Anyone know how switching fro Insider to RTM works?

I don't really remember how I got to where I am now. I guess I will revert to Windows 8.1 before July 29th.

groze said:

bobkn

I did some upgrading testing. This is going to be hard to explain.

I deleted the pid.txt
Upgraded form windows 7 home oem to windows 10 preview, change to a different key
Upgraded form windows 7 home retail to windows 10 preview, it change to a key but the same key that it change the oem to.

I was using build 10130 as a test.

I hope you can follow.

I think that I can follow it.

I doubt that this adds much to the discussion, but when I played with 10147, I installed it as an upgrade over 8.1. The result was activated, but the license key (extracted with Magical Jellybean) was changed. I tried to use the key from the 10147 installation to do a clean install. It was no go. I had to use the key from the first page of this thread:

Windows 10 Build 10147 x64 ISO has leaked

That's probably about as far off-topic as I should go.

I'm back on 8.1 at the moment. (I'm not into virtual machines, and I haven't dual booted since I was running Win98 and NT4.) If something newer than 10147 leaks or is released soon, I may not be able to resist trying it.

FuturDreamz said:

I know nothing has been said yet, but I would like to know. Will we get the start menu in the taskbar like Windows 7 and 8 do? Will there be a button in Windows Update? Will we have to do it manually?

The leaked builds have in the Update Settings, Advanced section a button which is labeled Stop Insider Builds.

This button, which used to say Preview builds are on with a "Change" option, will open a dialog giving instructions on how to leave the program.

I have been wondering, if you use it, are you removing yourself from the Insider Program completely or just for that one system.

well you can always opt-back-in on the insider program, the only problem is, if theres some sort of time limit that you can do between those swaps. pretty sure tho that you need to use MSA for that stuff anyway

10147 is with this mentioned option as the saltgrass said, i have it on use but havent tested that button yet. should try it out and see if the windows says its activated or not etc.

Rocky said:

So I have to go from Windows 10 (TP) to Windows 8.1 and then back to Windows 10 (RTM)?

That doesn't make sense. How can you do a clean install of Win10 RTM if you have to reinstall Win 7/8 first.

It would make more sense if you just had to enter you previous (valid) Win 7/8 license key during the Win10 installation activation step.

CountryBumkin said:

That doesn't make sense. How can you do a clean install of Win10 RTM if you have to reinstall Win 7/8 first.

It would make more sense if you just had to enter you previous (valid) Win 7/8 license key during the Win10 installation activation step.

The way I understand it,

Windows 7/8.x upgrade via windows update to windows 10 release, then you download an windows 10 release iso then you can do a clean install anytime you want.

You may recall that Microsoft offered a cheap ($40 in the US) upgrade from 7 to 8.

The official line on that was that it had to be installed over an activated version of a qualifying OS. The upgrade license key couldn't be used to install 8 on a blank drive.

There are work-arounds for that. My current 8.1 installation was done on a blank drive using a Win 8 upgrade key. (The installation wasn't as simple as just using the key, but it requires no l337 h4cker skillz.) I have all of the licenses and OS installation media in hand to have installed 8.1 in the officially approved way, but to heck with that.

I hope that it will be possible to install Windows 10 on a blank drive using the free upgrade license in a Microsoft-approved manner. I hope that it won't involve a Microsoft Account, but I could live with it if it did.