Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 10

[nintendofan85]

Okay, so I know that only Windows 7 and 8 are eligible for the free upgrade Microsoft is offering to Windows 10.
Well, my dad suggests that my grandma upgrades her computer which is running Windows Vista to Windows 10, as Vista's supports ends in April 2017. He thought he could do it by upgrading it to Windows 7 (he has a copy available somewhere) and then using the free upgrade from there to 10. However, a concern of my grandma's is that there are old applications on that computer that were on the computer they had before that which ran Windows 98 (my grandma and my grandpa had a Windows 98 computer until 2007 when they replaced it with the current one running Vista) and my grandma is unsure programs that date back to Windows 98 could run on Windows 10. So, an idea my dad had is that once the computer is upgraded to Windows 10, we could install a Windows XP virtual machine and run the old programs in that. Is this a good idea?

 

[himeki]

Old programs can run on newer windows, I think on compatibility mode. However, I don't think the free upgrade works on newly installed copies :/

 

[nintendofan85]

Wait, so that particular idea wouldn't work?

 

[Acruoxil]

Wait, so that particular idea wouldn't work?

You don't need to install a virtual machine or whatever on your PC running Windows 10. Like MayorEvvie said, just use compatibility mode. Right click on the program executable > properties > compatibility tab > check run this program in compatibility mode for and select Windows 98.

If your dad has a copy of Windows 7 with a working product key, then yes you can upgrade to Win 10 for free until July 29 2016.

 

[Trundle]

Try your Windows 7 copy out. If it doesn't work, torrent Windows 10. And yeah, a VM will work even if the program itself doesn't. VMs are fun anyways.