Windows 10 upgrade still free?

[Jim Miller]

A recent email said that the 2016 free upgrade to Windows 10 is still available. I believe the source of this claim was CNET. Google shows several articles that confirm this, but I'm skeptical. Can it be?

I have a 2014 Lenovo laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium/Service Pack 1, which may be able to work with Windows 10. It has an i73610QM CPU @2.3 GHz, 8 GB Ram, and NVIDIA Geforce GT640M LE and 512 GB SS HD. A few years ago I had a clean re-install of Windows 7 to get rid of the peripheral Lenovo junk programs that came with the computer. It's always been a good computer and still runs well - no issues.

Any info on upgrading this to Win 10?

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

Good Question Jim.

My HP ProBook 450 G3 laptop has been a delight but I have it maxed out and don't dare consider an upgrade as I continue using Windows 7 on it currently. I need to store some stuff offsite and/or delight some apps that I don't use - I use it for everything and it works so well.... So I've held off...

Windows 10 is a bit of a hog... We added two new PC's and upgraded three others in our shop when all 7 were brought up to Win10 about a year ago. (Two could not be upgraded so our oldest PC on duty is about 2012 vintage) Keep in mind most of these primarily do single duty running our POS system, with an occasional secondary use.

Laptops were use for everything....surprised they can't make us coffee??

John

 

[Mike Labbe]

It's a loophole, but still works for computers that still have the old 2001 Windows 7 or Windows 8

Download Windows 10

Click the link to create media the media installation tool

After installed, run it and select "Upgrade this pc" and then "Keep personal files and apps". Install will take a while.

Once it is all done and has rebooted many times, you should be able to go to WINDOWS UPDATE and validate the license. If it sees an existing activated win7 or win8 license, it should validate correctly with a new windows 10 license.

Of course if a computer is that old, it may be time to get a new one that already includes Windows 10 and more memory.

Use this advice at your own risk pls

Mike

 

[Jim Miller]

Thanks for your replies. I may do a full backup and then give it a try.

John, like you with your HP, I feel comfortable using this Lenovo laptop; the difference is that mine is nowhere near maxed out. There's plenty of space left in the HD and it's zippy enough to run several programs concurrently.

Mike, I took your advice several months ago and bought a new Dell XPS15-9570 with the newest i9-8950 processor, 32 GB RAM, their best NVIDIA graphics card and some other goodies. So, this older computer is a secondary machine and backup to the newer one.

Another question:
One bit of advice online was to update all of the drivers and BIOS. Is this good advice? It would seem that drivers could be updated later to match the new operating system. Also, I've heard that updating BIOS is ill-advised unless you really need to do that.

What say you?

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

...I have a 2014 Lenovo laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium/Service Pack 1, which may be able to work with Windows 10. It has an i73610QM CPU @2.3 GHz, 8 GB Ram, and NVIDIA Geforce GT640M LE and 512 GB SS HD....

Jim,

You are correct... my HP has almost the same parameters, processor speed and RAM, but only 221 GB HD of which only about 17GB free... so I am still going to hold off. (Good Decision, Mike?)

John

 

[Mike Labbe]

Absolutely! Keeping the dell files and bios files current is always a good idea. (bug fixes) It should come with a tool to automatically check and update itself regularly.

Oh I'd LOVE to have that new computer. My Dell XPS 13 is still excellent, but at least 4 years old now, maybe 4 /1. It is at every trade show, and eventually I'll replace it with another XPS model.

Mike

Thanks for your replies. I may do a full backup and then give it a try.

John, like you with your HP, I feel comfortable using this Lenovo laptop; the difference is that mine is nowhere near maxed out. There's plenty of space left in the HD and it's zippy enough to run several programs concurrently.

Mike, I took your advice several months ago and bought a new Dell XPS15-9570 with the newest i9-8950 processor, 32 GB RAM, their best NVIDIA graphics card and some other goodies. So, this older computer is a secondary machine and backup to the newer one.

