How to force Windows 10 Install from Win Update

S

SlayVus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
216
  • Delete everything out of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
  • In Windows Updates, Click to search for updates, leave the window open but dont hit search yet
  • Open command prompt as Admin and type "wuauclt.exe /updatenow" but DONT HIT ENTER
  • In Windows Update, Click to search
  • While it is searching hit enter on the command prompt
  • You're now downloading W10

This is so you can force the update if your wave has been selected yet.
 
This doesn't seem to work. By "Click to search" do you mean "Check for Updates"?
 
Question would be if 10 is so damn good why do you have to jump hoops to upgrade to it?
MS has their head up their ass again on their touted roll out?

So much for that smooth transition they are pushing.
 
ep0x73 said:
Question would be if 10 is so damn good why do you have to jump hoops to upgrade to it?
MS has their head up their ass again on their touted roll out?

So much for that smooth transition they are pushing.
Click to expand...
Whoa ... come back home bud, back to Earth.

Microsoft is staggering the rollout. This method forces the upgrade before you are officially set to upgrade.
 
ep0x73 said:
Question would be if 10 is so damn good why do you have to jump hoops to upgrade to it?
MS has their head up their ass again on their touted roll out?

So much for that smooth transition they are pushing.
Click to expand...

Do you truly believe this or are you just needing an excuse to complain? These directions are if you do not want to wait for the wave of upgrades to hit your computer. :rolleyes:
 
I don't get it. This doesn't work on two Win7 64 computers (one pro, one ultimate). As mentioned on other forums, I also deleted the contents of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and it still didn't work. I have updates set to automatic as well.

I guess I'll just have to wait.
 
prime2515102 said:
I don't get it. This doesn't work on two Win7 64 computers (one pro, one ultimate). As mentioned on other forums, I also deleted the contents of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and it still didn't work. I have updates set to automatic as well.

I guess I'll just have to wait.
Click to expand...
Is it possible you don't have Windows 10 fully downloaded?
 
On 2 of my machines, I noticed that the download succeeds (it instantly jumps to 99%), but fails on installation. I'm guessing that this is the same behavior everyone else is seeing. Probably isn't my turn yet I suppose.
 
Hurin said:
If you want to skip all the hub-bub and just install it directly, you can now download the Windows 10 installer and media creator here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Click to expand...

Saw this link before this thread, I used the link and was able to upgrade my htpc with no issues. It gives you the option of creating media or simply updating to 10. Worked well for me.
I use Start8 for the windows button on 8.1, I forgot and left it installed and it still works. I will probably turn it off to see how I like the stock windows 10 version.

Also note, the only thing I've had to reinstall so far were my Nvidia GPU drivers. After the install (upgrade) they were completely gone.
 
Thanks, just tried and its now downloading Windows 10. Clicked "check for updates".
 
bigdogchris said:
Is it possible you don't have Windows 10 fully downloaded?
Click to expand...

This must have been it. I felt my computers on and came back at noon and suddenly my internet connection was saturated. I waited for it to stop, ran the command, and it downloaded the upgrade... um... starter... thingy... lol

It worked on both computers too.
 
Anyone know any way to force the "Get Windows 10" app to recheck your PC? It was giving me issues due to Corsair being Corsair and not bothering to update Link drivers for Win10 compatibility (not shocking since the fucking thing fights working on 8.1) so I removed all the software and drivers then just unplugged Link from my motherboard yet the app won't update it's scan of my system from yesterday.
 
Tried this and media creation tool, its not working. The creation tool said it downloaded and saved the iso like I told it to do, no iso anywhere. Now to spend hours downloading again. Sometimes I really hate microsoft.
 
As my PCs haven' been offered the chance to upgrade as of yet, I'm considering that Media Creation Tool. However, I saw something in the FAQ for the tool regarding media creation for clean install that is worrisome..


