Windows 8 guide: Upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 8

The upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is very straightforward. To show this we have a demonstration computer in the video above with some software installed including Libre Office and Firefox. We also have some photos in our Documents folder.

Read more: Windows 8 videos

Insert the Windows 8 DVD into the computer and the autorun menu should appear. Click on the top option to run setup.exe. Click on Yes when the User Account Control window appears. The Upgrade wizard will check for updates. If it finds updates it may need to restart. It will do so automatically and then check to enure that your computer is up to running Windows 8.

Enter the product key for Windows 8. This will either be printed in the box that you bought Windows 8 in or in an email if you bought it online. You don't need to enter the dashes as these are inserted automatically. The licence agreement for Windows will appear. Click in the box to agree to the terms and click on Accept.

Select the top option to keep Windows settings, your personal files and programs and click on Next. A quick summary of your choices will be displayed. Click on the Change selection link if you are not happy with them. Click on Install.

The Wizard will then copy the files for Windows and restart several times. This can take some time. You'll know that it's almost done when it says that it is moving your settings. When this is done the Windows 8 personalisation wizard will start.

Choose a colour for Windows. Click Next. If you want to save time you can select the Express settings button to use the settings shown on this screen. There's nothing wrong with these settings but we're going to click on the Customize button to show the sort of options available.

The first option is to enable sharing on your network. For most networks, certainly at home, you'll want to select the top option to enable sharing.

We suggest that you keep Windows Update set to automatically download and install updates. Microsoft has listened to feedback about the infamous automatic restarting and now gives you much more time – 3 days in fact – to restart the computer. It's a good idea to let the computer get drivers automatically as well.

The bottom three options are options to improve your privacy online. Click on Next. The next set of options can be used to enable automatic feedback for Microsoft. Click on Next. We recommend leaving the options for Windows Error Reporting and Internet Explorer Compatibility lists enabled. It's up to you if you want Windows to share your location with apps. Click on Next.

Now you can set up your user account. If you do have a Microsoft account, whether it's hotmail, live or outlook, it's worth adding at this stage so you can use the App Store and keep your settings safe online.

Enter your account email address and click on Next. Enter your password. You can click on the eye icon if you want to check that it's correct. Click on Next. Complete the security info as this will give you means to get into Windows if you forget your password. Click on Next. Windows will display the short video explaining how to the Charms and then finish preparing your account. When it has finished the Start Screen will appear.

You can see here that Windows has kept our photos. And here you can see the software that we had installed on Windows 7 has also been kept.