Preliminary information
Prima di enter the live of the tutorial and spiegarti how to update windows 7 to a more secure and modern version of the Microsoft operating system, I ask you to make an important check: the one relating to license.
To be able to take advantage of all the functions of Windows without limitations and not to be disturbed by annoying messages on the desktop, you must in fact be in possession of a product key valid for the version of Windows you intend to install.
If you are entitled to a free upgrade (the availability of this option is variable, as explained in another tutorial), all you need is a license valid for Windows 7, otherwise you have to buy one License for Windows 10.
In case you need a license for Windows 7 or Windows 10, I advise you to rely on reliable resellers that allow you to save a lot compared to the official Microsoft website (where licenses for Windows are no longer available at the moment. 7). In particular, I recommend you Mr Key Shop.
In case you have never heard of it, Mr Key Shop is a site run by a company with offices in the city and England that, by purchasing unused Windows, Office and antivirus licenses from companies that have switched to the cloud or subscription services ( in full compliance with the relevant European regulations), resells them at extremely affordable prices. The licenses in question are 100% original and are distributed away email, therefore quickly and without negative impacts on the environment.
In addition, Mr Key Shop allows you to pay with various secure payment methods (es. PayPal, carta o Amazon Pay), offers the garanzia soddisfatti or rimborsati and has a service of free assistance in cittàn (rare commodity for services of this type).
To purchase a license of Windows 7 on Mr Key Shop, all you have to do is visit the page of the site dedicated to Windows 7 Home & Premium, Windows 7 Professional o Windows Ultimate 7 and add the product to the cart.
The same goes for the licenses of Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro and for the licenses of upgrade to Windows 10 and, if the thing interests you, for those of Microsoft Office (especially for the newest Office 2019) and some of the best antivirus on the square.
Once you've made your purchases, log into yours cart, by clicking on the appropriate icon, and choose whether to complete the transaction as guest or registering a account. It takes a few seconds.
Update Windows 7 through Windows Update
If you want to make sure that your Windows 7 is always up to date, you need to go to the operating system control panel and activate the automatic download of Windows Update updates.
Then click on the button Home located on the taskbar, select Control Panel from the menu that is shown to you, click on the icon System and security and select the item Windows Update from the screen that opens. At this point, click Change settings (in the left sidebar) to access the Windows Update administration panel, set the drop-down menu Important updates su Install updates automatically, metti il segno di spunta accanto alle voci Download recommended updates in the same way as important updates e Allow all users to install updates on this computer e pigia his OK to save the settings.
Once this is done, the download and installation of the latest updates available for Windows 7 should start automatically. In some cases, to complete their configuration, you will be prompted to restart your PC.
If you need more information about downloading and installing Windows updates you can consult my guide dedicated to the topic.
If Windows Update doesn't work
You have regularly activated Windows Update but are unable to update Windows 7? Try the following "manual" correction procedure. If you are interested, please follow the steps below.
- Click on the button Home;
- Type cmd in the quick search bar;
- Right click on the icon Command Prompt and choose the item Run as administrator from the menu that opens;
- Type, one after the other, the commands listed below and give Submit;
- net stop wuauerv
- rmdir %windir%softwaredistribution /s /q
- rmdir %windir%system32softwaredistribution /s /q
- regsvr32 / s wuaueng.dll
- regsvr32 / s wuaueng1.dll
- regsvr32 / s atl.dll
- regsvr32 / s wups.dll
- regsvr32 / s wups2.dll
- regsvr32 / s wuweb.dll
- regsvr32 / s wucltui.dll
- net start wuauserv
- Reboot the PC;
- Start searching for updates on Windows Update.
Switch to Windows 10
Do you want update Windows 7 to switch to Windows 10? Well, in that case know that you can take advantage of a promotion that allows you to install the latest version of the Microsoft operating system in a totally free.
The promotion started on July 29 2015 and is valid only for 1 year, so you can still use it for just a few days! Subsequently, the operating system license will cost 135,00 euros for the Home edition and 279,00 euros for the Pro edition of the operating system.
All you need to upgrade to Windows 10 for free is a genuine copy of Windows 7 SP1, an ADSL connection on average fast (you will have to download approximately 4 GB of data) and a PC equipped with the hardware requirements necessary to “run” Windows 10, which are the same as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
- 2GB of RAM (1GB for 32-bit OS version).
- 20 GB of free disk space.