  • If you upgraded to Windows 10 on this PC by taking advantage of the free upgrade offer and successfully activated Windows 10 on this PC in the past, you won't have a Windows 10 product key, and you can skip the product key page by selecting the Skip button. Your PC will activate online automatically so long as the same edition of Windows 10 was successfully activated on this PC by using the free Windows 10 upgrade offer.
This sounds to me like if you upgrade from Win7 or 8/8.1, you will NOT be granted a product key! For someone who was planning to upgrade just to be able to run clean installs, this is worrisome for a number of reasons. First, without a product key it sounds like you're dependent on MS simply being able to "tell" that this PC was upgraded in the past. How do they do that? Do they hash or something and send it back to MS? Do they leave a file or something locally and if so, that surely must be wiped away by a reformat and/or clean install.


In addition, I've been waiting to install my new mobo/proc/RAM until Win10 arrived and I was able to upgrade on my old hardware etc.. just to save myself more reformats/clean installs. If you're not granted a product key, then I'm worried that MS will refuse to activate an install on my new hardware, as they'll decide it is a different PC! Given it is an upgrade from old X58 w/BIOS to new X99 with UEFI, I expect that any automated system/hash will reject me outright without a product key.

Anyone have some more info on this? Has anyone successfully upgraded to Win10 Pro, and then somehow gotten a product key from that install, that you have used to successfully install and more importantly, activate, a reformatted/clean Win10Pro on the same hardware or even elsewhere?


Edit: Is there difference in product key generation between the offered "in line upgrade" and manually using the Media Creation Tool?

Edit the second: I found a discussion of this issue in another nearby thread, for others who may be interested. Seems there is no product key at all and I was right about hashes being stored on MS servers. Sigh. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1870390
 
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This method worked to force the Windows 10 upgrade but the system is not activated. Pressing the Activate button gives an error that Windows cannot activate now, try again later.

Yes, Windows 8.1, which I upgraded from, was activated with a legit key.
 
ManofGod said:
Do you truly believe this or are you just needing an excuse to complain? These directions are if you do not want to wait for the wave of upgrades to hit your computer. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

No, just looks like another borked attempt by MS for a simple and smooth transition.

While I am complaining I have the latest and last Nvidia drivers for my card for 10 and it's crashed a few times already, never did with 7.

I also notice Mozilla plug in likes to crash so apparently 39 is not completely 10 ready?
 
I was finally able to get the system to activate by constant attempting until it went through.

Afterwords I used the utility to download a ISO and did a clean install. The system will now not activate. It says the product key is invalid.

So I don't know how you're supposed to do a clean install.
 
ep0x73 said:
No, just looks like another borked attempt by MS for a simple and smooth transition.
Click to expand...

What part of Windows 10 rolling out in waves is so hard to understand? If you don't want to wait for it to arrive through Windows Update, just grab the media installer from their website.

This is an extremely well done release.
 
bigdogchris said:
I was finally able to get the system to activate by constant attempting until it went through.

Afterwords I used the utility to download a ISO and did a clean install. The system will now not activate. It says the product key is invalid.

So I don't know how you're supposed to do a clean install.
Click to expand...

The only thing I can think of is that the first install you did wasn't an actual upgrade, as odd as that sounds. I'm hoping you made a backup or image of the system prior to getting into this whole process that you can roll back to, if not then it could end up being a complicated process of a clean install of 7/8/8.1 (whichever one you were using), then a proper upgrade (using the ISO pushed to a USB stick or even mounted or extracted, whichever) of Windows 10 after which you should be able to then do a proper clean install straight through without issues.

If it's complaining about the Product Key being invalid, that means it's using the "stock" Product Key for Windows 10 preview builds and it of course won't activate at this point since the OS is now released.
 
What happens if you've got a crap load of viruses on your system and upgrade. Do all viruses get wiped out?
 
Tiberian said:
The only thing I can think of is that the first install you did wasn't an actual upgrade, as odd as that sounds.
Click to expand...
After the original upgrade all of the applications I had installed on 8.1 were installed on 10.
 
