Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First  

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  1. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #210

    Hello Dany, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

    Since you have an "upgrade" key instead of "full", I would recommend to create a GenuineTicket.xml file to be able to use in case it won't accept your upgrade key.
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  2. Posts : 8
    Win7 Pro 64bit
       #211

    Brink said:
    Hello Dany, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

    Since you have an "upgrade" key instead of "full", I would recommend to create a GenuineTicket.xml file to be able to use in case it won't accept your upgrade key.
    ... Which is step 5 in your procedure. Awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Brink! :)

    Totally eager to get going with this! :) Just a bit left for the ISO download, and I can start!

    On a related note, I realized that I can use use a spare 32GB SSD to do the clean install, which I'm sure is plenty--and I can probably even let it install all updates to have it fully up-to-date. Finally, if all that goes well, I will wipe my current 250GB SSD and clone the 32GB to it (using another computer, of course) and that's that. (Well, other than reinstalling software.

    Hey, by the way, your opinion, if I may ask: do you recommend fully-updating Windows before I install my anti-virus and other applications, or installing everything (I can think of) with Windows Update off, and then letting these updates download and install?


    Thank you so much again, Brink!

    Dany
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  3. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #212

    Dany,

    I like to install all updates first, drivers second, then install any AV program. Especially with automatic updates now.

    Please let us know how it went. :)
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  4. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #213

    I allowed all the updates which also included all device drivers be taken of first by the 10 installer for both the initial upgrades prior to the guide here being posted and secondly on the clean installs to follow which also included upgrades seen on 10 VMs from either at first the 10240 or 10565 to 10576 Insider Preview builds to then move by update upgrades to the Threshold 2 and still have to boot out of 10 to see the latest go on the 10 VM on 7.

    The av software for the new laptop had to be bought all over again since I had previously extended to the lifetime 5 pc license deal over to both 10 and 7 dual boots on both desktops as well as the old laptop there upgraded from 7. That is typically the first or one of the very first programs to go on once a fresh install of Windows is found to be in good working order usually after a few more full system restarts to verify the fresh install is running well.

    Cloning from drive to drive however was found to be a bit too slow while seeing a full system image backup restored generally saves big on time and tends to go along more smoothly. And of course having a good system image onhand following a fresh install can save a lot of time later if you should need to replace an existing 10 install due to problem of some type! The clean install however still needs to be running good before you would start putting things on anyways.
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  5. Posts : 2
    Windows 8.1
       #214

    Night Hawk said:
    Hello MrGrinchq Welcome to the Ten Forums!

    The clean install method outlined here works for both retail and OEM preinstalls as well as for custom builds since the GenuineTicket.xml file extracted preserves the activation status for transfer over to 10 from one of the previous versions 7, 8, or 8.1 which you have there. Most are usually better off first seeing the "Windows.iso" downloaded first and saved locally by either the Media Creation tool or at the Tech Bench site to have the download onhand if not seeing the 10 media made up. Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums

    Have you checked to see if you have the Anytime Upgrade option by chance? If you have that of course it would strictly be for the upgrade which you can avoid using the method here.

    First you may need a dvd rather then flash drive made up if you are not able to call up the boot device menu, the UEFI(Unified Extensified Firmware Interface) setting is greyed out in the bios setup, or it is set by default for the FN key combination with other key assigned for a function when pressed to together that needs to switched to the "F1-F12" keys mode. That's where if you working with a laptop for example the optical may already set as the actual first in the boot order for when going to use recovery media.

    Up until recently I was setting up a laptop that came with 7 being an older where you couldn't even get into the bios but also saw the FN key. You couldn't call up a boot menu at power up. When something went on that the new model that came with 10 already on did see the UEFI greyed out but you could hit the F2 key(or ESC and F1) in order to get into the bios and switch over to the F1-F12 keys option but still wouldn't boot from a flash drive.
    Dear Hawk thanks for reply!
    I did the procedure twice but always get same result! No sign of activation!
    I download windows 10 x64 iso copy it on flash using rufus on my activated 8.1, boot from advanced start up option to flash, then format drive C and install windows, then after login I copied xml file to its folder! But nothing happened ... restart again didn't solve the problem...

    I notieced my product ID had changed after installing windows 10, does this related?!
    Gear is AUSU N550JK


    Thanks for your time and sorry for typos!
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  6. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #215

    The product ID will see a change automatically even if you simply went ahead with an upgrade install since this is a change of versions as well as the fresh copy of Windows going on. Even with the xml file however you might have to wait for a few startups for the activation to play catch if not immediate. That can happen at times if for some reason things don't quite register the first time around.

