Windows 10: Clean installed WIN 7 now cannot get upgrade option for WIN 10

I recently did a clean install of WIN 7 Pro 64 bit. Prior to this I was getting the opportunity to upgrade to WIN 10 Pro but did not do so on the relevant desktop.

I have installed all the hundreds of Windows Updates and rechecked for any more multiple times but I still don't get the one to upgrade to WIN 10.

How do I get the option back to upgrade to WIN 10?

Any help appreciated.

:)

 

Windows 10 product key

Hello,

I have a system with Win 7 Ultimate preinstalled. I signed up for Windows Insider Preview and was running Windows 10 beta. Once the final version of Win 10 was released, the system OS was automatically updated to final Windows 10 release and Windows was
activated.

Now since I had lot of junk apps from Win 7, I decided to use Windows 10 Recovery mode to wipe everything and do a clean install. In the process, I received BOOT DEVICE INACCESSIBLE error and now I cannot go back to Win 7. I downloaded the Win 10 ISO from
MS website and it requires a product key so the installation cannot proceed since MS never sent me an email once my OS was auto upgraded to Win 10 with a product key nor was I required to do an upgrade reservation.

So, now I have to go back to reinstalling Win 7 with all the updates, which the system is still working on, and hoping that I will see Win 10 upgrade icon in system tray of Win 7 once all updates are done. And then, once Win 10 is downloaded, do a clean
install loading Win 10.

To me, it is a loooong process and I cannot directly install a clean version of Win 10 without product key.

Am I missing something, or is this the only way to do a clean install of Win 10?

 

Licence Key problem

Did you upgrade win 7 to win 10 or clean install win 10? Win 10 is an upgrade. If you did not upgrade you will have to re-install the previous OS then upgrade or purchase a win 10 key. You cannot use a key to activate the released version of win 10

 

Download the Media Creation Tool! IF you had reserved a copy of 10 you should have by now received the second of two emails the first confirming the reservation and the second indicating "Why Wait?" with the link to the page for both the 32bit and 64bit versions of the Media Creation Tool used to download 10 as well as see the installation media created.

The 10 app first seen in 7, 8, 8.1 isn't a requirement since 10 is now readily available for download. Only a few days ago the click on the app suddenly started seeing the download of 10 while I already have a working dual boot of 10 with 7 going! But if you didn't reserve the copy of 10 and didn't receive the second email this is what it has to say.

Once you have the correct MC tool and start that up you will run into the screen where the language, correct edition for the upgrade, and flavor or combination of both 32bit and 64bit will be seen on three dropdown lists. First step however is to right click to select the "Run as adminstrator" option seen in the right click menu to avoid any firewall or UAC problems.





Then you see the tool load for a bit until the first options screen appears which prompts you to select between the immediate online upgrade or see the installation media created.





From there you can follow the steps in the guide for downloading 10 seen at Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums[2]=Installation%20and%20Setup

The screens are easy to follow as you go along with the steps in the guide there. takes you through the same screenshots I could continue on posting. There is also one report that explained how to get the 10 app back on again but why bother? I have it here on the 7 side of the dual boot and fortunately while still planning a clean install of 7 sometime didn't need a second upgrade!





Be sure to have any additional non OS hard drives internal or external unplugged when going to run the upgrade install or run into the same Failed to Upgrade error!





When going to check on the 10 app after all this time I ran into the download and allowed it to fail since not only was 10 already on but people need to know what can cause the repeat upgrade failures I first ran into! The clean install guide was where I found out that the two storage drives here had to be unplugged! OOPS! Boot files and temp installation folders ended up on the wrong drives!

 

I would suggest you select the "Upgrade this PC now" option of media creation tool. That way you get exactly the version of Windows 10 you need to upgrade to. The only disadvantage to that is that you won't have the install media created for a clean install - but you can run MCT a second time and make the install media then, if you want.

No matter what, make a complete backup of your current system before you upgrade to Windows 10.

 

Here I saw the first download being the Pro 32bit/64bit combo Windows.iso download put on a 16gb flash drive and then ran the tool a few more times to get the Home combo as well as both editions in each flavor separately to have onhand since I was preparing to upgrade more then one machine.

There you may want to do the same by at least seeing the 10 Pro media created and then try the online upgrade option you first come to. The email indicated that it could take days or weeks and now of course depending on when you reserved your copy of 10 a full two month wait! Mine was confirmed reserved by the first email back in mid June! when first word came about that option. On the 29th however I simply followed the advice in the second email not to wait and use the MC tool!

