MS to Allow Windows 10 Activation with Windows 7/8.1 Keys Start Nov.

keseyken said:

So there I am with my 10 year old machine glorying in a magnificent 1 meg of ram which runs my XP perfectly well. I don't have a care in the world. Microsoft kindly offers me a free upgrade to the answer to all my longings. It's Windows 10 Pro. Yeeha now watch my productivity soar. Oops my wonderful machine crashed. Why did it do that? It never crashed with XP Pro.

Who can I blame? Will Mr. Nadella take my calls, which will be numerous and aggrieved?

They could simply have a compatibility program you need to run before you can download the ISO..simple
That in effect is what the current tools do anyway.
In any case users always have the responsibility to ensure their hardware is compatible even if is a paid for O.S. nothing have changed there.

zooburner said:

They could simply have a compatibility program you need to run before you can download the ISO..simple
That in effect is what the current tools do anyway.
In any case users always have the responsibility to ensure their hardware is compatible even if is a paid for O.S. nothing have changed there.

zooburner

I thought windows 10 does a compatibility check, keseyken shouldn't of been able to install windows 10 with that low of memory. In fact, Windows 10 install should of stopped the installation in its tracks


@keseyken Where did you get the windows 10 pro upgrade?

groze said:

zooburner

I thought windows 10 does a compatibility check, keseyken shouldn't of been able to install windows 10 with that low of memory. In fact, Windows 10 install should of stopped the installation in its tracks


@keseyken Where did you get the windows 10 pro upgrade?

I thought it was a scenario in response to my post of a 'free for all' method of distribution incident, but if in fact it was downloaded onto a machine running XP then that is very odd.

zooburner said:

I thought it was a scenario in response to my post of a 'free for all' method of distribution incident, but if in fact it was downloaded onto a machine running XP then that is very odd.

I do know some people got windows 10 pro by a fluke including me but I fixed it to be windows 10 home. For some reason, when I was an insider. I was upgraded to a window 10 pro but never downgraded to windows 10 home even when the rtm was released. Yes, I opted out of the insider program. I wouldn't be surprised if I could still install windows 10 pro on this machine. I am assuming the xp to windows 10 pro upgrade was also a fluke. If it was downloaded to the xp machine, it still shouldn't of installed due to low memory of his windows xp.

zooburner said:

I thought it was a scenario in response to my post of a 'free for all' method of distribution incident, but if in fact it was downloaded onto a machine running XP then that is very odd.

zooburner, it was exactly that - i.e. as per your post no. 23. My point, very obliquely and obviously inadeqately put, was that Microsoft could not possibly open the floodgates and let anyone with a wish to install Windows 10, regardless of the age and capability of their hardware. They would be tied up in unresolvable maintainance issues ad infinitum, and be driven loopy in the process. The copies of Windows 10 which I've received were because the various machines had windows complying with the upgrade deal offered by Microsoft.

WINDOW 10 CLEAN BOOT INSTALL VIA THE FREE UPGRADE
#### October 15, 2015 ####
I read that the product key from the Win 7/8/8.1 installation is converted to a Win 10 key after the Win10 online upgrade is performed. Once the upgraded computer is confirmed to be activated its original Operating System (OS) product key is then usable for a Win10 clean-boot install. I also read that Win10 does not use product keys, relying instead on the hardware configuration to validate the OS install. It occurs to me, and many others, that should a Hard Drive (HD) failure occur after the free Win10 upgrade, or if one prefers to perform a clean boot install, we who are responsible for more than a handful of computers need to know what procedure to be follow to recover or reinstall the OS. Everything I was finding online were stories about how the procedure should work. I could find no one who had actually gone through and successfully performed a clean boot install resulting in a legally activated Win10 computer via the free upgrade. Since I had a computer available to perform these sorts of tests, I decided to give it a try.
The computer:
64 bit HP Pavilion Elite HPE Desktop PC
AMD Phenom II X4 970 @ 3.5 GHz
AMD Radeon HD 6450 Display
10 gb RAM
It was running a legal OEM version of Windows 7 when the HD died, so after replacing the HD it was the perfect candidate.
#### October 19, 2015 ####
Formatted the new HD and restored Win7 from HP restore Media (DVD's). Started Windows Update process...... Apparently, when updating from Win7/8/8.1 the OS must be fully up-to-date before the Win10 upgrade can occur.
#### October 20, 2015 ####
Finished the Windows Update process. With a fully updated, clean install (or as clean an install as can be obtained from OEM Media) of Win7, I downloaded Windows MediaCreationToolx64.exe* and began the upgrade to Win10. When asked what to keep from the previous install I selected NOTHING, as opposed to keeping personal files & Apps or just personal files. The install went perfectly without any issues, I was not asked to enter a key. After the install Win10 activated without any issues. The previous OS install was left behind in a folder named Windows.old, presumably to back-step should one be unhappy with the upgrade. I read that using the disk cleanup tool was the recommended way to remove this folder. Disk Cleanup ran flawlessly and in all I was able to free-up About 20gb (probably more than usual because of all the OEM crap that was installed during the Win7 Restore process).

