The wait is over, Windows 10 has officially arrived. If you’re on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7SP1 and have not yet received notification that your download is ready, you currently have two options:
- You can patiently wait for the upgrade notification to arrive via Windows Update to your PC.
- You can download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft and start the process of upgrading to Windows 10 by double-clicking it after downloading and choosing “Upgrade this PC now”.
Regardless of whether you wait to take the upgrade plunge or decide to upgrade now, be sure to familiarize yourself with difference between Express and Custom installations. Choosing the Custom option will require more interaction from you but Windows will be set up exactly the way you want it to (without changing your default programs if you don’t want it to).
Also, before you begin the upgrade process, please be sure to have your important files (documents, music, email, etc) backed up by either copying them over to another drive or using a drive backup (imaging) program. DO NOT rely on creating restore points in Windows because some people have had their restore point cleared after upgrading.
Two great articles on how to create System Images without any additional software are:
After the upgrade, some users were having trouble getting their Windows 10 to activate. The way I got Windows to activate quickly was to open Microsoft Word (I have Office 365) after Windows installed and then waiting a minute or so.
You can check your Windows Activation status by going to Start Menu, Settings, Update & Security, Activation:
I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the upgrade went and I am enjoying Windows 10 so far.