How to Skip the Wait for Your Windows 10 Update

By Alaina Yee[UPDATE: We've added a section that covers alternative options to try if the media creation tool's upgrade option isn't working—see Appendix A below.]
Microsoft’s gradual rollout of Windows 10 might mean you’re still waiting your turn to get your free upgrade—but you don’t actually have to be patient. You can skip the line (and escape automatic download woes) and cut straight to the good stuff.
How? By getting Windows 10 through the Media Creation Tool, which you can download from Microsoft’s website. It’s completely legal and legitimate, and doesn’t take much time at all. It also works whether you’ve already reserved a copy of Windows 10 or not.
[Reminder: Getting a free copy of Windows 10 only applies to Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users with valid license keys. All other Windows users (including pirates of Windows 7 and 8/8.1) will have to purchase an activation key. Windows XP and Vista users also don’t get the option to do an upgrade, and must instead do a clean install.]

Step One: Back Up Your PC

Before performing any operating system upgrade, you should back up your machine. (You can find tips for that in Step 3 of our How to Prepare Your PC for Windows 10 feature.) Backing up is a good practice in general, but it’s especially important as a fail-safe should something go awry during this manual upgrade process—or if you decide you don’t like Windows 10 as much as you thought you would, roll back to your previous OS, and discover your system isn’t quite the same as it was before. (At the time of this writing, the reports on switching back to Windows 7 or 8/8.1 say that the results aren’t perfect and can require some cleanup, like reinstalling apps.)

Step Two: Download the Media Creation Tool

Now that you’re disaster-proof, head to Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page to grab the Media Creation Tool. Choose either the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version to begin your download.

Don’t know which version to grab? Pick the 64-bit option if you’re already using a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1, or if you aren’t concerned about running into issues with legacy hardware or software that you use. Opt for the 32-bit version if you’re already running a 32-bit version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1 and want to avoid creating problems for your existing setup.

Step Three: Run the Media Creation Tool

Open the Media Creation Tool, then select “Upgrade this PC now” to begin the upgrade process. (Even if you ultimately want to end up with a clean install, you still need to run the upgrade first to properly activate Windows 10. You’ll perform the clean install afterward.)

The Media Creation Tool will then download Windows 10. When it’s done, accept the EULA, and then choose what you want to keep when upgrading. If you want to keep everything as it is, select “Keep personal files and apps.”

After you’ve made your selection, the Media Creation Tool shows you a confirmation of the settings you’ve picked for upgrade; if everything looks right, click on Install.
(Note: If this step doesn't seem to be working for you, skip down to Appendix A for some alternative options.)

Step Four: Enjoy (Or Not)

Once the upgrade is complete, you can verify that your copy of Windows 10 has been activated by heading to Control Panel > System. If it is, you’re all set to go. Xbox One owners can get started by checking out the Xbox app and trying its game-streaming feature.

If it turns out that you don’t like Windows 10, you can roll back to your previous operating system (though keep in mind, as noted above, that current reports say that doing so comes with a bit of cleanup). To do so, go to Settings > Recovery, and then choose the middle option (e.g., “Go Back to Windows 8.1”). This option is only available for 30 days after you upgrade to Windows 10, so if you decide you hate it, make sure you don’t wait too long to switch back.

Appendix A: Alternate Options

Update 7/31/15: Some folks are having trouble getting the Media Creation Tool to work as advertised, so I've written up a few ways you can get around that.
The easiest fix is to try changing your language settings in the Control Panel to "English (United States)" and then running the upgrade process again. Should that not solve your issue, you can try one of two options.
The first is loading the Media Creation Tool and selecting “Create installation media for another PC” to make a bootable USB drive or download a Windows 10 ISO. The latter is useful if you don’t own a USB drive bigger than 3GB, as you can then burn a DVD by right-clicking on the ISO and choosing “Burn disc image”; you can also just explore the ISO directly if you’re running Windows 8 or 8.1. Open your media—be it a USB drive, DVD, or ISO file—and run the Setup application to begin the upgrade process. Note, however, this seems like a hit-or-miss solution. While it’s been reported to me as having worked, I’ve been stopped at the product key input screen in both Windows 7 and 8.1 each time I tried it, as you can’t skip it and proceed onward without a license key. (And you won’t have one if you’re doing the free upgrade.)

The second is to instead use a Windows 10 ISO obtained directly from Microsoft's website. To start, open your browser and then change its user agent—Windows 7 and 8/8.1 machines get automatically redirected from the Windows 10 ISO download page to the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool page, and you want access to the ISOs. If you're in Firefox, it's easiest to do this by installing an extension; in Chrome, you can install an extension or open up the Developer Tools. If you do the latter, click on the icon that looks like a mobile phone in the upper left corner. You can choose a different mobile device to spoof if you want more screen real estate.

Next, head to Microsoft's Windows 10 ISO download page. Select a version of Windows 10 and then a language; afterward, download options for the 32-bit and the 64-bit ISOs will appear. Pick the version you want and begin your download. Afterward, if you’re running Windows 7, create a bootable USB drive or DVD by using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. If you use Windows 8/8.1, you can skip making bootable media and open the ISO directly through Windows Explorer. Run the Setup application to begin the upgrade process; it’ll default to an in-place upgrade, but you can change the settings to keep only your personal files or to wipe your system.
Incidentally, there is a third option that some folks have used—a registry hack that forces your PC to begin downloading the upgrade—but I’ve chosen to not outline it since I don’t recommend it. If you know what you’re doing, the registry hack is easier, but if you don’t, it’s always possible to create system issues if you make a mistake while tinkering with your registry. Something like the ISO option might be a slight pain because it’s more work, but downloading an ISO file and creating bootable media won’t cause your PC to become unstable if something goes wrong. And once you’re done, you’ll be ready to perform a clean install should you ever want or need to.
Alaina Yee is IGN’s tech editor and resident cardboard fort maker. When she’s not on the hunt for a burrito, she’s probably talking about wanting one on Twitter.