Win 10 update over corrupted Win 7

[gravelcords]

I'm running Win 7 on an Alienware R4, and it's time to reinstall Windows (weird messages and the usual stuff that seems to happen after about three years with any Microsoft OS; Windows Update is goofy, can't find the network on boot, etc.) It IS working however, but instead of formatting and putting Win 7 back on the system, can I just upgrade to Win 10 ? My question is, will it overwrite everything and give me a clean OS, or will I be looking at the possibility of some issues remaining?

I've performed a full system backup (I use Acronis) and assume that when I want to restore just the files and folders, Win 10 will read these OK, even though they were performed with Win 7 OS still on the computer. I expect to have to find some drivers and other minor things, and some of the older programs might not work, etc. I can supply more info, but I'm just laying out the question in general. Any advice?

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
IF you have a legit Windows 7 product key and use the latest ISO to create you installation media from here
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/techbench
Choose Windows 10, the first item in the first drop down (not single language at the bottom)
Next choose your language and your bit version (32 or 64 bit to match your system architecture or in the case of an upgrade, to match your currently installed version of Windows).
That will provide an ISO that will upgrade, repair (or clean install) either or both Windows 10 Pro and Home.
Once you have downloaded the ISO you can use ImgBurn to burn it to a DVD http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
OR
Rufus to burn it to a USB ThumbDrive http://rufus.akeo.ie/
When you boot from the installation media it should allow for a custom clean install and when you are prompted for a product key it should accept your Windows 7 product key to support the installation.
The ISO supports both Home and Pro, your principle concern is to download the correct bit version for your system architecture.