Can't use win 7, 8, 8.1 keys after July 29th

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  1. Posts : 15,027
    Windows 10 IoT
       #50

    I don't think anything "happens" to your keys if used to upgrade, period. The Digital Entitlement is for the hardware. I don't think the key used to upgrade is even recorded with that info. I can't prove or disprove that, its just my gut feeling based on all the info I've seen. People have installed the same Windows 8 Retail on multiple PC's (one at a time with the same key) and then did the free upgrade. If the key was recorded that should fail on the second PC you tried to upgrade from that same Windows 8 retail key. They say it didn't?
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  2. Posts : 95
    W7 x64 & W10 Pro x64 (Dual boot)
       #51

    Hi,

    I'm not sure about something so some insight from other users might be needed.
    I have upgraded one of my W 7 OEM laptops to W 10, it activated fine, then I made a dvd from Media Creation Tool and clean installed W 10 last August, activation went also fine (I skipped the "enter a product key" option) and when setup had finished laptop was activated ok.
    When I open Settings it says that W 10 is activated with a digital entitlement.
    So far so good. I called MS today and one support technician told me that it would be best ???? to go also to Settings, then use the Change Product Key option and enter the 25 digit OEM COA sticker key from Windows 7 BEFORE the 29th of July 2016.
    2 questions:

    1). Do I really need to perform the advised extra step Change Product Key option and enter the 25 digit OEM COA sticker key from Windows 7 BEFORE the 29th of July 2016, or not??
    2) If I want to clean re-install W 10, after a few months and certainly after 29th of July 2016, and use the latest version, via Media Creation Tool, will W 10 activate with the previous digital entitlement, (so the "enter product key" option in setup is skipped as before), or not?? (if not, what additional steps might be required?).
    Thank you in advance for any assistance.

    Regards,
    Last edited by Vaio 7; 25 Jul 2016 at 11:17.
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  3. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #52

    Vaio 7 said:
    1). Do I really need to perform the advised extra step Change Product Key option and enter the 25 digit OEM COA sticker key from Windows 7 BEFORE the 29th of July 2016, or not??
    Go to Settings, Updates & Security, Activation tab. If the activation windows says that your Windows 10 is activated with a digital entitlement or digital license then changing the product key to your Windows 7 product key will do absolutely nothing. You already have the digital entitlement/license for that computer stored on Microsoft activation servers. That's what that window is telling you.

    Vaio 7 said:
    2) If I want to clean re-install W 10, after a few months and certainly after 29th of July 2016, and use the latest version, via Media Creation Tool, will W 10 activate with the previous digital entitlement, (so the "enter product key" option in setup is skipped as before), or not?? (if not, what additional steps might be required?).
    Thank you in advance for any assistance.

    Regards,
    You will select "I don't have a product key", "skip", or "do this later" when asked for a product key. After installation is finished, and upon every boot-up, Windows 10 will calculate an Installation ID based upon the Hardware ID (unique to that computer), the Product ID (which specifies which version of Windows is installed), and the product key (which will automatically be the generic product key which is the same product key assigned when there is no Windows 10 product key entered). The first time after installation, since there was no previous Installation ID calculated because you wiped it out when you did the clean install, the Installation ID will be sent to Microsoft over the internet and matched with the Installation ID that was previously stored there. Microsoft will return the code for Windows 10 to activate itself. You don't have to do anything but connect to the internet for that to happen.
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  4. Posts : 30
    Win 10 Pro
       #53

    How would all this work with 2 hard disk drives. I have a Sata and an older IDE drive. Each has its own retail version of Win 8 upgraded to the latest version of Win 10. One version was bought direct from PC World and the othe from Microsoft.

    So if I was to take down both in the future and use a Win 10 Iso, I'm assuming that the digital entitlement will able to remember two different keys and apply one to each disk bearing in mind that the disk will be the only physical difference - same motherboard etc.
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  5. Posts : 343
    Windows 10
       #54

    On a clean install of Windows 10 only the unique ID created with digital entitlement is looked for and that's stored on Microsoft's servers. MS hasn't said it they will have a Upgrade version for a cheaper price than the full install the Vista and XP users had to use since Windows 10 came out.
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  6. Posts : 15,027
    Windows 10 IoT
       #55

    Barneyrubble said:
    How would all this work with 2 hard disk drives. I have a Sata and an older IDE drive. Each has its own retail version of Win 8 upgraded to the latest version of Win 10. One version was bought direct from PC World and the othe from Microsoft.

