Insider preview expired

First thing is boot with a Macrium Reflect disk and image the hard drive. Then boot with Windows 10 disk and preform a clean install. Hopefully if will activate with the Microsoft account.

I've done a clean install with Windows 10. Signed in with Microsoft and Windows 10 is activated. Now I have to copy files from the image and install apps. Is there an easier way to recover from an expired Windows insider Preview?

It's also worth remembering that 2 builds of Windows 10 Pro and Home are not time limited: 10240, and 10586. Once you have an Insider build preview other than this, it is designed to expire on some date in the future, but the digital entitlement you have at present on that device should not expire if you run one of the numbered builds above. That is the way it is at present, but things may change by the end of next July.

It is not difficult to obtain 10586 - see the tutorials on obtaining a Windows 10 Iso setup installation by downloading either the Media Creation tool or direct from Microsoft.

If you want to keep things going, it is not difficult to dual boot to one of these builds and to an Insider Build - all you need are a couple of 30 GB partitions. What you don't want to do is let your non-expiring build get upgraded to one that expires - and you can do that by not opting into the Insider program on that build, but allowing the Insider preview build to upgrade every so often before it is due to expire.

One condition of an Insider installation is the Microsoft account it is linked to, and the Microsoft account website should be able to tell you some information about the insider device linked to that account at https://account.microsoft.com/devices
Strange to tell, but even if I have Insider versions dual booting on the same PC, the page above shows only my 10586 versions on my machines.

Microsoft defines "Devices" quite specifically in the EULA for Windows 10. I believe it is about to start testing how to enforce those definitions soon, which it does not do already. If you remain an Insider, those definitions may continue not to be enforced until the program is ended, or replaced by a new type of program.

So just to clarify:

I upgraded a laptop with a legit version of Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 and opted for Insider Builds. Now my laptop says evaluation copy. So because I optd in to insider builds, I have to reinstall my operating system before 7/16??? This makes no sense, they are making it harder for people who opt into insider builds. If your license is legit to start it should not expire.

The latest insider version build 14271 is described as "evaluation" and will time expire. If you remain in the Insider Program, it will be eligible to, and will receive further updates automatically before the expiry date. Therefore it will not leave you high and dry, when the current evaluation ends.

The latest release to the general public is 10586, which will not time expire. You can get this version as an ISO download or via the Media Creation Tool. See the tutorial forum for details. You are at liberty to downgrade to this build at any time.