Hey there,
I recently bought a second hand Lenovo x240 laptop that originally comes with a an OEM version of W8 Pro. The previous owner wiped the data and did a fresh installation of W8 Pro before selling it. I was wondering if there's any way to tell if the machine was upgraded to W10 previously aside from just trying to installing it and checking if it activates?
No once the hard drive is completely wiped and a fresh install is made, there is no way to tell what was running on it previously.
it is an interesting legal issue if installing it activated, as presumably previous owner wiped it to use his windows 10 licence elsewhere in accordance with EULA. You would be using it illegally in this case.
On the other hand, if he just wiped it eg because he did not like windows 10, and you then reused it then it is hard to say if it is legal. The EULA says it can be transferred to new owner who agrees to its terms and conditions.
Whether you can agree to the terms without previous owner formally telling you he is giving the licence to you as part of the sale of pc, is one for the lawyers but I would guess it would be theft in law if you were never formally given right to use it.
Basically unless you were formally given it, it would probably be illegal to use it.
If the previous owner updated Windows 8 to Windows 10 using the free update, then Windows 10 is tied to that machine, The previous owner can not transfer it to another PC.
This still works!
Windows 10 free upgrade is still available using Windows 7 and 8 keys - Windows 10 Forums
How to directly clean install Windows 10 without having to upgrade first.The Get Windows 10 (GWX) promotions seem to have ended. But I've heard from several Windows users that they've been able to take advantage of the free Windows 10 update using their older Windows 7/8.X product keys after July 29.
Users have been able to both kick off and activate Windows 10 on machines where they've previously installed Windows 10, as well as on machines where they've never installed Windows 10 using their Windows 7/8.X product keys.
If you have an OEM computer with UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8/8.1 product key, the Windows 10 installer should automatically detect product key from UEFI firmware (BIOS) and you will be taken straight to the License Agreement screen. When installation is finished, Windows 10 will be activated automatically, if your internet connection is up and running.
Hey guys, firstly thank you all for replying, you provided some interesting points of view. I was quite busy the last week, but I finally managed to try Feather's suggestion. I can confirm that this still work - my laptop had indeed an W8Pro key embedded in the BIOS and when installing Windows 10 Pro the installation automatically detected it and activated itself post installation. Thank again for your input :)
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