If you are still using a PC or laptop running Windows XP, you should consider upgrading as soon as possible. I will explain how to upgrade your computer to Windows 10.
Over the years, Windows XP became more and more popular. In 2007, Microsoft launched the new Windows Vista operating system, but it gained many unfavorable opinions due to the overloaded interface, resource availability and instability. Therefore, many users still used Windows XP. It should also be known that a significant proportion of governmental, non-governmental and military organizations used Windows XP. As a result, Microsoft extended extended system support for 2001 for a long time.
Time to Upgrade to Windows 10?
Due to the lack of support from Microsoft, Windows XP is exposed to viruses and malware. They can exploit all existing vulnerabilities that will no longer be patched.
If you are also one of these users, you had better perform a system update since the old operating system is vulnerable to viruses and malicious programs without security updates and technical support from Microsoft. Besides, your machine may run very slowly.
Now Windows 10 is the latest version of the operating system and it offers powerful features.
To get a safe system and fast user experience, you can choose to upgrade from XP to Windows 10.
Can I Update Windows XP to Windows 10?
Windows 10 upgrade from XP cannot be done as an 'in-place' upgrade and you need to wipe the hard drive and start from scratch. That is, you need to install Windows 10 on the old computer and there's no way to upgrade and keep your files, settings, and programs.
Compatibility
Before doing the check, let’s look at the system requirements of Windows 10.
Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800 x 600
RAM: 1GB for 32-bit or 2GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space: 16GB for 32-bit, 20GB for 64-bit. Since May 2019 Update, the 64-bit system needs at least 32GB.
To know more details on Windows 10 system requirements, refer to this post - Windows 10 Requirements: Can My Computer Run It.
To Upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10
Step 1: Create a Backup for Your PC
Backing up files in Windows XP is fairly important to make sure the data security since some data will be erased during the system installation process. Well then, how can you create a backup for your files on the PC?
Use Built-in Backup Tool in XP
In Windows XP, there is a built-in tool that can be used to back up your files. You can use it before you upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10.
The operations are a bit complicated and not convenient. You can refer to this post for a detailed steps. Besides, the backup tool is not powerful. Here, you can try a third-party free backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker.
Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Back up Files
MiniTool ShadowMaker is a piece of professional PC backup software that is designed to back up files & folders, disks, partitions, and Windows operating systems. It supports incremental, differential, and automatic backup. Besides, you can use it to sync files and clone disk.
Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker in Windows XP.
Choose the local backup by clicking the left Connect button.
Navigate to the Backup page, click Source > Folders and Files, and then choose files you want to back up.
After going back to the Backup window, click Destination and choose a path to save the backup. Also, an external hard drive or a USB flash drive is recommended.
Finally, click Back up Now to execute the file backup task. And you can see the result in the Manage page.
Step 2: Upgrade XP to Windows 10 via a Clean Install
Create an Installation USB Drive
When referring to creating a bootable drive, many of you consider using Media Creation Tool. In Windows XP, it cannot be used since the operating system is too old. But you can choose to use this tool on another PC that runs Windows 7/8/10.
In this post - How to Create a Bootable USB from ISO Windows 10 for Clean Install, we have described many details on the creation.
If you still need to create an installation drive in Windows XP, you need to firstly download an .iso file of Windows 10 and then use a third-party tool like UNetbootin to burn the .iso file to your flash drive.
Clean Install
The following is how to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10 via a clean install.
1.Boot your computer to BIOS and change the boot order to boot it from the created bootable USB drive.
2. Select the language, keywords, time and currency format.
3. Click the Install now button from the new window.
4. Type the license key that you have purchased and click Next.
5. Decide the edition that you need to install. Note that the edition should be the one you have bought a key for.
6. After accepting the agreement, click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
7. Delete the system partition where Windows XP is installed to get an unallocated space
8. Choose this unallocated space to install Windows 10 and click Next to start the installation process.
After accepting the agreement, click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
Now you know much information on the update. Just follow the guide for the update.
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