Here is what I recommend - first your Data
Get an external drive with enough space on it to handle all your data. You can use a thumb drive if you don't have much on your computer. Many people have lots of photos and documents so, I would suggest an external hard drive. That'll cost about $79 at Costco.
Create a backup folder on the Drive call it Backup_MM_DD_YYYY
On Windows 7 navigate to C:\Windows\User(your user Name) Then Drag following the following folders in that directory to that back up folder:
Favorites, Contacts, Documents, Pictures, Downloads, and Videos
For most people this is all you will need to do - it keeps your data safely off your computer. The operating system and programs can be replaced your personal data and photos cannot.
If you are going to do a "clean" Windows 10 install the you will also need to ensure that you have a disk or a setup file for each program you need to re-install to Windows 10. E.g. Microsoft Office, Photoshop or what ever else you use. There will be lots of programs (many free) that you can download from the store as well e.g Skype etc
A lot more complex option is to purchase a new hard drive to replace the one in your current laptop get a disk enclosure to temporarily attach it to your laptop. Then duplicate your hard drive (there are free programs to do this).. Now you can upgrade your system to Windows 10 and have a duplicate copy of your Windows 7 environment. You can pop that drive into your computer at any time and boot up your original Windows 7
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