Another question:
One bit of advice online was to update all of the drivers and BIOS. Is this good advice? It would seem that drivers could be updated later to match the new operating system. Also, I've heard that updating BIOS is ill-advised unless you really need to do that.

What say you?

 

[Mike Labbe]

Jim,

You are correct... my HP has almost the same parameters, processor speed and RAM, but only 221 GB HD of which only about 17GB free... so I am still going to hold off. (Good Decision, Mike?)

John

That's very tight. I wouldn't do it. It needs at least 20gb, and will keep update files on there for a month taking up a lot of space. Then it has to do a bunch of windows updates to catch up 5 years.

 

[Jim Miller]

Absolutely! Keeping the dell files and bios files current is always a good idea. (bug fixes) It should come with a tool to automatically check and update itself regularly.

My BIOS question is for the older Lenovo machine. Should the BIOS be updated before the Windows 10 upgrade? My understanding is that there may be potential serious problems in doing that. Like "bricking" the computer so it cannot boot. Yes? No? There's a competent computer service guy in the neighborhood, who used to run his own computer store locally. Maybe I'll give him a call, since I'm in over my head here.

The Dell laptop comes with wonderful service. I've called several times for minor issues, and the techs always run the diagnostic and updating tools.

Oh I'd LOVE to have that new computer. My Dell XPS 13 is still excellent, but at least 4 years old now, maybe 4 /1. It is at every trade show, and eventually I'll replace it with another XPS model.

Yes, I'm very pleased with this Dell laptop - I especially like the keyboard, but hardly ever use the touch-screen features. I wish I had gone one step further and purchased the 2-in-1 version of this machine, so I could use it like an iPad with the teleprompter I built.

A couple of things could be better, though. The sound is a little weak; maximum volume is not very loud at all. Also, there are only two USB-3 ports; one on each side, plus one Thunderbolt 3.1 (USB-C) port, which is so close to the USB-3 port, that two wide connectors can't be plugged in at the same time.

This new Dell XPS15 is on the table right next to the old Lenovo Y480, and I often boot them at the same time. Strangely, the old Lenovo boots and operates almost as fast as the new Dell. I realize the differences are measured in microseconds, but I would have guessed the old machine would be noticeably slower. Nope.

 

[Jim Miller]

Jim,

You are correct... my HP has almost the same parameters, processor speed and RAM, but only 221 GB HD of which only about 17GB free... so I am still going to hold off. (Good Decision, Mike?)

John

My old Lenovo originally had a smaller hard drive, too, but it was filled up and replaced with the 512 SSHD years ago. Now I store archive files in external devices and only keep the working files in the computer. Do you have everything in backups? Especially with an older, maxed-out machine, I'd suggest keeping backups - a bunch of them.

Couldn't you buy an external drive or two, and transfer most of the files out of the computer's C drive? Costco has 256 GB thumb drives for less than $35, as I recall, and that should work, as well.

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yea its still good to keep the firmware updated. In fact, the computer is probably taking care of that for you automatically. (My Lenovo at home does)
It could potentially be bricked if you did something like unplugged the power while it was in the middle of updating the firmware, but it's otherwise highly unlikely. They are important bug fixes, and often things required to make a newer operating system work properly.

 

[Jim Miller]

Hmm...May be a problem here. This computer was bogging down from all the mandatory add-ons that came from Lenovo originally, and all of the issues went away with the clean reinstall of Windows 7 some years ago.

Unsure what to do, I downloaded this "System Update" for BIOS, drivers, and applications successfully. The 8.04 MB update was released 16 January 2020., and it took only a minute or two to download and process.

Is that all there is?

 

[Jim Miller]

FYI, here's a snippet of the "Read Me" file that came with the update. I had to limit this to 1,000 characters...
Am I on the right track?

Lenovo System Update
for Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows 10
Version 5.07.0092
Installation Readme

Note: Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5.2 or above is required for System Update to work correctly.

