Microsoft has ended mainstream support for Windows Vista, not only because it's a five-year-old operating system, but also to further encourage people to use Windows 7. But that doesn't mean users are left completely in the dark, it just means Windows Vista users will only receive security updates and businesses will now have to pay for bug fixes – this is what Microsoft calls an "extended support cycle."
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Pureinfotech | 2019-01-30 17:41:22 |  91,045 Views |
Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 while keeping files and apps
During the operating system's extended support cycle, you won't get new features, bug fixes, performance improvements, or other non-security-related fixes. With that in mind, the next step would be to upgrade to Windows 7, a more feature-rich and stable operating system. And you have a few ways to get there: clean install of a newer operating system, upgrade directly from Windows Vista to Windows 7, or create a virtual machine from your Vista PC and then reinstall Windows 7 — always backing up before proceeding to protect your data, of course.
Before you do anything, the first thing you need to do is back up all your personal files in case something goes wrong. There are many ways to back up all the data on your computer. One of them is to use the Backup and Restore Center feature built into Vista. One of the advantages is that the backup format can be restored in Windows 7. The bad news is that it only allows you to back up files, not the entire computer. For that, you need the Business and Ultimate editions of the operating system. Fortunately, there are third-party products that allow you to back up the entire PC, for example: Acronis True Image Home 2012 PC Backup and Recovery. This is a paid solution, but it has a user-friendly interface and offers full system image backup (operating system, applications, settings and personal files) and recovery. Or Clonezilla, a free and open source backup and restore solution that allows you to clone a single computer's storage media or a single partition to a separate media.
You can also use "Windows Easy Transfer". This is a great utility built into Windows 7 and Windows Vista that allows you to migrate and easily transfer operating system settings and personal files, such as music, pictures, videos, documents, etc. to a new computer (it is recommended to upgrade to a newer version of Windows Easy Transfer if you are using XP or Vista). To learn how to use Windows Easy Transfer, see this previous article. While this solution does not back up the operating system, it at least saves your personal files and settings to a network or external drive.
