I was one of those who took the plunge and installed Windows 10 Technical Preview and about a week ago, I got a notification on my PC asking me to get Windows 10. I did what I was asked and joined the queue of those waiting for the final release of Windows 10 on June 29.
I thought I would get a prompt to update to Windows 10 that day but nothing came up. My PC was connected to the Internet all day. After 3 days, I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to directly install Windows 10 without waiting for the notification. Here’s what I did.
Steps to get Windows 10 without waiting
1. You first need to download and Install Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from Microsoft.
2. Run the software and you’re presented with two choices:
- Upgrading the PC immediately
- Creating an installation media
I normally prefer installing Windows from a flash drive and I have one dedicated for this purpose. I do mess up my PC every now and then and it makes sense to have an installation media at hand for repairs.
This is why I would advise you to choose the second option if you have a USB drive with at least 8GB space. I chose the second option and this tutorial will be based on that. Hit the Next button to proceed. Be sure you have your flash drive plugged in.
3. On the next page, select your desired language, the version of Windows to install (I prefer Windows 10 Pro), and then carefully select the architecture.
Do not select 64-bit unless you have a 64-bit processor on your PC. Be sure of what you’re selecting here.
4. Select the first option (USB flash drive) and proceed.
5. Select your USB flash drive from the list and hit the Next button.
6. At this point you have to wait till the download is complete and the software creates the installation media on your flash drive.
When it’s all done, you can install Windows 10 on the same PC or several other computers.
Upgrading from Windows 7, Windows 8 0r 8.1 Without Losing Data
I chose not to do a clean installation for two reasons:
- I don’t want to lose my programs and settings. More importantly, I have loads of games installed… games that took eternity to install and several tweaks here and there to get right. Can’t afford to lose my progress and all.
- The upgrade is free for anyone with a Microsoft account who partook in the Windows insider program and those with genuine copies of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
With this, you don’t need a serial key to activate Windows 10, it becomes automatically activated if you have a genuine previous version of Windows. If that’s not the case, you’re advised to get a valid serial key before installing.
How to install
1. Open the USB drive and run setup.exe
2. Wait while the installation prepares:
3. If you have a steady internet connection and you don’t want to wait any longer, choose “Not right now” when asked to download important updates.
Perhaps this is why I lost my nVidia display driver. Anyway, the choice is yours here. I choose “Not right now”.
4. Accept the terms and conditions to proceed.
5. You’re shown what the installation would keep and you can choose to change that but I never did. I didn’t want to lose anything.
The rest of the installation is a breeze, it’s more like installing a program and you don’t have to be a geek to get it right. Anyone can do it.
Using Windows 10 already? How’s the experience?