System Update downloads software, driver and BIOS updates from a Lenovo server directly over the Internet without requiring specific user knowledge of where the package is located or if it is needed by the target system.

The benifit to help you keep your system up to date and secure are:

- Provides a direct connection to Lenovo server and support
for ThinkPad and ThinkCentre drivers, software and BIOS
updates.
- Helps maximize your system performance and minimize security
vulnerability.

Summary of Changes

Where: < > Version number
[Important] Important update
(New) New function or enhancement
(Fix) Correction to existing function


==================================================================
<5.07.0092> 2020-01-08 release

- Enhancement:

1. Add link to 3rd party open source licenses notice file.
2. Add warning texts to "Reboot now" dialog.
3. Fix potential security issues.

==================================================================



<5.07.0088> 2019-08-01 release
========================
- Enhancement:

Enhancement to address CVE-2019-6175

- Fixed:

User can't launch clean-installed TVSU when scheduler has been set by AD.




<5.07.0084> 2019-05-24 release
========================
- Enhancement:

Enhancement to address LEN-27348 (https://support.lenovo.com/product_security/home)

- Fixed:

TVSU-200 [LSU 5.07.0080]：Cause BSOD when check for updates on Win10 RS6

TVSU-197 PSIRT - service writes a log file to an unprotected folder

TVSU-193 Unexpected exception when saving history to SQLite - Remove unnecessary code change

TVSU-192 Set the max length of package id/name to 30

TVSU-190 [LSU 5.07.0078]: Cannot save metrics setting when install delayed reboot update

Fix SSRB issue：Update CV library to the latest

Fix SSRB issue：Use full path of PowerShell

Fix SSRB issue：Update SQLite

Improve search progress display


<5.07.0078> 2019-01-25 release
========================
- Fix:
TVSU-186:[LSU 5.07.0077]: [NLS] The reboot message\no ac prompt\count down message have not been translated in NL

TVSU-187:[LSU 5.07.0077]: [NLS] The title for count down box shows as ???? in JP

TVSU-188:[LSU 5.07.0077]: [NLS] Words truncation of "restart now" on count down box

TVSU-160:Supports new updates with "Deplayed" reboot type

TVSU-173:Record history of updates processed by TVSU in WMI

TVSU-174:[LSU 5.07.0075] Pop up reboot count down dialog if installed both RT 1 and 5 updates

TVSU-175:[LSU 5.07.0075] rt_0 coreq rt_5 and rt_0 installed before os restarted for rt_5

TVSU-176:[LSU 5.07.0075] Didn't generate detailed result when ignore to install RT_5 update for e-Service

TVSU-177:Adjust the installation sequence of reboot type=0, 3

TVSU-178ifferentiate the SU default return value-2147483638

TVSU-180:Tune the process bar to show the real-time process




<5.07.0074> 2018-10-22 release
========================
- Fix:
[LSU 5.07.0073] Couldn't save credential for UNC repository



<5.07.0072> 2018-03-26 release
========================
- Fix:
1.CET: TVSU ask for credential prompt when running under standard user
2.Mapdrv will crash in GUI mode if unc path is empty and user password input more than 300.
3. CVE-2017-3773
- Update:
1.Update CV library to the latest version - 3.0.9
2.Show Lenovo support website hyperlink when catalog exception
3.Copyright changed to 2018



<5.07.0070> 2017-12-12 release
========================
- (Fix) Fixed some issues,improve user experience.