- At least 1GHz processor with PAE, NX and SSE2 support.
- Graphics card with Microsoft DirectX 9 support and WDDM driver.
To check the compatibility of your computer - and all its hardware and software components - with Windows 10, click here to download the Microsoft update assistant. It is a small program, designed for the transition to Windows 8.1 but also valid for Windows 10, which examines the computer in use and informs the user if there are hardware, drivers or software incompatible with the new operating system to be installed on the PC .
Update to Windows 10 via Windows Update
If your computer meets all of the hardware and software requirements above, the notification area (i.e. next to the system clock) should have displayed the windows flag. By clicking on that icon you can claim your free copy of Windows 10 and install it via Windows Update, as if it were a Service Pack.
When your copy of Windows 10 is available, you will find it in the Windows Update updates and you can install it as if it were any other operating system update. For more information about it, you can connect to the appropriate web page on the Microsoft website which you can access by clicking here.
The duration of the operation should be around 60 minutes. Data, programs and settings will be kept intact after the update is complete. However, since prudence is never too much, I advise you to do the same quite a lot backup of all your files before proceeding. If you don't know how to do this, check out my guide on how to make backups to find out how to proceed.
In case you don't see any flags in the Windows notification area, make sure you have installed on your PC all the latest updates available for Windows 7 SP1, especially those named KB3035583 e KB2952664 that install the "little program" on the PC to download Windows 10.
Also make sure that version 11 of the Internet Explorer (which you can get by clicking here) otherwise the flag may appear but not allow you to book the upgrade to Windows 10.
Update to Windows 10 via Media Creation Tool
Media Creation Tool is a small free application released by Microsoft that allows you to download Windows 10, install it on your PC and create external media, such as USB sticks and DVDs, to install the operating system on other computers. You can use it to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or to perform a"clean" installation of the operating system, that is to format the hard disk of the computer and install Windows from scratch.
But beware: in case of a clean installation, if you have not yet upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 via Windows Update, you will not be able to use your product key to activate the operating system. This means that if you want to take advantage of the free update, you must first validate the product key of your Windows 7 with a direct update to Windows 10 (the one that is done via the flag that appears in the notification area) and then you can use the Media Creation Tool to install Windows 10 in a "clean" way.
And now let's take action. To download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool on your computer, click here to connect to the appropriate web page and then click on the button Download the tool now (32-bit version) or on the button Download the tool now (64-bit version), depending on the version of the operating system in use on your PC.
Once the download is complete, start the program MediaCreationToolxx.exe just downloaded and choose if upgrade your PC now or create installation media for another PC.
To upgrade to Windows 10 directly, all you have to do is put the check mark next to the appropriate item, press on NEXT and wait for all the components required to install the operating system to be downloaded from the Internet. Then you will have to choose whether to download the latest updates available for Windows 10 or to install the operating system as it is, you will have to accept the terms of use of the software (by clicking on the button Accept) and you will have to choose how to install the operating system.
You can install Windows 10 keeping personal files, Windows apps and settings, keeping only personal files (thus deleting Windows applications and settings) or without keeping anything, then performing a clean installation.
If, on the other hand, you want to create an external installation media for Windows 10, select the appropriate option of the Media Creation Tool and click on the button NEXT. Then choose which version of the operating system to download, choose whether to create one USB flash drive (i.e. a USB stick) or whether to generate a ISO file to burn to DVD and indicates the target device or folder of the operating system to start the download.
To install Windows 10 on your PC, you will need to boot from the newly created installation media and follow the on-screen instructions. The operating system setup is very similar to that of Windows 8 / 8.1 and Windows 7, so you shouldn't have any particular difficulties in dealing with it. Choose the option Update: Install Windows and keep files, settings and applications to upgrade to Windows 10 without losing files, apps or settings (option available only on supported systems) or the Custom: Install Windows only to perform a clean installation.
For more information on what to do, check out my guide on how to upgrade to Windows 10.
Switch to Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 is the version of Windows after Windows 7 (and Windows 8, of which however it is only an intermediate update, a sort of Service Pack). Personally, I don't recommend using it as Windows 10 is available, which is newer and also provides a better user experience.
Anyway, if you need it, by consulting my tutorials on how to download Windows 8 and how to switch to Windows 8 you can find all the instructions you need to make the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8 / 8.1.
Article created in collaboration with Mr Key Shop.
How to update Windows 7
