Will Windows 10 Installs from ISO USB still accept Windows 8 Keys?

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  1. zbook
    Posts : 41,967
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #31

    A clean install can be performed whether BIOS is legacy or UEFI.

    A clean install requires a manual backup of important files before the clean install.

    Whereas a custom install was designed to have Windows save the files to Windows.old while installing a fresh version of Windows.

    There is no manual deletion of partitions with the custom install.

    A clean install for BIOS legacy creates drive MBR partitioning.

    A clean install for BIOS UEFI creates drive GPT partitioning.


    For the custom install the immediate goal is to have Windows save files to Windows.old.

    Once files are saved an upgrade from 8.1 to 10 can be performed.

    When a computer has been upgraded to Windows 10 its licensing data has been entered into Microsoft servers.

    Once licensing data has been entered into Microsoft servers this enables clean install or disk drive replacement without having a product id.

    The BIOS can be modified to Legacy or UEFI for the clean install.

    When the operating system, drivers, and applications are all working to your satisfaction the next step can be restoring files from Windows.old

    Then third party software can be used to make free or pay backup images.



    This is the newest tutorial on custom install (for Windows 11):

    Custom Install Windows 11 Tutorial | Windows 11 Forum


    For a custom install the same version of Windows is maintained (there is no upgrade)
    Windows 8.1 > 8.1
    Windows 10 > 10
    Windows 11 > 11

    Once files are backed up to Windows.old any of the above Windows versions can be modified by upgrade or clean install:
    Windows 8.1 > upgrade or clean install Windows 10 (gatherosstate.exe)
    Windows 10 > clean install Windows 11
    etc.
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  3. jerry76
    Posts : 88
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       New #32

    zbook said:
    A clean install can be performed whether BIOS is legacy or UEFI.

    A clean install requires a manual backup of important files before the clean install.

    Whereas a custom install was designed to have Windows save the files to Windows.old while installing a fresh version of Windows.

    There is no manual deletion of partitions with the custom install.

    A clean install for BIOS legacy creates drive MBR partitioning.

    A clean install for BIOS UEFI creates drive GPT partitioning.


    For the custom install the immediate goal is to have Windows save files to Windows.old.

    Once files are saved an upgrade from 8.1 to 10 can be performed.

    When a computer has been upgraded to Windows 10 its licensing data has been entered into Microsoft servers.

    Once licensing data has been entered into Microsoft servers this enables clean install or disk drive replacement without having a product id.

    The BIOS can be modified to Legacy or UEFI for the clean install.

    When the operating system, drivers, and applications are all working to your satisfaction the next step can be restoring files from Windows.old

    Then third party software can be used to make free or pay backup images.



    This is the newest tutorial on custom install (for Windows 11):

    Custom Install Windows 11 Tutorial | Windows 11 Forum
    Hmm okay.. I know I can still do a clean install whether the BIOS is Legacy or UEFI, but it appears if it is UEFI, I will not get a window giving me the option to delete the partitions, which is what I want to do.

    Microsoft's tutorials clean install show a window for deleting the partition and give instructions to do that. But I guess I won't get that option since I have a UEFI chip.

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...a-4a3181625b08
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  4. zbook
    Posts : 41,967
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #33

    With a custom install a bootable Windows iso can be used to save files in a computer that has failed to boot (software related).

    Once files are saved the computer user can:

    clean the disk drive
    perform an upgrade
    clean install Windows


    This is one method to approach the problems that you're having:

    1) Use Sea Tool bootable to test the disk drive
    a) If the drive fails the Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test then manually backup files and replace the disk drive
    b) If the drive passes the Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test then continue with the steps below

    2) On a working Windows computer create a bootable Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool (MCT) (Windows 8.1 iso)
    and create a bootable Windows 10 MCT

    3) Move the bootable Windows 8.1 MCT to the applicable port on the problematic computer and boot to the bootable flash drive

    4) Perform a Windows 8.1 custom install
    (The custom install is designed to install a fresh version of Windows 8.1 and save files to Windows.old)

    5) If the custom install is successful then files are saved and Windows 8.1 has been installed
    Now choose whether you want to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 or whether you want to clean install Windows 10 using gatherosstate.
    If you had chosen to upgrade then you can now manually delete all partitions creating an unallocated disk drive.
    This is followed by a clean install of Windows 10, then reinstallation of drivers and applications and restoring important files from Windows.old.
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  6. jerry76
    Posts : 88
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       New #34

    zbook said:
    With a custom install a bootable Windows iso can be used to save files in a computer that has failed to boot (software related).

    Once files are saved the computer user can:

    clean the disk drive
    perform an upgrade
    clean install Windows


    This is one method to approach the problems that you're having:

    1) Use Sea Tool bootable to test the disk drive
    a) If the drive fails the Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test then manually backup files and replace the disk drive
    b) If the drive passes the Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test then continue with the steps below

    2) On a working Windows computer create a bootable Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool (MCT) (Windows 8.1 iso)
    and create a bootable Windows 10 MCT

    3) Move the bootable Windows 8.1 MCT to the applicable port on the problematic computer and boot to the bootable flash drive

    4) Perform a Windows 8.1 custom install
    (The custom install is designed to install a fresh version of Windows 8.1 and save files to Windows.old)

    5) If the custom install is successful then files are saved and Windows 8.1 has been installed
    Now choose whether you want to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 or whether you want to clean install Windows 10 using gatherosstate.
    If you had chosen to upgrade then you can now manually delete all partitions creating an unallocated disk drive.
    This is followed by a clean install of Windows 10, then reinstallation of drivers and applications and restoring important files from Windows.old.
    I do not think i want to do a custom install though, I want to do a clean install to eliminate as many possible problems that are causing this issue. I already have my data backed up so I was just going to do a clean install.

