Unopened and sealed Vista pack upgrade to Win10?

WhyMe · 03 Sep 2015

Hi

This thread is talking about doing an upgrade by using the Insider Program

I've got an unopened, sealed and unused Vista Home Premium box I found hidden deep in a closet. I didn't realise it was there lol. Is it still possible to use the insider program to gain a permanent Win10 activation with such a product? I was thinking about building a new htpc. Using Vista + Win10 upgrade for this project would provide me with an immense feeling of well-being

I've also got an old XP machine with a genuine oem license in the same closet. Hasn't been used in a while. I was wandering about that rig too :)

I should add that I do have spare genuine Win7 and Win8 licences that I could use. But I would prefer to keep those and use the insider track if it is legal and possible.

Can the Insider Program still be used this way, as I know was definitely ok until a few weeks ago?

Thanks

Edit: Please don't post any replies that involve me doing anything either unlawful or in breach of t&c's as I am not interested!!

BunnyJ · 03 Sep 2015

The simple answer is.. No. You can't upgrade from Vista to Win10. The only OS's that are qualified to be upgraded to Win10 are Win7(SP1) and Win8.1.

WhyMe · 03 Sep 2015

BunnyJ said:

The simple answer is.. No. You can't upgrade from Vista to Win10. The only OS's that are qualified to be upgraded to Win10 are Win7(SP1) and Win8.1.

I understand that is the consumer upgrade path but is that still the same answer if I was to load Win10 via the insider program? I know that some people running preview builds have ended up with fully active Win10 consumer builds without any expiration date. Although that was for older builds pre July 29...

ps Edited my previous post to make sure my question was 100% clear :)

BunnyJ · 03 Sep 2015

WhyMe said:

I understand that is the consumer upgrade path but is that still the same answer if I was to load Win10 via the insider program? I know that some people running preview builds have ended up with fully active Win10 consumer builds without any expiration date. Although that was for older builds pre July 29...

ps Edited my previous post to make sure my question was 100% clear :)

Heck,, just give it a shot and see what happens. As long as you can restore your PC to the previous OS you have nothing to lose but some time. I call this.. Trial and Terror.

Have fun..
Jeff :)

WhyMe · 03 Sep 2015

I know I'm the thread starter but this is a bit of pointless thread. There is nothing of value on the old system as all my photos and videos were archived years ago. As it currently goes unused, I do literally have nothing to lose with trying it out. Thanks for the gentle nudge Citizen Z!!

orlbuckeye · 03 Sep 2015

WhyMe said:

I understand that is the consumer upgrade path but is that still the same answer if I was to load Win10 via the insider program? I know that some people running preview builds have ended up with fully active Win10 consumer builds without any expiration date. Although that was for older builds pre July 29...

ps Edited my previous post to make sure my question was 100% clear :)

The insider version of Windows 10 has received to new build since July 29th. In order to remain in the insider program you just have to accept updates and if you don't your product will become deactivated. You also must have a Microsoft account to be an insider. Basically you are like a Beta tester and will test the features that the regular Windows 10 users get in the future.

The only qualified upgrade to Windows 10 is from activated Windows 7 and/or activated Windows 8.1. All other users can't do an upgrade at all and must to a clean install. They have the retail version which is like 199 for the Pro version and the OEM version which is alot cheaper.

Then the insider program which is free for an activated copy but there are restrictions like if you don't install updates in a timely fashion your technical preview build we be deactivated.
Link
Home page - Windows Insider Program

lx07 · 03 Sep 2015

orlbuckeye said:

In order to remain in the insider program you just have to accept updates and if you don't your product will become deactivated.

That is not quite true. Plenty of people have upgraded from older insider builds to 10240 and left the Insider program and kept a permanent license, myself included.

The last one I did (last week) was to migrate an old 10120 VM from VBox to Hyper-V (it lost activation obviously), enter the old generic key to activate it and then upgrade to 10240. I then stopped getting insider builds. It is now permanently activated and has never seen a qualifying license. Of course the activation might get revoked in future - who knows.

If you stay on insider program you get an expiry for that build (15 July 2016 currently) but you can always leave and restore back to 10240 and it is permanent again.

bro67 · 03 Sep 2015

Someone found a loophole with the legacy OS's. DailyTech - Windows XP, Vista Users Can Get Free Windows 10 Upgrade Thanks to Loophole

lx07 · 03 Sep 2015

bro67 said:

Someone found a loophole with the legacy OS's. DailyTech - Windows XP, Vista Users Can Get Free Windows 10 Upgrade Thanks to Loophole

That's interesting - it is exactly what I did described above. However you needn't have any OS installed and it isn't really a loophole so the title of the article is a bit misleading. MS are only doing what Gabe Aul said they would do, namely, from your link:

As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build and remain activated. Once you have successfully installed this build and activated, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh.

So if you were an insider prior to July and have an earlier build you can install, activate and upgrade it and be activated on final release.

Wynona · 03 Sep 2015

WhyMe said:

I know I'm the thread starter but this is a bit of pointless thread. There is nothing of value on the old system as all my photos and videos were archived years ago. As it currently goes unused, I do literally have nothing to lose with trying it out. Thanks for the gentle nudge Citizen Z!!

I would be very interested in your results, WhyMe.

It's been stated somewhere in these forums that no new computers (that have never had Win 10 on them) will be allowed into the Windows Insider Program. So, if I'm to believe what I've read, your "virgin" computer should not be allowed to participate.

Since I have no computers that qualify, my only recourse is to find someone who does. And, you seem to be the perfect candidate.

So, will you please let us know whether you succeed in getting one of these computers into the program? It will be much appreciated.