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Windows 8 Upgrade Paths
Updated: April 15, 2013
Applies To: Windows 8
This document describes upgrade paths for the Windows® 8 operating system.
In this topic:
This section describes the operating system editions from which you can upgrade to editions of Windows 8.
You can upgrade to Windows 8 and keep Windows settings, personal files, and applications from the following Windows operating system editions:
-
Windows 7 Starter
-
Windows 7 Home Basic
-
Windows 7 Home Premium
You can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro and keep Windows settings, personal files, and applications from the following Windows operating system editions:
-
Windows 7 Starter
-
Windows 7 Home Basic
-
Windows 7 Home Premium
-
Windows 7 Professional
-
Windows 7 Ultimate
You can upgrade to Windows 8 Enterprise (Volume License) from the following operating system editions:
-
Windows 7 Professional (Volume License)
-
Windows 7 Enterprise (Volume License)
-
Windows 8 Pro
The following table shows the settings, personal files, and applications that you can keep during an upgrade.
 Note |
|---|
| You cannot upgrade or keep your Windows settings, personal files, or applications if you are performing a cross-language installation. You can only keep your personal files during a cross-language installation by using Windows 8 Setup. |
| Installation paths to Windows 8 | Keep Windows settings, personal files, and applications | Keep Windows settings and personal files (data and system settings) | Keep personal files only (data only) | Keep nothing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Windows XP (Service Pack 3 or later) |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Vista® |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Vista with SP1 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cross-architecture installation (32-bit to 64-bit) Windows Vista with SP1 or later |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Cross-language Windows Vista with SP1 or later |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows 7 |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cross-architecture installation (32-bit to 64-bit) Windows 7 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Cross-language Windows 7 |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows 8 |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cross-architecture installation (32-bit to 64-bit) Windows 8 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Cross-language Windows 8 |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