If you decide to skip the option to download and save the iso to a folder on the drive or create the installation media which you can go back for at any time by the way you may want to have an 8gb flash drive ready to see a Recovery Drive made up if you opt for the immediate upgrade option. First you will want to review the guide for seeing to the upgrade itself. Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums

And then while still recommending a second download for the usb media or burn to dvd if not planning to save the iso to a drive you use the option in 10 to see the Recovery Drive made up in the event you are not able to gain access to the F8 boot repair and recovery options menu. Recovery Drive - Create in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Here I am still looking to see a Recovery disk made up since one laptop is unable to boot live from a usb flash drive not seeing a boot device menu option! Fortunately I burned the four 10 Home and Pro, 32bit and 64bit flavors onto blanks in case the optical media was needed and it was! Seeing the media created first is advised for another in the event the initial upgrade turns out to be a disaster for some unknown reason leaving the machine without a working OS! You can then simply boot live to see the upgrade install complete. If the ISP drops a rivet and the internet connection is lost or someone smacks into a telephone pole and the upgrade gets interrupted at least you have a recovery option available.

 

Will it cause a problem that I have changed the graphics card in the desktop PC that I now want to upgrade to WIN 10 since reinstalling WIN 7. I'm concerned it might cause a problem with activation as I only have the WIN 7 product key (It was a retail version not OEM).

 

Is your Windows 7 activated? If your Windows 7 is permanently activated than so will the Windows 10 you upgrade to from within that Windows 7.

 

With expansion cards like the video card you generally never had to even worry with 7 while when going to change brands of desktop memory alarms bells and a call to MS came up! That was seen previously with 7. With 10 the "3 days to activate" made a new appearance when swapping out 4gb of Mushkin memory for 8gb two 4gb dimms max for the micro atx board of Kingston Hyper X memory for a day or so without any need to call MS or have a key to enter.

10 automatically made the adjustment to the "not quite as minor" hardware change but didn't force the call or second upgrade over previous version once activated. 10 simply made a record of the hardware change. And I think this being seen now is a little lax in comparison to the usual paid for retail outlet release where everything is kept rigid while a board change on the other hand means new upgrade from previous version already activated to the new board. For the most part the activation is glued more to the board itself over things you could be swapping out at any time other then memory which is installed on the board not into an expansion slot where devices are detected but treated differently.

 

I took the advice in this thread an did a clean install of WIN 10 Pro using the Media Creation Tool. (I have two almost identical desktops computers). The clean install on one has seemed to work fine and been activated. The clean install on the other has installed ok but is trying to activate using the key from the first machine and therefore failing to activate. I have phoned MS Support and they say I should not have used the Media Creation Tool to do a clean install and cannot help as it is my fault for doing it wrong. I have asked to speak to a supervisor and told someone will call me back. Now just waiting.

I wonder if the problem is that I am using the same Microsoft Account for both PC's

Not sure what to do if they completely refuse to activate the machine that needs activating !!!

I had two genuine WIN 7 Pro Retail Product Keys so I should be entitled to two copies of WIN 10 Pro running on the same machines.

 

Maybe you should have followed my suggested advice in posts #3 and #6? There was a reason I suggested using the Media Creation Tool to UPGRADE the Windows 7 you had on the computers from within Windows 7 to Windows 10.... and this was that reason.

To fix it, you are going to have to go back and install Windows 7, make sure it is activated, then use the Media Creation Tool to "Upgrade this PC now".

 

Apologies it was completely my error in not following the instructions correctly.

I have restored to WIN 7 from a System Image I created just before attempting the change from WIN 7 Pro to WIN 10.

The WIN 7 is activated so will use the upgrade option on MCC.

Assuming that is successful will I then be ok to go back and use MCC again to do a clean install?

Thank you

 

Yes, absolutely. 1. Great that you created a backup before moving to Windows 10! 2. Make sure the Windows 10 that you upgrade to is fully activated before you clean install over it. From an elevated command prompt ("Run as Administrator" command prompt) type slmgr /dlv . Look in the information returned for an expiration date. You should not find one. Then type slmgr /exp . That should return that your machine is permanently activated. If you get those two results, you are supposed to be good to go to do a clean install of the same version of Windows 10 and "skip" or "do this later" when it asks you to enter a product key.

 

All seems ok and running slmgr /dlv under cmd as administrator does not show any obvious expiration date. Running slmgr /exp returns that "/exp" is "unrecognized option" but does display several pages of information all of which you have to press OK on to move to the next but means nothing to me.

What I have noticed is that the last 5 digits of the product key which it displays are identical on both my updated machines. Are in fact all the upgrade and subsequently clean install product keys the same / generic or is something wrong?

"System" under "Control Panel" on both machines shows product key as being activated.

 

Oops. Meant slmgr /xpr

All product keys for Windows 10 upgrades will be the same for same versions. Upgrade Windows 10 product keys are now only placeholders and can be ignored by users.

See this post:
Upgrade to 64-bit Windows 10 - Page 4 - Windows 10 Forums