    I will try Seatools first though see if the ssd is ok. then clean install
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  7. zbook
    Posts : 41,967
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #35

    Okay.

    1) Test the disk drive
    2) Make sure you've recorded the product ID
    3) Boot to the Windows 10 iso
    4) Manually delete all partitions making an unallocated disk drive
    5) Clean install Windows 10 using gatherosstate.exe
    6) Reinstall drivers displayed on the computer, motherboard, or component manufacturer websites
    7) Restore important files
    8) Make free backup images and save the images to another disk drive or the cloud

    (Acronis, Aoemi, EaseUS, Macrium, Paragon, etc.)


    SeaTools Bootable | Seagate US

    https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/...lsBootable.zip

    Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First
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  8. jerry76
    Posts : 88
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       New #36

    zbook said:
    Okay.

    1) Test the disk drive
    2) Make sure you've recorded the product ID
    3) Boot to the Windows 10 iso
    4) Manually delete all partitions making an unallocated disk drive
    5) Clean install Windows 10 using gatherosstate.exe
    6) Reinstall drivers displayed on the computer, motherboard, or component manufacturer websites
    7) Restore important files
    8) Make free backup images and save the images to another disk drive or the cloud

    (Acronis, Aoemi, EaseUS, Macrium, Paragon, etc.)


    SeaTools Bootable | Seagate US

    https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/...lsBootable.zip

    Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First
    Thanks! On step 2, product ID means.... my key for windows? Or what version of Windows Pro vs Home?
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  9. zbook
    Posts : 41,967
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #37

    Yes, see the tutorial Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade first.

    Also boot to Windows RE command prompt and see if this command is able to find the product key.

    wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
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  10. Megahertz
    Posts : 6,853
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       New #38

    jerry76 said:
    I also still have access to the windows recovery blue page which allows me to access CMD
    Boot to the recovery blue page, open a CMD window and type:
    diskpart
    list disk (it will list all drives. Identify the main drive number)
    select disk n (replace n by the main drive number obtained with list disk)
    list part (take a snapshot and post the image here as an attachment)
    exit
    Last edited by Megahertz; 16 Jun 2023 at 12:44.
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  12. jerry76
    Posts : 88
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       New #39

    zbook said:
    Yes, see the tutorial Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade first.

    Also boot to Windows RE command prompt and see if this command is able to find the product key.

    wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
    That command did not work in the recovery mode cmd. However it did work when Windows was booted into normally (Yes, I got Windows to boot briefly see below). So I now have my key just incase its needed. Thanks


    Megahertz said:
    Boot to the recovery blue page, open a CMD window and type:
    diskpart
    list disk (it will list all drives. Identify the main drive number)
    select disk n (replace n by the main drive number obtained with list disk)
    list part (take a snapshot and post the image here as an attachment)
    exit
    Why check those commands with the ISO USB instead of the main ssd? Either way I did it for both and my results are below.

    20230616_112153.jpg
    20230616_120636.jpg

    After running those CMD commands I went back to the Windows recovery blue screen and clicked on USE A DEVICE > EFI USB DEVICE. The computer restarted, then windows loaded! I did have the ISO USB inserted at the time, but I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, because I later pulled the USB out, and Windows was still running just fine. It did not seem to need the USB to stay plugged in to run windows. So I'm not sure if it's just a fluke or what happened.

    While I had access briefly to windows I downloaded lenovo's diagnostic tool and ran a bunch of scans and it passed everything. The only thing I could not scan was the motherboard it was grayed out and not available. Which was the main thing I wanted to scan unfortunately. But everything else passed.

    This is a list of the Hardware I tested on the right. Then on the left is a breakdown of the exact tests for each piece of hardware. I could not include all of it in the screenshot so I just included the tests that I did on the drive. I can still give SeaTools a try unless you think it's unnecessary at this point
    20230616_121251_38.jpg

    And here's my windows version it appears to be home not the single language or anything like that.
    https://www.simpleimageresizer.com/_..._113041_38.jpg

    I don't know why the images are not inserting themselves it's instead displaying it as a attachment link sorry.
    Last edited by jerry76; 16 Jun 2023 at 20:24.
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  13. Megahertz
    Posts : 6,853
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       New #40

    Did you reboot to see if it is booting normally?

    I noticed that the USB drive is GPT and it should be MBR and Fat32 formatted to be boot able as EFI or MBR but it can be used to do a repair install (run setup.exe on the USB drive)


    I suggest you generate a GenuineTicket.xml under Win 8 to activate the Win 10 after the clean install.
    Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First
    I suggest you build the USB Win 10 22h2 installation drive using MCT
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