MelonSplitter said:
What happens if you've got a crap load of viruses on your system and upgrade. Do all viruses get wiped out?
Click to expand...

Why would they? The only thing being overwritten and replaced are Windows components and files, so if they're the ones that are infected then I suppose it would be beneficial in some respects but, if you're so sure your machine is that infected then you've got other issues I suppose.

Try HouseCall and do a full system scan before you proceed with anything Windows 10 related.

Also, open an Administrative Command Prompt on that machine and run the following command:

Code: 
sfc /scannow

That will do a complete file check of all Windows files verifying their digital signatures and checksums to make sure they're not corrupt (which is what happens if they're actually infected).

Using a Windows 10 upgrade as virus removal, that's quaint. :D
 
bigdogchris said:
After the original upgrade all of the applications I had installed on 8.1 were installed on 10.
Click to expand...

Then I have no answer at this point. Did you verify that it showed the Windows 10 installation at that point was activated? I'm guessing you noted it, but maybe you didn't.

Worse comes to absolute worse you'd need to do a clean install of 8.1 (or 8, if you upgraded to 8.1), or 7 if you have to, do the upgrade again the one time, verify it's activated, then do the clean install.

Disclaimer: This is the reason that in basically 30 years of using Windows products I've done 3 upgrades on my own hardware, just 3: Windows 98SE on top of Windows 98, and Windows 10 on my two current Dell Latitude laptops and that was only done to get it out of the way for clean installs in the future (I don't use Windows 10). I really despise Microsoft for doing this literally forced upgrade process because it's nothing but nightmares for the majority of people. I've only done 3 upgrade installs on my own hardware in decades for good reason: clean installs, always the best solution, regardless.
 
Is there any benefit to doing a clean install after you already upgraded and activated 10? As long as it's activated and running stable, why bother?

The update has worked flawlessly for me going from W7 to W10.
 
There's no absolute requirement to do a clean install, no, and for many millions of users of Windows they'd never dream of doing such a thing. Whenever I have clients with hardware and installs that are just so fucked up that a clean install is really the only viable option, the same thing can be heard always: "Oh hell no, I have too much stuff installed, there's no way I can do a clean install, you can't wipe my machine like that, it's my whole life, I'd go crazy/batshit/insane/etc if you did that..." and so on.

Nevermind the fact that I've been doing clean installs on client machines for decades, or that most often when someone drops off a machine to me I do a clean install whether they like it or not and never even realize it when they get their machines back because I did a full backup of every byte of data so they didn't lose a single bit of it, etc.

Sometimes a clean install is necessary and recommended over anything else, sometimes it's not. The fact that my phone almost won't stop ringing today because clients are calling me constantly with issues because of this forced upgrade to Windows 10 is a testament to the fact that it's not really a good idea in the long run but it's the only thing Microsoft can do at this moment.

If you did the upgrade and your machine is working as expected (or better, who knows), excellent and congrats, consider yourself one of the fortunate ones. Just know that now you've done the upgrade you can at any point later on do a clean install on the same hardware, just in case.
 
Tiberian said:
Then I have no answer at this point. Did you verify that it showed the Windows 10 installation at that point was activated? I'm guessing you noted it, but maybe you didn't.
Click to expand...
Yes, I verified it was activated. I had to keep pressing the activate button for it to finally go through.
 
bigdogchris said:
Yes, I verified it was activated. I had to keep pressing the activate button for it to finally go through.
Click to expand...

See that's where I think the problem is: if and when a proper (meaning without any issues, whether you're aware of them or not) upgrade process is complete, Windows 10 should already be activated at the end of the upgrade - there shouldn't be a button to press (yes I know what you're referring to). It should just be activated at that point already, so the fact that you had to manually hit a button multiple times to make it happen, that's not right.

In all the 80+ installations of build 10240 that I've done as upgrades so far over the past two weeks (twice for myself, the rest for clients), I've never had one instance where it wasn't showed as activated immediately after the completion of the upgrade. About 45 machines were OEM hardware and licenses (Dell primarily with a few HP machines in there as well), the rest were custom builds with retail hardware and retail licenses).

