You can perform an in-place migration of existing Windows XP or Windows Vista endpoints to Windows 7, existing Windows 7 32-bit endpoints to Windows 7 64-bit, existing Windows 7 endpoints to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, and existing Windows 8.1 endpoints to Windows 10 on the same equipment.
You can perform the OS in-place migration in two ways.
You can download and apply the Windows base layer in one step. Each endpoint is migrated as soon as Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 image is downloaded to the endpoint. Each CVD starts the migration process as soon as the image is downloaded to the endpoint.
Alternatively, you can download the base layer first and apply it to selected or all CVDs at a later time. This gives you control over when the new OS is applied to specific endpoints. As the amount of time it takes to download might vary by endpoint, you might want to migrate certain endpoints that have finished downloading in advance of the others.
In both cases, you start with a basic procedure, where you can apply CVDs immediately, or can download and apply them later. See Perform Basic Windows OS In-Place Migration.
If you choose to only download a CVD, after the initial procedure is finished, you can complete the migration procedure by performing the steps described in Download First and Apply in Stages.
To perform a migration to different hardware, see Migrating to Windows OS Replacement Devices.
