When recieving a brand new PC with no OS installed, with the final intent of having w10.
Am i correct in saying that the "safest" way to achieve sucessfull w10 activation is an w8.1 w/key installation, followed by a w10 upgrade/clean install?
Also, is there any reasons why I should choose a w10 clean install over a w10 upgrade seeing as the PC is brand new?
The safest way to obtain a successful Windows 10 activation would be to purchase either an OEM or Retail Windows 10 key/license, but that would also be the most expensive.
Or, install Windows 8.1. Make sure it is permanently activated. Upgrade in place from the running Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. Ensure that is activated. Make sure to select the option to keep programs and data. If the upgrade asks you to enter a product key, it ain't going right - stop and cancel and figure it out because you won't get a Windows 10 activation.
It's up to you if you clean install after that. You can remove the clutter from the previous Windows 8.1 using a couple different disk cleanup tools. If you decide to do a clean install, when it asks for a product key click on the tiny text that allows you to "skip" it.
To get 10 free you have to upgrade first to activate it for that PC. Then you can do a clean install afterwards and it will automatically activate. See this thread: Frequently Asked Questions about the Windows 10 Free upgrade
thanks for all the answers guys!
Am I correct in saying that using the "upgrade option" in this case for upgrading to w10 will give me a w8.1 recovery partition, in addition to the then "new" w10 recovery partition?
Am I also correct when saying that the w8.1 partition, only serves the purpose of reverting back to w8.1 via a "downgrade"?
cheers
thanks again for the swift answers guys! you are awesome <3
Then, does that mean that after sucessfully upgrading to w10 I can just use a disk cleanup tool to delete the w8.1 recovery partition? seeing as it doesnt really have any real use since its not used for downgrading(as opposed to the windows.old folder) ?
You would have to use a disk partitioning program like MiniTool Partition Wizard to delete the recovery partition and then extend your operating system partition to reclaim the space (Well, you can also do it in disk management in Windows, but I have never trusted that to do what I want). On a new PC with no factory OS on it, I do not keep a recovery partition because it is just as easy to pop in a USB drive with the install media stored on it.
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