But not one of them had any issues, showed activated after the upgrade was finalized, and were all then clean installed immediately afterwards. A damned chore if there ever was one but at least it's all done now, thankfully.

I'm just guessing that someplace in the upgrade something went wrong in your situation because you shouldn't have had to manually hit that button, not even once.
 
Terpfen said:
This is an extremely well done release.
Click to expand...

You mean beyond the utter confusion and multitude of failed installs/activations/error codes out the wazoo that scores and scores of people are having? Sure, extremely well done release. /s
 
Tiberian said:
Then I have no answer at this point. Did you verify that it showed the Windows 10 installation at that point was activated? I'm guessing you noted it, but maybe you didn't.

Worse comes to absolute worse you'd need to do a clean install of 8.1 (or 8, if you upgraded to 8.1), or 7 if you have to, do the upgrade again the one time, verify it's activated, then do the clean install.

Disclaimer: This is the reason that in basically 30 years of using Windows products I've done 3 upgrades on my own hardware, just 3: Windows 98SE on top of Windows 98, and Windows 10 on my two current Dell Latitude laptops and that was only done to get it out of the way for clean installs in the future (I don't use Windows 10). I really despise Microsoft for doing this literally forced upgrade process because it's nothing but nightmares for the majority of people. I've only done 3 upgrade installs on my own hardware in decades for good reason: clean installs, always the best solution, regardless.
Click to expand...

+1

Also, IF you did happen, just hypothetically speaking, to have rootkits or other malware, the clean install would zap all that out. (Except for MBR viruses, of course.)
 
x509 said:
+1

Also, IF you did happen, just hypothetically speaking, to have rootkits or other malware, the clean install would zap all that out. (Except for MBR viruses, of course.)
Click to expand...

MBR stuff can be cleaned out easily using bootrec from a Windows 7/8/8.1 DVD or even going back to using fdisk from some other tool like Hiren's BootCD (which has legit versions with no commercial software on it). For bootrec you'd boot from one of those install discs (Vista can do it as well), choose the option to "Repair computer" then choose the Command Prompt and enter:

Code: 
bootrec /fixmbr (press Enter)

which writes over the MBR with a fresh copy pulled from the drive's firmware eradicating anything in the process but it must be followed immediately with:

Code: 
bootrec /fixboot (press Enter)

because the /fixmbr switch wipes the boot sector as well so it won't boot unless you do that second command to get the Windows boot sector back in place. And make sure you do them in that order, /fixmbr first followed by /fixboot or else it's not going to work.

With fdisk from some bootable tool it's just:

Code: 
fdisk /mbr (press Enter)

and that's that. Might have to put the drive controller in ATA mode for it to work since DOS based tools can't access SATA hardware - it's possible if the bootable tool you're using provides that level of support but, it's something to take into consideration regardless.
 
Would. . .
Diskpart
select disk [disk you wanna kill]
clean

also clear out any mbr-based malware? I've never been able to confirm that it would.

edit: to be clear, I've read that it clears the MBR area. . . and some say that it's "good enough". . . was just curious if this is essentially the same thing as doing what's described in the post above this one.
 
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Aratech said:
This. I downloaded the installer and selected "upgrade this pc". Worked perfectly. Didnt have to delete folders or enter anything in command prompts.
Click to expand...

That's what I ended up doing as my earlier post saying it worked wouldn't make it past the full download stage.

The upgrade went pretty smooth. Had to reinstall nvdidia drivers for the 970. Also the 40" 4k went back to stock configuration 250% size, so had to change that back too. Everything has been working fine. Always have done clean installs. The upgrade makes me think I won't be doing a clean install anytime soon.
 
I did notice that after the upgrade to 10 that the product key installed was the generic Windows 10 Pro one. When I did the clean install it was the same generic key.

Are we supposed to be assigned new product keys after the in place upgrade?
 
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