Upgrading Win7 Embedded to Win10

[HCHTech]

One of my retail clients just bought a couple of stores that are closing down. Included in the purchase are a handful of POS terminals (POSx). They are 3 years old, so it seems a waste to not use them, but they have Windows 7 Embedded on them so I'd like to upgrade them to Windows 10 if we keep them.

So....THIS document from Microsoft describes what versions of Embedded can be upgraded.

I would like to just Nuke & Pave them, but I think they would need a Win10 license since the System Information screen currently says "Windows 7 Embedded 64-bit", which I presume is "Windows Embedded Standard 7" from their list.

From a bit of Googling, it looks like I would need Windows 10 IOT, but I have no idea if you can even buy a license for that. I don't even know if updates work the same way as standard Windows versions - more homework. They aren't even running an AV, so that worries me as well.

Has anyone done an upgrade of Windows 7 Embedded to Windows 10? I suppose I should just take one and make an image of the drive, then just try it to see if it works, but thought I would ask first. The final answer might be to just plan on replacing those units anyway, even though they have life left in them. idk

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

I'm interested in this as well. I have a restaurant in a similar situation, though I would prefer they replace the machines since they are a little older. However, I would like to be prepared if they decide they either don't want to replace them or not replace all at once.

 

[Computer Bloke]

...they have Windows 7 Embedded on them so I'd like to upgrade them to Windows 10 if we keep them.

Is that POSReady 7? If so there's no great urgency as extended support for that doesn't end until October 2021.

I can understand wanting everything to be running the latest and (presumably) greatest, but there's a lot to be said for the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach as well.

 

[HCHTech]

Is that POSReady 7?

How would I confirm this? The system information screen just says "Windows 7 Embedded 64-bit"

 

[trevm999]

From what I've heard, Windows 10 IOT is a vastly different architecture than Windows 7 embedded

 

[Computer Bloke]

From what I've heard, Windows 10 IOT is a vastly different architecture than Windows 7 embedded

And with greater hardware requirements, at least if you go for the Enterprise version that's needed to run non-Universal apps. Other things to consider are that it's not just a drop-in replacement and some applications that run on 7 Embedded won't run well on 10 IoT, you (generally) can't upgrade and must do a clean installation instead, and it's not free.

How would I confirm this? The system information screen just says "Windows 7 Embedded 64-bit"

Hmm - that's supposed to tell you whether it's Standard or POSReady as well. If they're only a few years old then the manufacturer's probably still around, so perhaps a quick phone call is in order.

 

[HCHTech]

This has zero-ed in on NOT attempting to upgrade these things. Support goes to 10/21, so they will be 5 years old at that point and ready for new ones. They have Celerons in them with 4GB of RAM, I wouldn't bet on good performance with W10 IOT even if the upgrade worked. The real issue was them being out of support next year and since that isn't true, I'm going to recommend just using them for now and put a calendar reminder to replace them during the summer of 2021.

Plus, that will save them a bit of money anyway - these special market things are expensive. New ones are $1,000 for a 15" touchscreen all-in-one with a Celeron and 4GB of RAM. $1,250 if you get one with an i3. $1,500 for a 17" Wow.

 

[Markverhyden]

On the difference between Embedded and the POSReady version. I seem to remember seeing that during the boot process when M$ put's up a splash screen during the boot process.

 

[nerd2u]

If it's pos ready you should see it during the login process.

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