free upgrade from windows 7?

*.1, 10 and 11 are the only supported ones.

8.1 is NOT free.

And 11 is outside a 7 machine's capabilities for a clean install. And it does not come for free.

That's leaves 10:

You may or may not still get 10 for free, but you first have to see if 10 is compatible with your device.

The free upgrade to Windows 10 offer from Microsoft expired on the 29th July, 2016.

You will have to contact MS support and they may be able to assist you with a free upgrade to 10..

Also read this information:

All the Ways You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free

Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade | ZDNet

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A word of advice:

You should always have your data backed up to at least two external media destinations (external hard drive, DVDs, flash drive) in case of system file corruption and/or hard drive failure

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Windows 10 media creation tool on the Software download page 

______________________________________________

"Start fresh with a clean installation of Windows 10"

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10startfresh

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This tutorial will show you step by step on how to do an upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

How to Upgrade to Windows 10

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2267-upgrade-windows-10-a.html

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Upgrade to Windows 10: FAQ - Windows Help - Microsoft Support

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Windows 10 supported upgrade paths:

✔ = Full upgrade is supported including personal data, settings, and applications.
D = Edition downgrade; personal data is maintained, applications and settings are removed.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-upgrade-paths

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First thing to do is to make sure that you have the correct system requirements and that your Computer Manufacturer supplies the correct Drivers for 10 for your Model Number.

Driver Downloads:

Acer:

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

Advent:

http://www.adventcomputers.co.uk/product-downloads

Alienware:

http://support.alienware.com/Support_Pages/Restricted_Pages/driver_downloads.aspx

Asus:

http://www.asus.com/support

Dell:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/ProductSelector

eMachines:

http://www.emachines.com/ec/en/US/content/drivers

Fujitsu:

http://www.fujitsu.com/us/support/

Gateway: https://www.gateway.com/gw/en/US/content/drivers-downloads

HP:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html

Lenovo:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/default.page#

LG:

http://www.lg.com/us/support/software-manuals

Samsung:

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads

Sony Vaio:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/select-system.pl?DIRECTOR=DRIVER

Toshiba:

http://support.toshiba.com/drivers

"Windows 10 System Requirements"

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/3884/windows-10-system-requirements

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/windows-10-specifications#sysreqs

If you read those Microsoft's system requirements for 10, you will find that if you only go on them you will be sadly disappointed in performance.

For reasonable performance should have at least:

2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor.

4 gigabyte (GB) of RAM for 32-bit or 8 GB for 64-bit

500GB hard drive

DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver

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Detailed information on Minimum hardware requirements:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/minimum-hardware-requirements-overview

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Some Manufacturers have listed Model Numbers tested with 10 at their website:

Acer - Windows 10 Creators Update

ASUS System Look-up - Find out if your system runs Windows 10.

Dell computers tested for Windows 10 November 2019 Update and previous versions of Windows 10

The following Gateway laptops, desktops and tablets have been tested as being suitable to install Windows 10 Creators Update

HP Products Tested with Windows 10

Lenovo devices tested for Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018

Samsung - Find out if your system runs Windows 10.

Sony - What do I need to install Windows 10 on my PC?

Toshiba - Models tested

Toshiba Windows 10 Upgrade Information

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If you do have to buy Windows 10:

How to buy Windows 10:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/cat/Windows/categoryID.70036700

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If you are upgrading to 10 at least make a system image backup for two reasons.

1. Some people report they don't get the free upgrade and want to reinstall 7, 8, or 8.1 depending what you attempted to upgrade from..
2. If you don't do the system checks and 10 is incompatible with your device and it becomes inoperable.

These are quite good programs to use for Complete PC Backup and are free:

"EaseUS Todo Backup Free"

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

"Welcome to EaseUS Todo Backup Manual"

http://www.todo-backup.com/support/help/

http://www.todo-backup.com/download/docs/User_Guide.pdf

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"Macrium Reflect Free"

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

"Macrium Reflect Tutorial"

http://www.macrium.com/webtutorial/tutorial.asp

Hi Rose. I’m a blue flaming horse.

I am a Microsoft user like you.

I’m sorry to hear that you are facing issues with upgrading decisions and i will try my best to assist you. You have 2 options. Windows 8.1, or 10.

Windows 8.1 is a great OS to use after windows 7. But it’s about to go out of support. I recommend not upgrading to it.

Windows 10 is a great OS that is used on lots of computers. It’s easy to work with, and it’s fast.

That’s all I know about your issue. For further questions to me, Reply to this reply and I will get back to you ASAP. For further professional support: go here:

https://support.microsoft.com/ContactUs 

I hope you get your issue fixed and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Goodbye!

You can try downloading Windows 10 media creation tool. Activation is a hit/miss. If it installs and activates successfully, you're good to go.

As I said, 8.1 is not free.

You asked about FREE upgrades.