Let's run Win10 on really really old hardware

Why were you looking for a machine that did not have a W10 digital license? What’s the difference?

shaocaholica said:

Why were you looking for a machine that did not have a W10 digital license? What’s the difference?

One day MS may stop giving digital licences when you upgrade W7 to W10 or at least, rumours may start that it no longer works. I want to be able to test if that is true if/when it happens.

Bree said:

One day MS may stop giving digital licences when you upgrade W7 to W10 or at least, rumours may start that it no longer works. I want to be able to test if that is true if/when it happens.

Do you just need a Win7 key that hasn't been upgraded to 10? I might have a few.

shaocaholica said:

Do you just need a Win7 key that hasn't been upgraded to 10? I might have a few.

Thanks for the offer, but for a test that's as close as possible to potential upgrade problems a user may report (here on TF or over on 7F) I want an activated OEM install of W7 that has not yet been upgraded (so its machine has no DL yet). I'd prefer a physical machine, a VM may not be sufficient to be sure. I now have two such machines to hand.

Ah I see. So the only way to get a W10 key is to do the upgrade from within W7 on the target machine or is there an easier way to ‘convert’ the key?

shaocaholica said:

Ah I see. So the only way to get a W10 key is to do the upgrade from within W7 on the target machine or is there an easier way to ‘convert’ the key?

There are a number of ways to use a W7 key to get a W10 digital licence, a clean install for example. That too may (potentially) be withdrawn by MS some time down the line (when the paid-for extended security updates for W7 ends in 2023, perhaps?).

Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

But the scenario I specifically want to be able to test is the in-place upgrade of a physical W7 machine.

Bree said:

There are a number of ways to use a W7 key to get a W10 digital licence, a clean install for example. That too may (potentially) be withdrawn by MS some time down the line (when the paid-for extended security updates for W7 ends in 2023, perhaps?).

Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

But the scenario I specifically want to be able to test is the in-place upgrade of a physical W7 machine.

Thanks but that guide requires win7 to be already running on the target system. Most of mine don’t have a functioning OS to begin with

shaocaholica said:

Thanks but that guide requires win7 to be already running on the target system. Most of mine don’t have a functioning OS to begin with

Since version 1511 in a clean install of W10 Setup should accept a valid W7, 8 or 8.1 key and use it to select the edition to install and to get it a digital licence, assuming of course that the key has not previously been used on another machine.

As part of Windows 10’s first November update in 2015, Microsoft changed the Windows 10 installer disc to also accept Windows 7 or 8.1 keys. This allowed users to perform a clean install Windows 10 and enter a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key during installation. Windows 10 would then report that key to Microsoft’s servers, and Windows 10’s activation servers would give your PC a “digital entitlement” (now a “digital license”) to continue using Windows 10 for free, just as if you had upgraded.

You Can Still Get Windows 10 for Free With a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Key

Bree said:

Since version 1511 Setup should accept a valid W7, 8 or 8.1 key and use it to select the edition to install and to get it a digital licence, assuming of course that the key has not previously been used on another machine.

Oh that's great I'll try that next time. That was nice of MS to implement...finally.