>>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I am considering upgrading my Windows 7 PC (which I use for all my development) to Windows 10.
>>>>>>I bought this Dell PC in 2013, replaced the hard drive to SSD drive some years later. So, as far as the hard disk, I know it has enough for the upgrade.
>>>>>>The PC has 16 GB of RAM.
>>>>>>Processor: Intel Core (TM) i7-3540M CPU @ 3.00 GHz.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Two questions:
>>>>>>1. What do you check on this notebook to make sure it is compatible to Windows 10?
>>>>>>2. I I choose to reformat the drive and install Windows 10 from zero, does the pc/notebook have enough power to run it?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>TIA
>>>>>
>>>>>Windows will check that it can run on your machine during installation. My best suggestion is to replace the HD with a SSD, it's much faster and now they are cheap. That gives you the option to use the old HD for backup, or you can re-insert it.
>>>>>
>>>>>And yes, I'm sure that your machine is powerful enough.
>>>>
>>>>Thank you for your message. I already use/have the SSD drive on this computer.
>>>>Now I am deciding if I should reformat and install every program I have or upgrade.
>>>>I would love to hear from those who upgraded Windows 7 to Window 10 and see if they had any issues.
>>>
>>>I have done both, but a clean install is much better since you most likely have a lot of garbage on the old HD. As I wrote, I always buy a new SSD when I do a new installation on an old machine. That lets me use the old HD as for instance E: and check whatever you forgot to write down, or copy some files which stores important settings. Later you can buy a USB enclosure for the old HD, and use it an external drive.
>>
>>Thank you for clarifying what you mean by the extra SSD drive.
>>My notebook/PC has 3 partitions: C: where all the programs are installed. No data on this partition. D: My data is on this partition; no applications. E: Some more data, no applications.
>>So, if I were to install Windows 10 as Window 10 Pro upgrade, it would all go to the C: drive.
>>And I know that I have some garbage on the C: partition, which would be cleaned. Mostly some old programs that I don't use.
>>But as far as the data, the upgrade should not effect it; since the upgrade should not "touch" D: and E: partitions.
>>I am just thinking of how to save time because installing all programs would take time. Vs, installing just what I really need.
>>Let me ask you (collective you) a question. If I were to install the Windows 10 Pro as new install, I would need to reformat the C: partition, correct?
>
>A quick Google search revealed that Win10 will format the boot drive as part of the installation.

It depends on the option used. If you install using the upgrade option, then it'll not reformat the disc. Although a clean install is preferable, it often requires that you purchase a license for Windows 10. An "in-place" upgrade (i.e. install Windows 10 over the existing older version of Windows) will allow you to use the existing license of the older OS to use in upgrade. Since Windows 10 uses a digital license, once you're able to activate Windows 10, you can do a clean install of the OS (as long as the PC is able to connect to the activation from the clean install). I did an "in-place" upgrade on a number of computers as a "just-in-case" option (even if I was originally intending to revert to the older OS in the end) just before the original free upgrade window was about to close. Due to the way the license for Windows 10 worked, once I activate it after the "in-place" upgrade, I could do a subsequent clean install without needing a separate license. However, as it urned out, although the free upgrade had expired, Microsoft never really turned off that option -- as of a few months ago, the option to use the OS install created through the Media Creation Tool, the bootable disc has the upgrade option still available, and I was able to perform the upgrade and have Windows 10 activated on the computer (which previously had an activated copy of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 on it).