buy another SSD and install the OS on that, make it boot from there, whiles u still have your data in the other

What makes you think the OP doesn't have an external HDD (or DAS or NAS) for backup?

@Elmofongo: Do you have a Western Digital HDD (internal or USB)? If so, you can get a free version of Acronis True Image and make an image (snapshot) of your system drive. If the update to Win 10 doesn't work out for you, you could just revert to how it is now.

You might as well start using Windows 10 now. Because you can't resist it forever. Sooner or later, new hardware & drivers & programs won't be compatible with Windows 7 or below, so you'll have to change OSes at that point, despite how much you may not want to. So might as well get it over with now IMO.

Are you trying to help the OP or just giving some advise to the "average user"?

Personally, I upgraded to Windows 10 a year after release because I wanted to learn how to tweak it to my liking - to turn it into a personal OS without much external interference. But if I wanted to, I could run an Amiga till the end of (my) days.

Resistance is futile. Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.

As long as you're upgrading to the same or (or maybe higher) level. I upgraded Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro. If I were upgrading to Win 10 Home, would've had to be a clean install. You don't need to boot from the media to upgrade - just double click the windows 10 setup.exe and proceed.

You might want to back up your current system though in case you need to roll back the upgrade and Windows fails at doing that. I used Paragon Backup & Recovery (free version). Hadn't needed to roll back in my case, but provided peace of mind.

Only issue I ran into is that sound wasn't working, leading to all videos I tried streaming to hang, immediately after upgrade. But I rebooted and did that windows "trouble shooting" wizard thing and everything started working.

Go back to your Dalek planet!!!

i use win 10 an' i turned ou t fine

imo you are better to get yourself a new laptop that come with Windows 10 because all the parts are made to run it

Just be aware that the upgrade isn't guaranteed to be successful.

If your system is old (say it was upgraded to 7 from XP), you might find that Windows 10 will refuse to install because the OS reserved space isn't large enough.

Sure you can. I'm never putting Windows 10 on any of my hardware. I'll stick with Windows 7 and Linux (Mint).

MS have been trying really hard to force people to Windows 10, for years now, and there is a reason for that as Windows 10 is basically more or less a USA government spytool.

It can be an ok OS in terms of GUI (much better than Windows 8 was), and sure you get the 'free' updates and support going forward, but you will be paying for that 'freedom' with your personal data. Now if you think that is fine, or ok behaviour from an OS provider, then sure enjoy Windows 10 going forward.

If on the other hand you would not, for example, want to install a Chinese OS due to concerns over government prying, then maybe Windows 10 is not such a good idea?

For me it was when they forced Windows 10 on my mother's Windows 7 laptop about two years ago, without any clear notification what it was doing. That was a huge line in the sand MS crossed right there.

Then all the information came out about Xbox One spying on your living room (and MS having to publicly say they removed that!), then all the info on the levels of telemetry and data-gathering WIndows 10 does, and how MS can (and do) simply switch it all back on whenever there are updates.

This is not why i have an OS. So basically screw MS at this point. They are not a company to be trusted at all anymore. And yes i know it is 'fashionable' these days to not care about your online privacy and all that, it is just not a 'culture change' i can get behind.

So going forward my PC's will be Linux with Widows 7 for games (and when new games won't work on 7 i will look for Linux versions, or simply not buy - so many good games out there i'm sure i can live without 'Fortnight 7 ultimate loot crate edition' etc).

Windows 10 is a bad OS, a spyware OS.

There has never been a better time to try Linux out, or a better reason imho. Start with the sticked thread on these forums and also give Adamhm's Linux Mint guide a look:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/adamhms_linux_mint_beginners_guide/page1

This PC I have is Windows 7 Home Premium from the start. I didn't upgrade it from an XP or earlier.

as someone who abhored the whole windows 10 implementation and mayhem, when I was forced to get it on my new alienware laptop this yr I was shocked at how not a bother it all was. By then they had buried the whole sliding tile format that did my head in and allowed alot of customization of how you want your interface to look like, for me its as close to win 7 as i can get it. Start up is almost instantaneous as well. there are a ton of nice improvements and you can toggle off alot of the snooping if thats your thing. im very happy with it

I had to use windows 10 because some of the programs I use demand it. Despite the terrible upgrade system and slow responses, it works fine. But I also didn't want to lose my windows 7. So I bought a new disk and installed Windows 10 in it alongside Linux Mint.

Linux is improving fast but I believe it is still not a "gamers platform" yet. 99 % of my time on PC is on Linux, either Mint or Manjaro. I triple boot Mint, Manjaro and Windows 10. I only use 10 if I absolutely need it. Besides, even tho I am an ex Windows expert (an MSCE to be exact), today I find using Linux A LOT easier than 10. Trying to make things work on 10 can be very hard and challenging, and sometimes totally impossible.

Just thought I should share my experience for those appreciate an alternative. Check out Adam's Linux beginner's guide which is a perfect place to start.