Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020

Microsoft has announced that on January 14, 2020, support for Windows 7 will end. Microsoft technical support and automatic updates will end on this date, and platform updates for Microsoft Security Essentials will cease as well.

If your computer has not been tested for upgrade, Dell does not recommend upgrading to Windows 10. Consider purchasing a new PC with Windows 10 that will receive regular security updates. Alternately, if your computer supports a non-Windows operating system, you can install that operating system if it is still supported and secure. Refer to our page on Supported Operating Systems for your computer model for more information.

For information about upgrading a computer tested by Dell for Windows 10, refer to Dell article, "Windows 10 upgrade walkthrough." This article provides step-by-step instructions on updating drivers and software before moving to Windows 10. If you encounter a problem with Windows 10 and wish to go back to Windows 7, refer to article, "How to roll back Windows 10 upgrade to a previous operating system."

For questions about activating Windows 10 after upgrade, refer to Microsoft's articles, "Find Your Windows Product Key" or "Activate Windows 10."

For more information about Microsoft's support retirement for Windows 7, visit the Microsoft Windows 7 End of Life Support page.