Upgrading my 8 year old Pavilion dv7 Laptop to Windows 10. Pro's & Cons?

[Mike865]

Greetings! I know I'm a bit behind the Windows 10 Upgrade curve but, other than for battery life getting shorter, I have no complaints about my dv7 and the Windows 7 based system.  My tax software is saying that the 2020 version will NOT work on Win-7 so I'm being pushed to upgrade.  I bought a latest gen Dell hybrid notebook for work 4 years ago and had mixed feelings about it and the Win-10 OS.  My dv7 was pretty high-end when I bought and I need some help determining if it could make the transition (upgrade) to Win-10 effectively.  Here's the Details:

 * Intel Core i7 processor, 2 Ghz, 64-bit

 * 6 gigs RAM

 * 600 gig Hard Drive (that's only 27% full)

Windows  Experience/speed/performance scores are 7.4, 7.5. The  basic score is 5.5 based on the graphics (based on how I use it, that doesn't really bother me).

SO, is this core configuration worth upgrading to Windows 10? Is it something that should be done by pro or is a pretty competent computer operator able to do handle safely (with zero loss of data)?

Thanks for your help and comments!

Mike

[IT_WinSec]

Upgrade is most probably possible but there is no official guarantee that all and everything will work fine 100%. If it was produced before August 2013, HP hasn't tested it.

>> https://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c05195282

HP PCs manufactured before August of 2013 might not have a complete set of hardware and/or drivers required to use all of the features in Windows 10.

• HP is not testing or developing Windows 10 drivers for these PC products.
• If you choose to use Windows 10 some features, applications, and connected devices might not work as expected.
• If you still wish to proceed with using Windows 10 on an untested system, please visit the Windows support site (in English) for information and support.
• Already running Windows 10 on an untested device? To find available drivers for these products, see Where Do I Find Windows 10 Drivers and Software for My Model?

Generally speaking, your PC specs sound good. But since your hard disk drive (HDD) is very old and probably slow (considering today's understandings) you may also consider installing an  SSD instead of an HDD - this is strongly recommended as SSDs are way faster, more reliable and lighter. More information about SSDs:

>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001396.htm

>> http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404258,00.asp

SSDs are very cheap. You will need 2.5 inch SSD SATA.

If you want to upgrade installation of Windows (rather than clean install) and if you choose to get an SSD to get into 21 century, your HDD must first be imaged or cloned) and then this transferred to the SSD. Software like Clonezilla may be used.

If you choose to directly use the existing (old) HDD, upgrading to Windows 10 is very simple. Here is how to do it >> https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065140/how-to-upgrade-microsoft-windows-7-10-free-os

Make sure you uninstall any security apps you be running on Windows 7 and also update all of your applications.

While it is unlikely, make sure that you back-up (copy) all of your data just in case something fails.