    As for using this option it wasn't available as the guide wasn't quite yet posted when 10 was first out and here I did see upgrades and upgrade misery with one of the two desktops and a laptop where you saw a mess! Those subsequently all saw clean installs to follow however once each 10 install was found activated. If you have the sticker or know the product key not serial number for the 8.1 preinstall that was on there you can also try the Change product key option to see if that will take.
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  7. Posts : 191
    Windows XP, 10; Knoppix [Debian] linux
       #216

    What happens with this maneuver after July 2016?


    The GenuineTicket.xml trick seems to bypass Windows activation servers by processing the transfer of a digital entitlement completely on the local machine.

    If this is true, what happens after July 2016, when MS claims they will no longer "free" Windows 10 upgrades? How would they enforce that if the transfer of activation status can happen on the local machine?

    Or am I missing something about the way this works....
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  8. Posts : 18,421
    Windows 11 Pro
       #217

    mike s said:
    The GenuineTicket.xml trick seems to bypass Windows activation servers by processing the transfer of a digital entitlement completely on the local machine.

    If this is true, what happens after July 2016, when MS claims they will no longer "free" Windows 10 upgrades? How would they enforce that if the transfer of activation status can happen on the local machine?

    Or am I missing something about the way this works....
    The information contained in the GenuineTicket.xml is transmitted by Windows 10 to the Microsoft activation servers over the internet. A search is then conducted for matches of previous digital entitlements stored there and if found the activation code is returned. Currently if no match is found, and the information transferred is valid - the Microsoft activation server will return the activation code and store the digital entitlement for future retrieval.

    After July 2016, if no matching digital entitlement is found - then there will not be an activation code returned - instead an error code will be returned asking the user to purchase the Windows 10 upgrade.

    The genuineticket.xml file method of activation will not work until the computer is connected to the internet or a phone activation is done where the data is transmitted to Microsoft via the installation ID provided during the process.
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  9. Posts : 8
    Win7 Pro 64bit
       #218

    RE: Will this procedure work with a Win7 PRO *RETAIL UPGRADE* Key?


    Brink said:
    Dany,

    I like to install all updates first, drivers second, then install any AV program. Especially with automatic updates now.

    Please let us know how it went. :)

    Hey Brink,

    Last weekend I got distracted from all this, but I finally got back around to it yesterday, and everything went perfectly. I actually entered my Windows 7 Professional UPGRADE key when asked (I figured there's no harm in this, since I had grabbed the GenuineTicket.xml file) and it was accepted. Windows 10 (Professional of course) then activated automatically and installed a couple of updates. (I was actually surprised that there weren't more updates to install, but I guess the Win10 ISO I downloaded last weekend was the latest build and therefore included all the updates so far. (Right? ) What I have left to do now is install BidDefender & Office, let Office update itself and that's that.

    Of course, I did all this on the spare drive I mentioned, but that since I have absolutely no other need for it**, I can keep this "perfectly clean" Windows 10 installation on it, and if I ever need to format my system drive in the future, I won't need to worry about reinstalling Windows or any of that, just format + re-clone. .(Any thoughts on that, btw? Also, I guess there's nothing wrong with hanging on to my GenuineTicket.xml file, eh?) The final steps will be to deactivate whatever software I need to do that with from my Win7 installation, reformat the Win7 drive, clone the spare drive to it (using another computer, of course), followed by the long and boring task of reinstalling everything.

    I guess the only thing that's up in the air is whether Microsoft will ask me for money come July--I read the most recent posts related to this, and I'm hoping that since I had no trouble with activation, they will not, but I like to keep my expectations low...




    Thank you so much again Brink, both for your initial post with this procedure and for answering my questions!
    Cheers,

    Dany



    ** Yea, the spare an SSD, but it's old (SATA2) and only 32GB so it's useless as an actual "fast storage" unit, and I don't think it will make much of a difference if I used it as a ReadyBoost drive. (Besides, I never work with files large enough to require more RAM than I have--and if I did, I would go for the proper solution to just get more RAM.)
    Last edited by danytancou; 01 Feb 2016 at 17:27. Reason: added title, to help with future searches
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  10. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #219

    Dany,

    I'm happy to hear that all is going well so far. :)

    Yes, you could keep your GenuineTicket.xml file to have as a backup if ever needed.

    If you like, you could create an image of your system and have it saved to another drive to restore if needed.

    Microsoft is not going to ask you to pay for Windows 10 after July since you have already claimed your free Windows 10. The end of July is only the deadline to be able to claim the free offer to upgrade to Windows 10. If someone didn't claim the offer by then, then they may need to purchase Windows 10 after that date. Time will tell if Microsoft may extend the date, or have another offer available.
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