In the past, i upgraded to windows 10 through the free upgrade program. I recently had issues so I used my computer's recovery partition to blow away windows 10. Now I'm on Windows 8. I heard that windows stores its keys in the UEFI. Is it possible for me to upgrade to windows 10 for free, based on the keys that I think are stored inside my computer?
The only product key that is stored in the UEFI firmware is the product key that was put there by the manufacturer for Windows 8.
That being said, when you upgrade to Windows 10, a digital license for it gets stored on Microsoft Activation Servers based on a unique hardware ID of the computer. As long as you install or upgrade to the same version of Windows 10 on the same computer, the digital license will be retrieved from Microsoft Activation Servers and Windows 10 will activate itself.
That being said too, Microsoft is still granting free upgrades from Windows 7/8 even if it is brand new and there is no digital license stored on the Microsoft Activation Servers.
Hm, supposedly the free upgrade program has ended. So, can you tell me how you would proceed if you were in my shoes? Thanks.
Download the Windows 10 ISO file using the Media Creation Tool:
Download Windows 10
Click the button for Download Tool Now. Then use the option for Make media for another PC when you run the MCT.
Mount the ISO file that is created and run setup.exe from it (right click on it and select mount). That will upgrade your Windows 8 to Windows 10.
You have previously had Windows 10 on that computer before so there is a Digital License for Windows 10 stored on Microsoft Activation Servers for it. You can either upgrade Windows 8 on it or clean install Windows 10 and it will activate based on the already stored digital license.
This is correct.
Yesterday I did a reinstall.
First I booted with a bootable CD I have and deleted partitions with Fdisk. Then I installed win 7 ultimate (64bit). I Have a legit key. Then I upgraded to win 10 pro. Don't try to add any new keys just let the process continue, when asked don't add a key.
I downloaded my upgrade some time ago and have an iso of v1511
Thank you! So is there a reason why I shouldn't click "Upgrade this PC now" (vs get the ISO first)?
Historically, upgrading/installing from a completely downloaded ISO file has proven to be more reliable than any of the upgrade tools which is just going to download the contents of the ISO file anyway. Also, having the saved ISO file on a separate drive than your Windows run from (such as a USB flash drive or DVD) means that you can re-use it without having to download it every time.
Thanks everybody! You've been extremely helpful and made getting Win 10 back on my computer a breeze!
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