Microsoft has generously offered Windows 10 as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, and so far the response has been very positive. In this article Benchmark Reviews details the steps needed to successfully complete a full backup of Windows 7 or Windows 8 to a System Image, prior to upgrading to Windows 10. This process preserves everything on the drive, and may be used to restore back to your previous installation without losing any data or applications. This guide may also be used to create a Windows 10 backup System Image, or for creating a hard disk image that can be restored onto an SSD.