Windows 10: MS to Allow Windows 10 Activation with Windows 7/8.1 Keys Start Nov.

@waltc

As long as you upgrade to windows 10 from a windows 7/8.x system at least once before the free offer expires. You will be able to upgrade or do a clean install at no charge even after the free offer expires.

 

When coming from an upgrade of a previous Windows 7/8/8.1 the resulting Windows 10 product key will be:
Windows 10 Home is YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7
Windows 10 Pro is VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Activation in Windows 10 - Windows Help

forbol, you didn't quite understand the difference between digital entitlement and product key activation in Windows 10 because of all the misinformation that is circulating on the internet regarding Windows 10 licensing.

 

@NavyLCDR: I originally did the upgrade using the microsoft tool and then clean installed (using an iso made with the tool after my upgraded one was activated) and using showkeyplus, my key id not the same as you have for windows 10 home which is what i have...

Mine starts with YTMG3-(other numbers that are also different then what you list) so i am wondering if perhaps the Windows 10 product key it converts to after upgrading is really not generic as some think here...

 

My mistake: YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7

 

Yep, that's the one...so it IS generic then *Wink
I'm just wondering what would happen if you had a hard drive failure and had to install a new hard drive, if the MS servers would still recognize the hardware as being tied to an activated windows 10 if you would do a clean install at that point...

 

Hard drive replacement does not change the Hardware ID - so the Microsoft activation servers sees it as the same computer and will activate it. You can either enter the generic product key during install, or click "skip" and "do this later" when asked for the product key.

 

Thanks for the clarification *Smile
When i did the clean install, i did use the generic key when it asked for a product key...but good to know that i could have skipped it and it still would have activated anyway...

 

I enter the generic key automatically with a PID.txt file. It speeds things up for me on a clean install. If your going to type it in manually, you may as well just click skip though. A lot faster and easier than typing it all in and maybe making a typo.

 

Back on topic and concerning PID.txt - with 10565 setup on ISO, like the expected November update, you can enter your Windows 7 or 8 key for digital entitlement at the first Setup "Enter Product key" prompt, it will be accepted, and the install will complete with an activated Windows 10, sporting the Generic Windows 10 retail key.

Has anyone confirmed that a Windows 7 or 8 product key in a PID.txt file in the 10565 source folder will setup Windows 10, without interaction as far as the Product key is concerned?

 

No, I haven't. All my home PC's are already upgraded to 10 Pro and already have a digital entitlement. I don't have anything to test it on at the moment.

 

You could easily test it on a VM. I don't have space to do this at the moment as I only have a 120GB drive and already I'm running 3 windows 10 and one OSX. I've only got about 8GB spare at the moment.

What I did test yesterday though is to install 10565 and activate it on a new VM using a 7 Pro retail key. I then deleted the disk and created a new one and installed 10240 and it was activated immediately with digital entitlement. I've just customized it too much since then to delete it at the moment just to retest with a PID.txt.

If you have space it would only take half an hour.

 

MS to Allow Windows 10 Activation with Windows 7/8.1 Keys Start Nov.

Isn't this what MS was doing anyway, except it was done "automatically"? The way I understood it is when you upgraded from one of those two OS's you lost your Win 7/8 key after 30 days in swapping to Windows 10. In short, if you didn't revert back to your original OS after 30 days you lost those keys anyway. Remember the "you only have 30 days to revert back" statements MS made?

If that's the case, the only difference I see is you can now do it on your own instead of waiting for the servers to "find" and validate your key.

 

No. That was never true and still isn't.

If you have a retail license you can use it as you wish. I don't know anything about OEM but Windows 10 works the same as 7 for retail licenses (i.e. you have to call them if the hardware changes).

You can (and I have tested this) still use your old windows 7 key to activate 7 or 10 (version 10565)

You can (and I have tested this) activate 10565 with a valid earlier key and then clean install 10240.

You can (and I have tested this) restore your old version (7 in my case) and it is still activated.

The idea is that you are either licensed or not. You are licensed on your machine for 10 if you either had licensed insider preview before RTM in June or if you have a valid legacy (7 or 8) version or you bought a Windows 10 key.

 

halasz is correct. The 30 days period to revert has nothing to do with the product keys. Windows 10 is only supposed to keep the old files necessary to revert back for 30 days. After the 30 days, to go back you have to re-install the previous Operating System and the same product key that it came with will still be valid to activate it.

 

I was thinking that might work. Not sure I have the ambition to try it at the moment.