New
#51
Just completed a new upgrade:
Received a stick computer with Windows 10 Home factory installed. Windows 10 Home product key in UEFI. I did a clean install of Windows 8 Pro. Had to do phone activation with my Windows 8 Pro retail product key because automatic activation said it was in use on another computer - which was actually the old stick computer I had returned to the manufacturer to get this replacement.
So - Windows 8 Pro installed and activated -Windows 10 Home product key stored in UEFI. I extracted the Windows 10 Build 14393 ISO file downloaded from Microsoft's new ISO download site (the Tech Bench alternative) to a USB flash drive. I ran setup, it never asked for a product key but did complain that it could not keep my apps and settings because I was installing a different version.
So, fact #1 - build 14393 still reads the product key in UEFI/BIOS and uses that by default. It was trying to upgrade Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Home because it read the product key in UEFI.
Cancelled that upgrade, and saved a PID.txt file containing the generic Windows 10 Pro product key to the sources folder on the USB flash drive. Re-ran setup. This time it still did not ask for a product key, and gave me the option to keep personal files, apps and settings. The upgrade completed normally and after the upgrade Windows 10 says it is activated with a digital license.
So, fact #2 - as of 5:15 PM on August 3, about 1.5 hours due north of Microsoft in Stanwood, WA - Windows 8 Pro upgraded FOR FREE to Windows 10 Pro and activated from the previous installation of Windows 8.1.
BTW - I never logged in with a MS Account. This was all done with 1 single local account created in Windows 8.1. Here's an interesting screenshot of Showkey on this computer:
Now it's time to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro to get rid of the Windows 8.1 leftovers....