Microsoft has begun pre-loading Windows 10

Azcamm said:

For people not yet getting the upgrade follow this guide it worked for my windows 8.1 laptop here in the UK.
How to Force Download Windows 10 for PC or Tablet

Thanks for the tip. Worked for me as well! Win 8.1 x64 desktop. :)

Yep,, same as Joan. Sitting here checking updates, nothing. Apparently pre-downloaded yesterday, reboot didn't start anything either. Still waiting, and I'm an Insider.

Now I'm getting the:
Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro
Installation date: ‎7/‎29/‎2015 9:19 AM
Installation status: Failed
Error details: Code 80240020
Update type: Important
Install the next version of Windows.
More information:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=507415
Help and Support:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=507417

Dear John Pombrio,
Very good advice..of course we are all anxious to receive our new software, but like you stated..MS can't possibly give it to all of us @ once. Patience is a virtue !!
Thanks,
David :)

Azcamm said:

For people not yet getting the upgrade follow this guide it worked for my windows 8.1 laptop here in the UK.
How to Force Download Windows 10 for PC or Tablet

Works great!! Thank you very much :)

I tried the force download several time and got an update failure each time.
Finally, when I checked windows explore for the $window directory and found it I did the force download and it worked.
Based on my experience you must first have the $windows directory before the force download will work.
After it is finished I will report back on the results.

Kyhi said:

Download and Create Windows 10 Installation Media

Thank you very much for the link. Created my ISO for Windows 10 Pro :)

Just waiting for my upgrade to finish and activate then I will do a clean install.

I have a problem

I upgrade from windows 7 to windows 10 on my machine and it wont activate with error Error code: 0xC004F034

which means it cant find activation servers.

the windows 7 key was a legit.

John Pombrio said:

Folks, be very careful here. Ms has a very specific order on how the upgrade will happen for those of your not part of the insider program:
1. MS will download the upgrade folder onto your Win7/8.1 computer.
2. MS will give you a screen shot that it will notify you when MS is ready to upgrade your computer.
3. MS will notify you that the upgrade is ready to install.
4. You can then upgrade your computer.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FORCE ANY OF THESE STEPS! The reason? You may not get an activated copy of Windows 10 nor a valid Windows 10 license. Those HAVE to come from MS and there is no way to force MS to give them to you. The worst case is that you have to start all over again by doing a complete reinstall of your Win7/8.1 OS and then having to wait for MS to once again do the steps above.

PATIENCE. MS has hundreds of millions of computers to upgrade. Yours may be not slated to be upgraded until a day, a week, or several weeks from now. MS simply cannot do them all at once. MS is in control here, not you.

All good points John and I concur but from a technical standpoint I'm a little confused.
I'm curious as to why the upgrade process would take so long "after" the upgrade files have been downloaded. I would have thought that this step would have been the long pole in the process, hence the staggered approached by Microsoft.
Is there something in the actual upgrade itself that Microsoft feels it needs to stagger? My files downloaded yesterday and I have still to receive that all-important notification that I can upgrade.
Not that I am complaining. I will receive it eventually but I am just curious.

Doug