UUP to ISO - Create Bootable ISO from Windows 10 Build Upgrade Files  

cereberus said:

Just because you see a device in MS account, that is no guarantee that that device has a digital licence or not.

Also, there is a limit of 10 devices that can be seen in your MS account.

MS have not stopped accepting upgrade keys for 7/8 UNLESS that is built into latest CU build which is now 1703.

Also, with other VMs, are you still logging into them with same MS account used to install it in first place - if you change to a local account, the device is removed from the MS list. If you are running 1607+ on each VM, you could try to change to a local account, then use activation troubleshooter to link digital licence to MS account.

Hmmm. I'm using the official 15048 .ISO to create the VM using my key. Not working.

Yes, I am using the same M$ account across the board. And there are only 2 devices showing (well, technically, 4, but 2 are unregistered VMs that I just created).

CU may be in the way - I'll try the official 1607 RS release and see if it makes a difference.

cereberus said:

This will not work - the link of the digital licence to MS account is not automatic. All the link does is provide a means to MANUALLY activate in event of a hardware change (and new VM counts as that). Your issue is that you are not seeing previous VMs in your MS account - you may need to re-link them.

Yeah, figured that out already by trying it.

johngalt said:

Hmmm. I'm using the official 15048 .ISO to create the VM using my key. Not working.

I can't remember where I read it and seem to be unable to find anything supporting this, but I am quite sure I read somewhere just a few days ago that MS has put an end of this overdue "free" Win10 with 7 or 8.1 key, with one exception: it should still work when upgrading to version 1703 (build 15055 and later).

Please notice, the above is not a checked fact, it's just something I am quite sure I read. I remember when reading it thinking that source is reliable. A shame I didn't save the URL where I read this.

So, are you saying I need to use a 15055 / 15058 disc? I never made the 15055 disc, and I wanted to test the download and install of 15058 on a low disk situation, so I basically need that 15055 disc lol.

Wow. Anyone care to help me out with an EN-US x64 15055 Install disc?

johngalt said:

Hmmm. I'm using the official 15048 .ISO to create the VM using my key. Not working.

This explains it - the digital link to MS account was only introduced in version 1607. You have to upgrade those VMs to 1607 to see them when you click on activation tool.

johngalt said:

So, are you saying I need to use a 15055 / 15058 disc?

I am only saying I think I saw something about this. At the moment it looks that I am totally unable to find anything supporting this.

cereberus said:

This explains it - the digital link to MS account was only introduced in version 1607. You have to upgrade those VMs to 1607 to see them when you click on activation tool.

Downgrade?

Kari said:

I can't remember where I read it and seem to be unable to find anything supporting this, but I am quite sure I read somewhere just a few days ago that MS has put an end of this overdue "free" Win10 with 7 or 8.1 key, with one exception: it should still work when upgrading to version 1703 (build 15055 and later).

Please notice, the above is not a checked fact, it's just something I am quite sure I read. I remember when reading it thinking that source is reliable. A shame I didn't save the URL where I read this.

This might make sense - it was often suspected the "free upgrade" mechanism was built into the build rather than at server end but we could never tell. A good test would be if you could upgrade from 1607 but not 1703.

If it has ended, I expect to see lots of emails (on less controlled sites) to words of "Blow MS - I have to pay to upgrade now" (or words to that effect ). I admit I will probably get exceptionally childish satisfaction in reply "tough luck" (or words to that effect ) stating the obvious i.e. they had bags of time to do it.

The sad bit will be a lot of people would then blatantly try and use the "assistive technology" method possibly forcing MS to withdraw it, as they have already threatened to do so, making life harder for genuine cases .

johngalt said:

Downgrade?

Sorry - got confused with build numbers. Ignore my last comment.

Well, 15048 is out. I can now try a couple of other methods, including 15055, 15058, 1607, and other older official releases.

Let's see what happens.

I highly suspect that somewhere along the way, I removed the references to the VMs in my M$ account (hence why there are only my 2 physical machines showing), and that is really the reason why I am having issues now. When it tries to activate, it says it recognizes that I have a valid digital license, but then fails to connect to it, or whatever it is doing.

Haha. Using 1607 to create the VM with Win 7 key worked perfectly fine.