Windows 7 in place upgrade vs fresh install

By Luke Smits - Founder & Operations Manager
Windows 7 End of Life

As you may be aware Windows 7 is coming to the end of it’s supported life in on January 14 2020. At P1 we have been busy talking to clients about the need to upgrade, as well as the most time and cost effective options.
 
My preference has always been to do fresh installs. Backup the users data, then clear the drive or install a new one, and do a fully clean install of Windows and all the required software. It guarantees a good result, makes the computer faster by clearing out all the rubbish, and gets all your software up to date and working well. The downside is it takes longer, so it costs more, and if you are like many businesses and you don’t have all your passwords,  licenses and subscription information handy, then that can slow us down even further.
 
So where possible we have been doing in place Windows 10 upgrades, and upgrading over the top of the existing install of Windows 7. This retains the users data and programs, and once the upgrade is complete, in theory everything still works. In our recent experience this in place upgrade has been working quite well. There have only been a few cases where old printer software or accounting packages have caused us a few headaches, but they have still been resolved more quickly than would have been the case if we had to have done a full reinstall.
 
So when it comes your turn to upgrade we will discuss the options with you and if some of the computers in your organisation have been reinstalled within the last 2 – 3 years and are all looking pretty clean, then we will try for an in place upgrade, saving you time and money….. But with the one caveat… If it doesn’t go smoothly then what's the backup plan? Have we got your data backed up, and if it does go badly wrong this is how we are going to keep you working while we get to the bottom of the problem, or are able to do a fresh install. As always having a good plan B, C and D Is essential and all part of the job for the team at P1.

Don't delay, schedule an upgrade to Windows 10 this month. 

Luke Smits (Operations and Sales Manager)



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