Can't use win 7, 8, 8.1 keys after July 29th

Thats exactly what I want to do, thanks Navy.
The digital entitlement is not affected? It will still activate automatically - sorry this thread (the previous posts) confused me.
I dont have a data partition so its basically delete all the partitions that are there and then select the unallocated space and let windows 10 do its thing. Am I correct - you need to boot from the installation media to install? Why - can you not just mount the iso?
Just to be clear - the update is found by windows update service and it downloads - takes basically all night in my case. Windows update does a few things before it gives you the "a restart has been scheduled" screen. it is at this point that I need to do the esd to iso process. Then I let the upgrade continue installing with reboots and the other things it does. I am on a windows 7 computer now so I cant look at the options available but I think there is a section in the advanced part of update that allows a computer to automatically log in to your account to enable the entire update process to be faster and hands free - does this need to be "unenabled" because I would think that will make the first restart (when I do the esd to iso process) to automatically happen. Also I read something about downloading updates while windows is installing - is it better to install without internet access and let windows download updates once it has installed? - Im talking about my clean install and updating after Ive logged into my computer.

Once you have made an iso from the esd as far as I'm aware there is no need to allow the update to continue if you are going to do a clean install.

Valid point DooGie - logic tells me that you are correct.

thank you very much Navy

Thats true

Mystere said:

I'm guessing that he's mistaken on this. Most likely, he's already activated Windows 10 on a virtual machine on the same system, and since virtual machines all have the same ID's, it would mean there was already a digital entitlement for Windows 10 in his VM environment, and it just so happens he used the Windows 7 key to install, but the actual entitlement is coming from a different activation he has done before.

groze said:

That doesn't make sense with what Kari (I think it was Kari) said. He said when you create a new virtual machine, it like having another computer (Those were not the exact words but I made it simple). So Ed Boot test shouldn't of worked unless Microsoft just waiting tell Monday to stop the keys. I think Ed should of waited till Tuesday or even later to test them. Microsoft got to be-carefull and not turn off or stop the wrong keys.

DavidY said:

That's not my experience with VMs.

When I create a new VM, on a host machine which has had other activated VMs, the new ones don't activate.

If I take a VM that's already activated, wipe the disk and clean install it, then it sees the entitlement and does activate. Admittedly it's a while since I created a new one, but my experience is that VMs behave much like physical machines.

No way to know how Ed Bott managed to do it but let's make one thing very clear: Each virtual machine has its own hardware signature, its own GUID. If you create a new vm and install Windows on it, any version skipping product key, Windows will not be activated. That is absolutely not possible Windows to be automatically activated when installed on new machine.

If you however don't create a new vm but instead take an already activated Windows 10 vm and perform a clean install to that existing old vm, this vm will be activated exactly as a would happen on any physical computer; clean installing on previously digitally activated machine will be activated, clean installing on machine that has never had Windows 10 activated will not be activated.

About keys: this is not rocket science!

• You can use Windows 7 and 8.1 keys to activate 7 and 8.1 today, next month, next year if you so wish. According EULA these keys however will no longer be valid if used for Windows 10 activation and you have not rolled back
• You cannot use Windows 7 or 8.1 key anymore to activate Windows 10
• If you used Windows 7 or 8.1 key to activate Windows 10, then rolled back to Windows 7 or 8.1, your hardware has digital entitlement and you can clean install Windows 10 or in-place upgrade Windows 7 or 8.1 whenever you want to and so decide. Your Windows 10 will be activated regardless if the original key used for digital activation and free upgrade was retail or OEM
• You only need to use product key once. When Windows 10 is activated, be it your old 7 or 8.1 key or a new Windows 10 key, first and only time you need to use a key is enough to get it activated and activation stored on activation servers, based on the digital hardware signature. All subsequent upgrade installs will not even ask a product key, a clean install always asks it but you should select "I don't have a product key" to skip it
• Don't panic when on desktop after clean install on a machine with digital entitlement: speaking from personal experience after enormous amount of activations since the digital entitlement was presented, it might sometimes take up to 10 minutes before the Windows status will be changed to Activated, although in most cases it is instant
• Digital entitlement lasts the lifetime of your device. If 10 was activated with Windows 7 or 8.1 key and you rolled back to Windows 7 or 8.1, you have no hurry; according to Microsoft's "lifetime of device" promise you can wait for instance until 2020 when Windows 7 support comes to its end and install / upgrade only then

Kari

Kari said:

[*]You cannot use Windows 7 or 8.1 key anymore to activate Windows 10

Kari

Respectfully @Kari, you would be mistaken:

@Kari, @simrick,

Ok. So there's this "rumor" floating around that the free upgrade has been "extended" by Microsoft. So I did a little experiment on my custom built computer that has never had Windows 10 Home on it before. Here's the results:

https://www.tenforums.com/installatio...y-expired.html

Clean install of Windows 10 Home build 14393 from an ISO file captured from a computer that did the insider upgrade - no activation:



Here's the product key to be tested:



Here's the change product key screen in progress of checking it:



And the result? - Exactly the same as would have occurred on July 28th:



Further proof, slmgr /dlv result:



So the definitive answer is that the Microsoft activation server is working on 8/1/2016 at 7:30PM 1.5 hours North of Microsoft in Stanwood, WA just exactly the same as it worked on July 28th.