Is installing a clean windows 10 on OEM laptops impossible [discuss.]

ve1drg said:

...I used a USB stick to do the installation. I had to skip the license key. But my existing operation system was Windows 7 Pro and it was activated...

...I chose the advanced method to install windows 10 which means I formatted my harddrive. I then put windows 10 on the computer and it went well.

But after it was all over - I see that windows 10 was not activated. I had a clean installation in place, but no longer activated.

What did I miss?

A clean install will not activate unless you successfully performed a Win10 upgrade and activation from within Win7 first. That is, unless you purchased a brand new Win10 Standalone (aka retail) license.

Edit: Holy hell!! Alphanumeric beat me to it...just... I think he needs a more appropriate avatar. Something like this maybe:

WhyMe said:

A clean install will not activate unless you successfully performed a Win10 upgrade and activation from within Win7 first. That is, unless you purchased a brand new Win10 Standalone (aka retail) license.

Edit: Holy hell!! Alphanumeric beat me to it...just...

lol, happens to me quit a bit. You click post, the page refreshes, and you see somebody beat you to it.

ve1drg said:

Yes. Yes. Yes. I know that Windows 10 had to be installed and activated first. I thought I just said that.
And than you go for the clean install. Hmmmm. I guess perhaps my message was not all that clear.

Yes. I had upgraded using the free install of Windows 10. I did that. And than using the USB stick I went for the Clean install.
I ended up with newly formatted drives and a new/clean install of Windows 10 and it was NOT activated.

What did I miss??

Okay then. And you confirmed the upgrade had activated correctly yes? (You haven't actually said)

If so, what is the error code on the activation page of your clean install please.

ve1drg said:

Yes. Yes. Yes. I know that Windows 10 had to be installed and activated first. I thought I just said that.
And than you go for the clean install. Hmmmm. I guess perhaps my message was not all that clear.

Yes. I had upgraded using the free install of Windows 10. I did that. And than using the USB stick I went for the Clean install.
I ended up with newly formatted drives and a new/clean install of Windows 10 and it was NOT activated.

What did I miss??

Well originally you said, "my existing operation system was Windows 7 Pro and it was activated." You didn't state that you actually did the free upgrade? Not clearly anyway? What version of Windows 10 did you get with the free upgrade, and what version did you clean install? They have to be the same version for it to activate.

PlatypusKnight said:

There's no need to do away with your OEM recovery partition, or to completely wipe the drive. All that needs wiping is the partition where you intend to install Win10. And it really doesn't need "wiping". A quick format will be good enough.

But what is the value of an oem recovery partition if your hard disk fails? It is just a token effort from the OEMs when really they should be providing the proper installation disks (which is what they used to do).

I believe folks need to understand just how useless a recovery partition is at protecting from data loss and look for alternatives. I just wish I had dollar for every time someone has said something like "My hard drive has failed and I can't access my recovery partition. How do I retrieve my family photos, wedding snaps, videos and files?". I'd probably own a little island and have a yacht for fishing from the money accrued!

WhyMe said:

But what is the value of an oem recovery partition if your hard disk fails? It is just a token effort from the OEMs when really they should be providing the proper installation disks (which is what they used to do).

I believe folks need to understand just how useless a recovery partition is at protecting from data loss and look for alternatives. I just wish I had dollar for every time someone says "My hard drive has failed and I can't access my recovery partition. How do I retrieve my family photos, wedding snaps, videos and files?"

Even if you leave it there, the link to access it and make us of it on boot up will be broken when you install a new OS. Even if it works, it will take you back to the old OS and wipe everything out. I ditched mine long ago, along with all the OEM bloat, with a nice clean install.