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Question

Windows 10 Free Upgrade

Jan 25, 2020 5:43PM PST

I am running Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit on my desktop. I have seen numerous blogs about the free upgrade to Windows 10 still being available. My question is if I use the method outlined in these blogs will all my applications and data files be retained or will the upgrade be equivalent to a clean install?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: free upgrade
Jan 26, 2020 12:53AM PST

Most methods, when done correctly, will retain everything. But if it asks "do you want to keep your apps and data" and you answer "no", they will be gone.

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Thanks Kees
Jan 26, 2020 2:21AM PST

for giving me the answer I wanted to read. The irony is that my HP Mini Desktop, while it came with Windows 7 installed, also had Windows 10 installation disks included. However, if i had used the disks some time after I had set it up it would have resulted in a clean install with loss of apps and data and I chose to stay with Windows 7 at the time as I preferred the interface. Now I have to stay safe with the loss of support for Windows 7.
Rest assured I will not say no if asked if I want to keep my apps and data

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Successful Upgrade
Jan 26, 2020 6:46PM PST

I am pleased to report that I successfully updated my desktop from Windows 7 to Windows 10 with all apps and data files retained using the method shown in numerous c/net blogs. One surprising thing however is that my desktop after the upgrade is identical in appearance to the one I had with Windows 7 which used an app called Fences to group app icons into various categories.Perhaps the app Fences overrode the Windows 10 desktop display