will have to pay for it, there is no free upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 10 from Vista.

You can read more about upgrading from Vista to W7 here

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-vista-to-windows-7#T1=tab01

However I do wonder if you can still buy an upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. Usually when Microsoft bring out a new release of Windows they stop selling the old one, and we have had W8 and W10 since W7 came out.

I found this here on Amazon, but at £169 it is not going be cheap.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Edition/dp/B002DGS81C

Personally it may be better to put the money towards a new Windows PC as a Vista PC is now getting quite old (in computer terms).

[Buenchico]

Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see if you computer is capable of running Windows 7:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20

Assuming it is, you'll then need to get hold of a copy of Windows 7. Microsoft no longer sells it but there are plenty of online sellers offering it. Such sales are usually via downloads, rather than by supplying the discs though, and I most strongly looking for good reviews before deciding where to buy from (as there are a lot of dodgy sellers of discontinued Microsoft products). I'd advise seeking out the 'Professional' version as it offers 'Compatibility Mode' if you experience any problems with older software.

As long as the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor reports that you can use the 'Upgrade' method (rather than only 'Custom Installation') everything on your Vista PC will be preserved.

[Buenchico]

PS:
As long as you've still got the installation discs for any programs you want to keep, it would probably be far simpler (and quite possibly cheaper) to buy a refurbished Windows 7 PC. Here's where I buy from:
http://www.accomputerwarehouse.com/products/computing/refurbished-computers

[VHG]

Note that if you do decide to buy a copy of Windows 7 DONT buy the OEM version if you want to do an upgrade.

The OEM version is ONLY for clean installs (usually for new computers) so you wont be able to do an upgrade.

I always buy the OEM version but never do an upgrade.

p.s. Most people say that a clean install of Windows is far better than an upgrade. An upgrade is a bit "messy" and can leave your computer in a state where not everything works.

Note once you have installed Windows 7 you could upgrade to Windows 10 for free until next year when the free offer runs out.

However I would check with the people who made your PC that it is capable of running Windows 10, there may not be drivers available for Windows 10.