Windows 10: Can Windows 8.1 licenced with a KMS type licence be upgraded to Windows 10?

Hello,

This is a somewhat ignorant question, but I hope that is not too much of a problem:


Upgrading to Windows 10 worked fine in other devices with the same licence type, years ago, when the whole "free upgrade" was pushed.


It is somewhat likely, though unconfirmed, that this device came with windows 10, but was downgraded to windows 8.1, which caused many functions to not work properly.


(Windows update happens to be one of them, and the device is now stuck in version KB3014442, a lot of performance issues are also present)

(It was also noted, that there were prior attempts to install Windows 7 onto the computer, which all failed)



I was planning to "use the current Windows key to activate a media installation of W10", but I ran into a issue


It currently has a KMS licence, as well as it being stuck on a old version of Windows 8.1. and, I, having learned from a bad past experience, have decided to consult this forum before doing anything:



1.) What is the chance that Windows accepts the KMS licence, and if not, what might be the concequences?


I mean, I will do an installation from a USB this time, so there might be some difference in the activation process.


2.) Will the update version present a problem when installing from a USB?


One time, a upgrade failed due to me trying to upgrade to W10 from a Windows 7 machine that has not been update since 2012. It failed, and took the licence off the PC, which then needed to get a clean installation of W7 as it could not be activated with the old key.


That upgrade went using the Windows Upgrade Assistant, not the USB, hence the question above.


3.) Any chance that I do not get prompted to activate Windows 10, due to the pc (possibly) having W10 at a prior point?

Additional notes:​

-I obtained the device product key info with ProduKey, as well as using the "slgmr /dli" command;

-I am not very skilled in installing operating systems, and aditional help/info would certainly be appreciated;

-I do not have access to anyone capable of doing the installation for me;

Thanks in advance!​

:)

 

Get a Windows 10 licence for free if you register on Windows Insider

If you want to upgrade from a Windows 8 license you must install W8, upgrade, get your W10 key and only after that you'll be able to do a clean install of W10.

As for the status of the licences... MS hasn't been straigforward about that... they're using weird wording saying that W10 will remain "activated as long as the hardware is supported" which doesn't actually answer anything.

Remember that for the W10 preview activation you need to install with a Microsoft Account that has been registered on the Windows Insider Program.

 

Get a Windows 10 licence for free if you register on Windows Insider

Yeah.

I installed the preview on 3 computers and I have 2xWin8 pro and 1xWin8 pro WMC licences already. I'm wondering if there will be a way to convert my Win 8 licences to Win 10 ones without having to install the full OS and go through the upgrade route.

I'm also hoping that my retail license will remain retail as I plan to upgrade a little after skylake is released.

 

windows 10 licencing and image backup??

i lost one genuine licence that i got for being a insider..,i added one more ssd to my pc and wanted to do a fresh install in raid 0 but that just didnt work as my pc didnt want to activate,even after talking to a microsoft help desk didnt find solution!! so afterwards i used cracked windows 8.1 and upgraded to windows 10 and that activation is still on my pc,and is still genuine *Smile
i wanted to keep that one but i gues its not just motherboard...,its motherboard AND cpu!!!