Installation question - moving from 7 to 10 under the free upgrade


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home
       #1

    Installation question - moving from 7 to 10 under the free upgrade


    My current system is dying a death now and so I've taken the plunge and I'm building my next one this week. My current system is Win7 Home with an unused Win10 upgrade. I am weighing up the upgrade and wanted to go for it.

    The problem is, I am unable to actually undertake the Windows 10 upgrade on my current PC despite it passing all of the tests associated with it - see this thread if you were interested in why.

    I'm "retiring" my old hardware (actually re-purposing it in a SFF box as a media centre running non-Windows OS) and my plan was to move the Windows licence over to my new PC.

    It's going to be fundamentally different - the only hardware remaining constant is the graphics card.

    So based on the above, am I "stuck" with Windows 7 now (no bad thing to be honest) or is there a method by which I can transfer the free upgrade over to my new PC?

    Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    If the Windows 7 that was on the old computer was an OEM Windows 7 then it dies with that computer and cannot be legally installed on the new computer. If the Windows 7 on the old computer was a retail version, then install it and activate it on the new computer. Then you can do an in place upgrade to Windows 10, or capture the genuineticket.xml file to activate a first time clean install of Windows 10 without doing an in place upgrade.

    Windows 7 does not have to be updated in any way to upgrade to Windows 10. What I do with my retail Windows 7 is leave the computer disconnected from the internet, install Windows 7, activate it over the phone, capture the genuineticket.xml file, then go right to a clean install of Windows 10 using the genuineticket.xml file to activate it.

    You can activate a first time clean install of Windows 10 by manually entering the Windows 7 product key, but many times Microsoft will come back with an error message that the Windows 7 product key is in use on another computer, then you are stuck having to go back and activate a Windows 7 on that computer anyway.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Oh - that's interesting / disappointing!

    Sounds like moving it to my new PC is out.... but will I also lose the Win7 licence on my current PC? I will be changing motherboard and GPU... does this mean the computer has died?

    It is an OEM licence by the way.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #4

    An OEM license is good for installation only on the first "computer" it is installed on. A new motherboard, other than an exact same replacement due to hardware failure, is considered a new computer. That is one reason OEM licenses are less expensive, you cannot legally transfer them to a new "computer".
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Oh dear :)

    Ok thanks!
      My Computer


 

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