    So if I was to take down both in the future and use a Win 10 Iso, I'm assuming that the digital entitlement will able to remember two different keys and apply one to each disk bearing in mind that the disk will be the only physical difference - same motherboard etc.
    Are they both Home or both Pro, or one of each? If you run showkey, https://www.tenforums.com/software-ap...7-showkey.html on each install I bet you'll find that they have the generic keys tied to the digital entitlement. -3V66T for Pro and -8HVX7 for Home. If they are both the same edition they are likely both activated with the one digital entitlement.
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  7. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #56

    Barneyrubble said:
    So if I was to take down both in the future and use a Win 10 Iso, I'm assuming that the digital entitlement will able to remember two different keys and apply one to each disk bearing in mind that the disk will be the only physical difference - same motherboard etc.
    Nope. The "uniqueness" of the digital entitlement resulting from an upgrade of Windows 7/8/8.1 comes from the Hardware ID, which comes 99% from the motherboard, not the hard drive nor the Windows 7/8/8.1 product key. Again - it is DEVICES (IE: motherboards) that are upgraded to Windows 10, not Windows 7/8/8.1 product keys. The device which is upgraded is defined as: a hardware system (whether physical or virtual) with an internal storage device capable of running the software.
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  8. Posts : 95
    W7 x64 & W10 Pro x64 (Dual boot)
       #57

    [QUOTE=NavyLCDR;747516]Go to Settings, Updates & Security, Activation tab. If the activation windows says that your Windows 10 is activated with a digital entitlement or digital license then changing the product key to your Windows 7 product key will do absolutely nothing. You already have the digital entitlement/license for that computer stored on Microsoft activation servers. That's what that window is telling you.

    "NavyLCDR;747516]Go to Settings, Updates & Security, Activation tab. If the activation windows says that your Windows 10 is activated with a digital entitlement"

    Hello NavyLCDR,

    Activation tab says that W 10 is activated with Digital entitlement, so according to your comment, whenever I wish, in the future, to clean install Redstone 1 or 2 or Redstone XX, I will run the setup installer, "skip" the activation prompts and once setup finishes, and with internet connection up, it will automatically activate with Microsoft servers, right??
    Thank you in advance for your comments which made things more clear to me.

    Cheers!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #58

    Vaio 7 said:
    Hello NavyLCDR,

    Activation tab says that W 10 is activated with Digital entitlement, so according to your comment, whenever I wish, in the future, to clean install Redstone 1 or 2 or Redstone XX, I will run the setup installer, "skip" the activation prompts and once setup finishes, and with internet connection up, it will automatically activate with Microsoft servers, right??
    Thank you in advance for your comments which made things more clear to me.

    Cheers!
    Yes, that is correct. See this Microsoft webpage:
    Windows 10

    Click on +Using the Media Creation Tool, then +Performing a clean installation using a USB or DVD. Scroll down to the blue Note box:

    Note
    If you’ve already successful activated Windows 10 on this PC, including if you upgraded by taking advantage of the free upgrade offer you won't need to enter a Windows 10 product key. You can skip the product key page by selecting the Skip button. Your PC will automatically activate later.
    So, there it is, straight from Microsoft!
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  10. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #59

    It's not 100% clear to me, but I think Ed Bott might be saying that you can still activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7/8.x product key, even on July 30th:
    For procrastinators who think they might have waited too long, my testing this morning uncovered one surprise: Product keys from earlier Windows versions still work on Windows 10. I created a new virtual machine and installed Windows 10 version 1607 Pro using an ISO image. I entered a never-used Windows 7 Ultimate product key, and my copy of Windows 10 was automatically activated with a digital entitlement.
    How long this will apply for, who knows, and it;s not clear whether the product key has to be an unused one, but there may still be a window (sorry ) where people can still upgrade for free.
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