Confusion over Insider Program On a Licensed/Activated Machine

Hi,

Having looked at various forums, I'm a little confused over MS' policy regarding the Insider Preview Builds.

Basically, I fresh install Win 8.1 Pro (EN-GB) on my laptop, activated (genuine VLSC MAK licence key), then used the MS provided 10240 ISO (EN-GB) to perform an upgrade. All went fine, no problem, machine showing as activated and genuine. I'd previously been on the insider program (pre-launch), but only on a VM, so I signed up for insider previews on my newly built laptop, and 3 weeks on I'm still on build 10240. Nothing coming down at all through updates.

I have managed to get hold of the 10547 ISO, so I mirrored the exact same process on a VM and upgraded via the 10547 ISO. Now the VM has the 'Evaluation' msg in the bottom right of the desktop, so I'm guessing it's lost its 'genuine' status.

Could somebody please clarify for me:

1. Why would I not be getting insider builds on my laptop? Surely 3 weeks is long enough to wait for this to happen?
2. If it was to appear as available, would my laptop lose its genuine status and revert back to an evaluation licence?

If any more info is required please let me know. Otherwise, thanks in advance for the help :)

Tony

1. Don't know why. Are you on the fast ring?

2. Builds beyond 10240 ARE evaluation builds. That's why they have the evaluation watermark on them and why they have an expiration. "Genuine" status has nothing to do with it because you installed an evaluation build.

If you had a permanent non-expiring non-evaluation activation with build 10240 then you should gain it again with build 10240 - the RTM build - and any future non-evaluation builds that Microsoft puts out.

Run "slmgr /xpr" without the quotes from a command prompt. You should get a return that says "This machine is permanently activated". That means that any non-evaluation build that Microsoft releases should activate on your computer with a non-expiring license. Evaluation builds will have an expiration date to their licenses because they are only evaluation builds.

Run "slmgr /dlv" without the quotes from a command prompt and if the build you have installed is an evaluation build then there will be an expiration date in the returned information. If the build you have installed is a released RTM build, then there will be no expiration date in the returned information.

NavyLCDR said:

1. Don't know why. Are you on the fast ring?

2. Builds beyond 10240 ARE evaluation builds. That's why they have the evaluation watermark on them and why they have an expiration. "Genuine" status has nothing to do with it because you installed an evaluation build.

If you had a permanent non-expiring non-evaluation activation with build 10240 then you should gain it again with build 10240 - the RTM build - and any future non-evaluation builds that Microsoft puts out.

Run "slmgr /xpr" without the quotes from a command prompt. You should get a return that says "This machine is permanently activated". That means that any non-evaluation build that Microsoft releases should activate on your computer with a non-expiring license. Evaluation builds will have an expiration date to their licenses because they are only evaluation builds.

Run "slmgr /dlv" without the quotes from a command prompt and if the build you have installed is an evaluation build then there will be an expiration date in the returned information. If the build you have installed is a released RTM build, then there will be no expiration date in the returned information.

Thanks, and someone posted this info below:
Short for release to manufacturing, the version of a software product that is given to manufacturers to bundle into future versions of their hardware products. RTM versions are typically released to manufacturers before they are released to the general public so that the manufacturers can work out any bugs the software may encounter with hardware devices. The release of an RTM version does not necessarily mean that the creators have worked out all the problems with the software; there still may be more versions of the product before it is released to the general public.

acmanten said:

Thanks, and someone posted this info below:
Short for release to manufacturing, the version of a software product that is given to manufacturers to bundle into future versions of their hardware products. RTM versions are typically released to manufacturers before they are released to the general public so that the manufacturers can work out any bugs the software may encounter with hardware devices. The release of an RTM version does not necessarily mean that the creators have worked out all the problems with the software; there still may be more versions of the product before it is released to the general public.

If you do what is stated above your result should look similar to the graphic below.
These graphics are from my home system.
Attachment 40562
I suspect it is OK to post this info. Best to all.

NavyLCDR said:

1. Don't know why. Are you on the fast ring?

2. Builds beyond 10240 ARE evaluation builds. That's why they have the evaluation watermark on them and why they have an expiration. "Genuine" status has nothing to do with it because you installed an evaluation build.

If you had a permanent non-expiring non-evaluation activation with build 10240 then you should gain it again with build 10240 - the RTM build - and any future non-evaluation builds that Microsoft puts out.

Run "slmgr /xpr" without the quotes from a command prompt. You should get a return that says "This machine is permanently activated". That means that any non-evaluation build that Microsoft releases should activate on your computer with a non-expiring license. Evaluation builds will have an expiration date to their licenses because they are only evaluation builds.

Run "slmgr /dlv" without the quotes from a command prompt and if the build you have installed is an evaluation build then there will be an expiration date in the returned information. If the build you have installed is a released RTM build, then there will be no expiration date in the returned information.

Thanks NavyLCDR,

Running the slmgr command on my existing 10240 build shows it to be non-expiring, and /dlv shows no expiration date. Also running the same on my VM, which is upgraded manually to 10547 shows the same. So that puts that question to rest, thanks!

RE why I'm not getting builds through on my existing 10240 build, signed up on the fast ring for 3 weeks now, I have no idea. I'm a little dubious about using the ISO I obtained as it wasn't directly from MS, and I believe that MS haven't officially released an ISO for it AFAIK. I've removed my machine from all WSUS policies on the network, and ensured the relevant reg entries show the build as th2_release, so I'm stumped on that one. I know it says that it may take 'some time' for builds to come down, but 3 weeks?!

I have trawled the web for reasons for this but not found anything relevant to my situation. If anyone has any other suggestions it would be appreciated.

Thanks.

bluntTony said:

Running the slmgr command on my existing 10240 build shows it to be non-expiring, and /dlv shows no expiration date. Also running the same on my VM, which is upgraded manually to 10547 shows the same.

That's strange, because build 10547 should have an expiration date - although I guess technically it is called evaluation end date: