Win 7 to Win 10 without a Win 10 product key?

Hello All:

I just did the free upgrade from Win 7 Home to Win 10 Home. I was quite surprised to see that MS still offered the free upgrade. MY PC is a CTO which came with Win 7 Home, 6 years ago. The upgrade went smoothly with the exception of a few new drivers for some apps. HD's don;t last forever, and so I am contemplating just how, if possible, to get back to Win 10 when I am forced to do a new install, seeing that this was an UPGRADE and not a new install.

1. Will I be forced to buy a copy of Win 10 Home or can I create an ISO via DVD of Win 10 from MS and use my Windows product key from my Win 7 OS that came with my CTO PC. to validate a Win 10 install?

2. Where this was an UPGRADE and not a clean install, can I take advantage of the latest Win 10 upgrade from MS?

Thanks

miata54 said:

I just did the free upgrade from Win 7 Home to Win 10 Home. I was quite surprised to see that MS still offered the free upgrade. ...

1. Will I be forced to buy a copy of Win 10 Home ....?

Welcome to TenForums @miata54

No. If your Windows says 'activated...' then you now have a digital licence for Windows 10 Home tied to your PC's unique hardware ID and stored on Microsoft's activation servers.

2. Where this was an UPGRADE and not a clean install, can I take advantage of the latest Win 10 upgrade from MS?

Your digital licence is valid for all future releases of Windows 10. Yes, you can upgrade to the next version (and subsequent ones).

You can also do a clean install on this PC using an ISO or USB made by the Media Creation Tool. When asked for a key you can skip entering one, it will activate from your digital licence as soon as it can contact the activation servers.

Note that the hard drive doesn't count as a hardware change, you can swap an HDD for an SSD (for example) and it will still activate. Note also that the licence is tied to this machine, you'd need to purchase a key to install it on another PC (unless, that is, it has a Win7/8 that can be upgraded).

Bree said:

You can also do a clean install on this PC using an ISO or USB made by the Media Creation Tool.

Thanks Bree for your quick reply.

I downloaded the Media Creation Tool from MS and I'm assuming that I should use it to create an ISO BEFORE lose of my HD! :) I found the Tutorial here explaining how to do it. Anything else I should be aware of before I start the process?

Thanks

The tutorials have it covered mostly.

Before you start it is always a good idea to make a system image of your machine as it stands now on an external HDD. This means you can get back to where you started if anything goes wrong. Most here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as the most reliable way to do that, but there is a 'create a system image' option in Backup & Restore (it can be a bit temperamental).

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect
Create System Image in Windows 10

Next, don't start until you are sure your upgrade to 10 has activated. Normally this happens very soon after the upgrade, but sometimes it can be delayed. Look for a Digital Licence in....
Settings > Update & security > Activation

The MCT you have just downloaded will make media for the Fall Creators Update (version 1709), use the 'make media for another PC' option. Personally I prefer to use the MCT to make a bootable USB rather than an ISO. You can mount an ISO within Windows 10 and run the Setup you'll find in it to start an upgrade, but you can equally well run the setup from a USB. You can also boot from a USB if you want to do a clean install. If you use a USB, remember to remove it when the time comes for the first reboot - you want to boot from the PC's own drive at that point, not the USB :)

Thanks for the great advice.

I checked to see if my Win 10 Upgrade was validated and indeed it is, noting that it was a digital license on file with MS.

As you suggested, I D/L'd Macrium Reflect and will use the tutorial link you provided to run the app. Would the use of this app negate having to use the Media Creation Tool?

And what are you doing up at 2:00AM? :)

Thanks

Bree said:

Note that the hard drive doesn't count as a hardware change, you can swap an HDD for an SSD (for example) and it will still activate. Note also that the licence is tied to this machine, you'd need to purchase a key to install it on another PC (unless, that is, it has a Win7/8 that can be upgraded).

Don't forget that Microsoft has provided a method to move digital licenses to new computers:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530

miata54 said:

Would the use of this app negate having to use the Media Creation Tool?

No. A system image is a just a way to take a snapshot of your PC as it stands now. This can be restored to put your system back exactly as it was when you made the image. This is a really useful precaution in case your hard drive ever fails. You can replace it, restore the image and carry on as if nothing had happened (the HDD/SSD doesn't count as part of your PC's hardware ID, so the digital licence will still activate your PC).

And what are you doing up at 2:00AM? :)

Bit of a night-owl, me
(off to bed soon though)

Thanks for the tip, Navy LCDR. Are you active or retired? Served 1965-69 with RVAH-5 Photo Recon on CVA-66, 63 and 61.

Aye aye.

Thanks for the tip. It is Home, alone!