<5.07.0059> 2017-06-09 release
========================
- (New) Integrate certificate needed by CV library
- (New) Apply InnoSetup instead of Installsheild
- (Fix) Fixed some issues


<5.07.0053> 2017-05-09 release
========================
- (New) support recommend driver auto-update feature (default setting: critical update and recommend driver)
- (New) Online subscription file support
- (New) Support clound repository
- (Fix) Fixed some issues


<5.07.0045> 2017-01-18 release
========================
- [New] Updated Certificate Validation library
- [New] Updated Quality Statistics library


<5.07.0042> 2016-12-10 release
========================
- [New] Support TLS1.2
- [New] Integrate Certificate Validation library
- [New] Integrate Quality Statistics library
- [Important] Change Schedule Update from 1 per month to 1 per week

<5.07.0037> 2016-09-10 release
========================
- [New] Support 7 new certificates


<5.07.0032> 2016-07-07 release
========================
- [Important] Improve reliability of schedule task
- [New] Support command line
- (fix) Fix some issues


<5.07.0029> 2016-05-25 release
========================
- [Important] Support integration with eService for auto driver update.


<5.07.0027> 2016-04-25 release
========================
- [Important] Fixed some security vulnerabilities issues
- [Important] Fixed issue of getting wrong file version in Windows 10
- [Important] Disable Metrics collection feature

<5.07.0022> 2016-01-13 release
========================
- [Important] Forbid critical update without previous version
- [Important] Differentiate drivers installed by Windows Update
- [Important] Integrate new Metrics SDK

[....JM NOTE: omitted everything prior to 2016...]

(C) Copyright Lenovo 2020. All rights reserved.

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yea Lenovo will check the drivers they provide for the unit, as well as the firmware, with the same utility, and update them as needed. (mostly security and bug fixes) All good stuff

 

[Jim Miller]

Thanks for your affirmation of these steps, Mike. I'll give that Windows 10 download a try now. (fingers crossed!)

 

[Jim Miller]

From the Lenovo support website I ran diagnostics and all the hardware checked out OK, but it would not finish the separate scan for "Automatic Driver Update".

When I tried to download the BIOS update (dated 05 Jan 2013), this came up a moment after the progress bar began to run:
"The version of rom file isn't newer than version of bios" Does this mean the BIOS is up to date?

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yes it means that the computer probably already updated itself to a newer one

 

[Jim Miller]

Mike:
Thanks for your hand-holding in this project.
It worked! After checking everything and finding no issues, I commenced the upgrade. It took hours, just as you said it would, then it went through several rounds of updates, and then the activation went flawlessly. As far as I can tell, all of the programs are fully functional and files are all intact.

I was considering spending money for the upgrade. I wonder how many people actually buy a new Windows 10 license, thinking that the free upgrade is no longer available?

HAPPY DANCE!

 

[Mike Labbe]

Excellent

 

[Jim Miller]

Follow up...
It's been more than 6 weeks since I downloaded the free Windows 10 upgrade in my Lenovo laptop. What a difference! It's running flawlessly and faster than ever. In fact, it boots faster than the new Dell XPS15-9570, which has all the latest goodies. Go figure.

Anyway, I'm grateful to have this forum as a resource of information and reassurance. Without that, I probably would still be hobbling along with Win7.

 

[Mike Labbe]

I'm so happy to hear that, Jim!

Win10 is the best one yet, IMO

The forum greatly benefits from your experience and advice.

 

[Pat Murphey]

Follow up...
It's been more than 6 weeks since I downloaded the free Windows 10 upgrade in my Lenovo laptop. What a difference! It's running flawlessly and faster than ever. In fact, it boots faster than the new Dell XPS15-9570, which has all the latest goodies. Go figure. ...

Just wait until you have to spend an hour or so waiting for one of the regular updates to complete.

On that note, you are usually given the opportunity to schedule them when the computer is not in use, (That works in a desktop that is never turned off.)

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yes. Twice per year, they give you a whole new service pack/version. (Spring and Fall) These download in the background, but can take an hour or so to install.

 

[Pat Murphey]

There are interim upgrades a lot more often than that (from experience)...

 

[Jim Miller]

Just wait until you have to spend an hour or so waiting for one of the regular updates to complete.

That's OK with me. It's free and I'm just tickled to have all of those new operating system parts choreographed to find their way to the right place...wish I could watch them dancing inside my computer.

 

[Pat Murphey]

And, I am not complaining - it's the best Windows ever.