If you are still using a PC or laptop running Windows XP, you should consider updating as soon as possible. In this article, I will explain how to upgrade your computer to Windows 10.
Carrying out the Windows update process requires the use of the "Update" service, which of course requires an Internet connection to work properly. The problem arises when we do not have access to the Internet. Fortunately, this doesn't mean you can't update your system.
Windows XP is an old operating system, released in 2001. On April 8, 2014, extended support for XP ended. However, up to now, there are still some persons using Windows XP on their computers.
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 You Update Windows XP to Windows 10?
If you are running Windows XP, your computer is likely to be too old and may not satisfy the requirements for an upgrade to Windows 10. To know if your machine is eligible for the upgrade, you can choose to check the full device compatibility.
If not, you can choose to purchase a new computer pre-installed with Windows 10 operating system.
Besides, 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.
In the following part, let’s see how to check the compatibility to see if your machine meets the requirements of Windows 10.
Check Your Hardware for Compatibility
Windows 10 update depends on the components in your system. Checking if your hardware of the machine is compatible is the first thing you should do.
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.
Now you should check the computer to see its specifications. There are some ways you can try and let’s see them.
Right-click My Computer and choose Properties. Then, you can see some information including system version, CPU, and RAM.
Or you can press Win + R to get the Run window, type msinfo32, and click OK. In the System Information interface, you can see the system specifications.
To know the DirectX version, you can type dxdiag to the Run window and press OK to open DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Then, you can see the version information. Also, you can see the specifications of the processor and memory.
After finishing the check, you should know if your computer can be upgraded to Windows 10 from XP. If yes, it is time to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10 by following these steps below.
How to Upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10?
As mentioned above, Windows 10 upgrade from XP is not an in-place update but a reinstallation of the operating system. This will clean your computer, for example, delete your files, apps, and settings and start from scratch again.
Thus, the update requires two necessary steps: back up your computer files to an external hard drive and install Windows 10 on the hard drive.
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. Just follow these instructions:
In XP, clickStart > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backupto get the Backup or Restore Wizard.
Decide what you want to do:Back up files and settings.
Specify the item you want to back up and here we checkLet me choose what to back up.
Check the boxes of the folders that you want to back up.
Choose a place to save the backup. Here, we recommend using an external hard drive.
Click theFinishbutton to start the backup operation.
The operations are a bit complicated and not convenient. 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.
Navigate to theBackuppage, click Source > Folders and Files, and then choose files you want to back up.
After going back to theBackupwindow, 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
After finishing the backup, the final step for Windows 10 upgrade from XP is performing a clean install. To do this work, you need to create a bootable USB flash drive.
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.
Boot your computer to BIOS and change the boot order to boot it from the created bootable USB drive.
Select the language, keywords, time and currency format.
Click theInstall nowbutton from the new window.
Type the license key that you have purchased and click Next.
Decide the edition that you need to install. Note that the edition should be the one you have bought a key for.
After accepting the agreement, click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
Delete the system partition where Windows XP is installed to get an unallocated space
Choose this unallocated space to install Windows 10 and click Next to start the installation process.
After finishing the installation, follow the on-screen instructions to configure your computer. After that, restore your backed up files to your hard drive. Also, you can set up your new system and here this related article - Computer Setup: How to Set up a New Computer with Windows 10 is helpful for you.
Some Suggestions After You Upgrade Windows XP to Windows 10
After Windows 10 upgrade from XP, there are some things you can do:
Update Windows 10 to the latest versions. Just go to Settings > Update & Security and check for updates. If there are available updates, install them.
Ensure your device drivers are up-to-date. You can open Device Manager to right-click a driver and choose Update driver. Also, use a professional driver update tool for this work.
Create a system image for your new operating system. To do this work, the professional Windows backup software, MiniTool ShadowMaker can also be used. Just run this tool, go to Backup to choose system partitions (selected by default) and a destination path, then start the system backup.
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