SOLVED Vista Question

[Vince Massi]

We all know that the free MS upgrade to Wind 10 is only for Win 7 & 8.

Suppose you put the installation program onto a DVD or thumb drive. Could you then install it onto a computer with Windows Vista?

 

[Tim Locke]

I would think a full W10 would install over Vista but it would be a fresh install with no files or anything else saved across the install. And unless it was a paid for version it would not activate.

 

[Vince Massi]

I'm afraid that you're right, Tim. If you install Win 10 from the web onto a thumb drive or DVD, it is the same one that people are downloading for free. It will go onto a computer with Vista or even XP, if the hardware supports it. But it will check for a legal 7, 8, or 8.1 key, and refuse to activate if it doesn't find one.

You can install the Win 10 preview over Vista, and MAYBE it will continue to run well for a while.

People who installed a legally-purchased Windows 8 Upgrade over the free preview version were technically allowed to do so, but later, MS started harassing them with pop-ups, and then would not let them install 8.1 or 10.

Getting back to Vista, you can pay $119 for a legal Windows 10 that will only do a clean install. But the old hardware will have a hard time with it. You would probably do better buying a used 7 or 8 computer and installing 10 for free. Incidentally, the used Windows 8 laptop I bought from a pawnshop installed 10 with no problem.

In my opinion, people still using XP or Vista are getting what they want (They can't play modern high-tech games, but their hardware can't support those games anyway. If they are only surfing the web and running basic tasks, they wouldn't benefit from an upgrade to 10 anyway.

 

[Defender01]

In my opinion, people still using XP or Vista are getting what they want (They can't play modern high-tech games, but their hardware can't support those games anyway. If they are only surfing the web and running basic tasks, they wouldn't benefit from an upgrade to 10 anyway.

Yes i still use one Desktop with XP & a laptop on Vista & both are running perfect.
Strangely enough i got some security updates for XP last month.

 

[Tim Locke]

I should have mentioned the potential hardware problem in last nights post. I suspect that many of the CPUS, if not all of them , from the Vista era don't have the new instruction set that W10 requires.

 

[Vince Massi]

Note to Defender: I just got a Windows XP update.

According to different web sources, the updates are security updates, Windows Explorer updates (They found a major flaw after ending Explorer updates, and MS decided to release it anyway), updates to other MS programs (such as Office), and occasional Win 7 or 8 updates that are compatible with XP. I question the last one, though.

Everyone reports that the updates have done them no harm.