How to force an upgrade to Windows 10 before the free offer runs out

It’s the first Windows upgrade to be made available without charge, except on newly-purchased machines - and about time, too. The cycle of free upgrades is expected now on Apple and Android devices, and it’s pretty much forced Microsoft’s hand.

Currently, the company says the new system will remain free until this summer. Whether the deadline will be enforced, supplanted by a different offer, or simply removed, remains to be seen.

There are perfectly good reasons for NOT upgrading: you may be running apps that are incompatible with the new system, or you may want to avoid the learning curve a new system typically brings.

Furthermore, Windows 10 lacks a few features that previously came free: DVD playback, Solitaire and support for floppy disks among them. Windows 7 “desktop gadgets”, a gimmick long since abandoned by Microsoft, will also not work on newer systems - and the new web browser, Edge, is, to put it politely, a work in progress. But it’s easy enough to install Google Chrome in its place.

Neither are you risking your security by not updating, since Microsoft will continue to support Windows 7 for another four years or so, and Windows 8 for longer still.

But there are advantages, too: if you are upgrading from Windows 7 in particular, you should see a dramatic reduction in boot-up time.

Windows 10 was introduced last August, since when 200 million PCs worldwide are said to have been sent their free upgrades. Yet there are two eligible computers in my house alone that have not - and while I am happy for now to keep Windows 7 on them both, it’s clear that that the auto-upgrade mechanism does not always work.

So if you do want to upgrade and you haven’t been offered the chance to do so automatically, this may be the time to take matters into your own hands. Here’s how...

The official website windows.microsoft.com now includes two tools to “force” Windows 10 on to the PC you are using, or on to all your available computers. Following the (admittedly confusing) on-screen instructions, you can download a small program which in turn will install the necessary upgrade files and walk you through the process; or you can receive a bigger file which can be used as an install disc, once transferred to a USB stick or DVD.

Either way, you can expect at least three gigabytes of data to pass through your broadband pipe - something to bear in mind if you are on a limited monthly allowance.

That data, once downloaded, has to be stored somewhere - and if you are running short of hard disk space, you may be told to delete large files you no longer need, before proceeding further. If the install succeeds, there may be so little space left when it’s over that your computer becomes unresponsive. If that happens, you will have to remove the temporary installation files.

If it all sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, it probably is. On the other hand, when was the last time you turned your nose up at a free offer?