fresh 10 install with 7/8 key after 7-29?

ep0x73

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
2,574
Just curious if when the free upgrade expires if they will still allow 7/8 users to do this.

I still have a couple valid 7 keys kicking around for a future build if I can use it for 10.

Searched around but did not find any information.
 
When you upgrade the win 7 or 8 key is authenticated to 10 so if you did the upgrade on those keys you should be able to upgrade after...

Imho Microsoft should just make basic home edition free no more licensing bs then just add extras that they charge for like office and media player. And upgrades to pro or server
 
When you upgrade the win 7 or 8 key is authenticated to 10 so if you did the upgrade on those keys you should be able to upgrade after...
No, that's not how it works at all. The keys are not 'upgraded' to 10.

They keys are used to show you have a valid license that can be upgraded, which is then activated and tied to the hardware and stored on Microsoft's servers as a digital entitlement license.

A Windows 7 key is still a Windows 7 key even if it was used during a Windows 10 upgrade. You just cannot use it on other hardware as long as you are using the 10 license you upgraded too because the full license is considered consumed for the upgrade license of 10.

Searched around but did not find any information.
It's been talked about several times on this forum.

If you have hardware you want to be activated with 10, do it now, then just reinstall 7 or 8. In the future if you want 10 you can just reinstall and skip the product key installation. The 10 activation digital license will activate. If you do not have the hardware you want 10 on, there's nothing you can do with the keys to ensure future Windows 10. You would have to call Microsoft and lie to them and say you had upgraded the machine to 10, then changed the motherboard to get them to force activation on new hardware.
 
Last edited:
Install and activate on machines (a machine is a CPU/Motherboard combo by Microsoft's Terms) you THINK you may need it on, else you're probably going to be rocking Windows 7 after the promo, lol! :)
 
So if you are on Win 7 and upgrade to Win10, after the free upgrade expires and you have to re-install, you will be forced to install Windows 7 without any upgrade option I bet.

So the best idea would be is to backup Windows 10 and create a rescue usb key.
 
So if you are on Win 7 and upgrade to Win10, after the free upgrade expires and you have to re-install, you will be forced to install Windows 7 without any upgrade option I bet.

False. Simply do a clean install of Windows 10 and leave the key blank. Microsoft will recognize your hardware as already being tied to a Windows 10 license and auto-activate once you have an internet connection.

Also, the ability to "upgrade" from 7 to 10 isn't being changed in terms of what options the Windows 10 media will give you on a Windows 7 install. You would still be able to perform the upgrade, it just won't activate afterward. That is unless you already had 10 on that same hardware at some point in the past, in which case it will remember that and activate.
 
When you upgrade the win 7 or 8 key is authenticated to 10 so if you did the upgrade on those keys you should be able to upgrade after...

Imho Microsoft should just make basic home edition free no more licensing bs then just add extras that they charge for like office and media player. And upgrades to pro or server

True, the key is consumed but I would not put it past MS to after this upgrade trial period ends using a valid 7/8 key to activate 10 will still be a valid path.
They could easily with their anniversary update block keys that are not valid 10 keys during the install.
 
The Product Keys are tied to the activation hash so, if you're thinking that you can just install Windows 10 clean, pop in the Windows 7/8/8.1 keys and then get the free upgrade locked in, technically that is true and you can but each one of those will be tied to that hardware configuration in that machine - now, if they're all Retail class keys (which they very well could be) technically you have the right to transfer the license from one machine to the next but, that's going to be a chunk of information you'll need to keep track of.

As stated above, once you take advantage of the upgrade from 7/8/8.1 the activation hash for Windows 10 is stored on Microsoft's servers and will remain there forever (or as long as Microsoft does things this way, at least). Once you've upgraded from 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 you'll never have to type in the Product Key to reinstall Windows 10 at any point - skip it during the install and it'll activate automagically once you're online since that info is stored with Microsoft.

The big issue with this is that technically and legally once you take advantage of the free upgrade you have 30 days to go back to the OS used for the upgrade offer and after that technically and legally you're not entitled to use the previous OS used to take advantage of the upgrade offer.

But I mean, who cares, right? :D
 
That's good to know about the Win 10 key, I have not had to try such a re-install yet luckily.

I guess I am old school back in the day if your motherboard fried and you decided to re-install everything you would use your key and it would work, If now you have a similar problem and put in a new board/drive then you are most likely out of luck. Perhaps calling microsoft would allow you to explain the situation and then they would activate it maybe once for you depending on how many times that particular key was activated.
 
You need to go through the upgrade process before the 29th to take advantage of the free upgrade, unless MS changes it .
The easy way to get the entitlement license to use later, swap a blank hard drive into your system and run the windows 10 install from a USB key. Use your windows 7\8 key to register and check that the activation states the software is activated with a digital entitlement license. Remove that hard drive and put the original back in. In theory you can clean install when you want to and the OS will activate and validate without issue.
 
I need two window 10 keys ASAP anyone got them? Upgrade keys or whatever just want two keys for new builds thanks
 
need two window 10 keys ASAP anyone got them? Upgrade keys or whatever just want two keys for new builds thanks

You don't need Windows 10 keys for upgrades, you need Windows 7/8/8.1 keys for upgrades. For new installs the only source is going to be a purchased Retail key and I don't think anybody is just going to give those away considering the price. :)
 
Back
Top