OK, I see your points, and read the link. NOW I find this out from MS :(.
When I get to it again, I will try it and try the activation site. I see they are very busy (SURPRISE!), so I may not get...

I had a chance this PM to re-install Win 7 clean w/ key, let all the upgrades available in addition to the SP1 on board, then ran the upgrade tool again to install Win 10 again over an existing,...

What you said, I did, as stated att the beginning. I had read the Verge articles and others. That is why I did the "update" to Win 10 on a secondary PC, so if there were any problems i wouldn't screw...

Tried that the first time, it didn't work.

I think you miss my point; as I replied to Mystere, one accepted the key, but had hdwe problems. Another worked OK, including LAN, but wouldn't take embedded key. This only makes sense if you have...

What do you men by "upgrade?" I have legit Win 7 install, with SP! on both PCs. I ran the MS software to establish hardware compatibility. The Win 10 should have gone on completely fine. I understand...

Let me start by saying that I have been using the OS for nearly thirty years, always have multiple failures with each new OS.
I have two identical PCs, same OS (7), same MB, Memory 3 gig or larger....