#### October 21, 2015 ####
Using the MediaCreationToolx64.exe I created a Win10.iso DVD to use to attempt a full clean boot install of Win10. I downloaded ShowKeyPlus.exe** to record what my current activated key was before proceeding with the clean boot install on a new hard drive. Interestingly, the key reported was NOT the Win7 key from the previous install. It did however report a valid key to spite what I had read about Win10 not using keys.
I then Booted from the DVD to begin the clean boot install. When asked for a product key I hit "Skip" If the installation fails to activate on its own based on the hardware configuration, I will enter the Key reported by ShowKeyPlus.exe. I deleted all existing partitions, created and formatted a new partition. After the initial file copy from DVD to HD a reboot occurs to continue the install process from the copied files. At this time I was again prompted for a product key (no skip option this time) at which time I entered the Win10 key reported from the ShowKeyPlus.exe** tool, it accepted this and the installation proceeded. The rest of the install proceeded without issues, the OS was auto activated immediately; apparently the key reported by ShowKeyPlus.exe** was righteous.
Notes:
After the Win10 upgrade from Win7 and after performing a Disk Cleanup there were 54gb of used HD space. However, after the clean boot install just 20.2gb of used space. Both instances include all Windows Updates and Google Chrome Installed. Additionally, with the clean boot install no more HP_RECOVERY partition. After the Win10 upgrade this partition would not have worked anyway so that was another 14gb recovered with the clean boot install.
Summary
Simple steps to perform a clean boot install of Win10 via the free upgrade. This assumes one has a computer meeting the minimum Win10 requirements running a legally activated version of Win7/8/8.1; additionally, that any files/data that need to be preserved are backed-up on external media of your choice.
1. Download both the MediaCreationToolx64 and the ShowKeyPlus tool and store them on a thumb drive or network drive to which you will have immediate access.
2. Perform the online upgrade to Win10. You can use the annoying icon in the tray, Windows Update or the MediaCreationTool to do this. If the Windows install you are migrating from was legally activated Win10 should activate immediately. Once you verify this (Start button > Settings > Updates & Security > Activation) move on to step 3.
3. Run the ShowKeyPlus tool and record your Win10 Product Key. The program has a button to create a .txt file with your key info, this is a good idea. Save the file externally with the tools that were downloaded previously.
4. Use the MediaCreationTool to create bootable Win10 media on either DVD or thumb drive.
5. Insert the media and shutdown the computer. Turn it back on and force it to boot from the newly created media. Be sure to delete all existing partitions and format the drive (remember, you backed everything up, right?).
6. When prompted for a product key enter the Win10 key recorded previously with the ShowKeyPlus tool.
7. That’s pretty much it. The rest of the installation should go without issue. Win10 will auto-activate and you have a perfectly clean boot install.

* http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softw...load/windows10
** https://www.tenforums.com/software-ap...7-showkey.html

zooburner said:

Oh yes I understand that, but why not simply make it 'free completely' I doubt there is anything to be gained from not doing that.

Win10's free upgrade for people who bought Win7/8 is Microsoft's Mea Culpa for releasing Win8 as the travesty it was. If you'll remember Win8.2 is the phantom release that morphed into Win10--8.2 was supposed bring back the start menu for Win8 among other things, etc. Had it not been for Win8 there'd be (a) no Windows 10, we'd probably have had a much different Windows 8, instead, and (b) there'd have been no free upgrade from Win7, either. So...have to give the Win8 we got props for getting us to Win10...;)

Microsoft figures if you hadn't been a loyal enough customer to even get Win7 along the way then you didn't deserve a freebie to Win10. I can't say I disagree...;)

Also, you are forgetting that the free upgrade period expires 7/16 and after that the OS will cost, whether doing an upgrade or "full" install. So how would people with no Win7/8 keys successfully activate after the free upgrade period expires? The only way for that to work is that Microsoft gives Win10 away for free to the entire planet in the remainder of the free upgrade period, and that's never been the goal.

waltc said:

Win10's free upgrade for people who bought Win7/8 is Microsoft's Mea Culpa for releasing Win8 as the travesty it was. If you'll remember Win8.2 is the phantom release that morphed into Win10--8.2 was supposed bring back the start menu for Win8 among other things, etc. Had it not been for Win8 there'd be (a) no Windows 10, we'd probably have had a much different Windows 8, instead, and (b) there'd have been no free upgrade from Win7, either. So...have to give the Win8 we got props for getting us to Win10...

Microsoft figures if you hadn't been a loyal enough customer to even get Win7 along the way then you didn't deserve a freebie to Win10. I can't say I disagree...

Also, you are forgetting that the free upgrade period expires 7/16 and after that the OS will cost, whether doing an upgrade or "full" install. So how would people with no Win7/8 keys successfully activate after the free upgrade period expires? The only way for that to work is that Microsoft gives Win10 away for free to the entire planet in the remainder of the free upgrade period, and that's never been the goal.

@waltc

As long as you upgrade to windows 10 from a windows 7/8.x system at least once before the free offer expires. You will be able to upgrade or do a clean install at no charge even after the free offer expires.