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

I clean installed 10576 in VirtualBox and Activated with one of my spare TechNet Windows 7 Ultimate keys. No problems so far.

 

How does one know what build you are currently on?...i have the main stream windows 10 installed (not insiders build) and have no clue what build it is currently on...

By the way, appreciate the feedback and links.*Wink
And am i assuming correctly that once build 10565 is sent to the mainstream users, then he would be able to clean install using his windows 7 key? (He isn't that technically oriented and would probably want to wait until he could do it in that simple way)...

 

You should be on build 10240 then. You can verify by running winver. Just type winver into search and the program will be listed as the top choice.

 

Thanks NavyLCDR! I used that to check it and indeed i am on build 10240...i will make a note of that...
Is 10565 the next one i would be getting? And am i correct in assuming that once i do get 10565 on my mainstream installation, at that point, my friend could make an iso from the tool at the MS website and just type in his Windows 7 key to do an clean install without doing an upgrade?

 

There is no news, yet, as to which new build will come out released to the public, or if the build number will actually change. If I were your friend, I would just use the getosstate.exe and genuineticket.xml file to do the clean install. Last week I purchased a Nextbook Flexx 10.1 tablet from Walmart with Windows 8.1 with Bing on it. After making an image of the factory install, I used the getosstate.exe method to clean install Windows 10 on it and it activated just find. The keyboard went bad, so I restored Windows 8.1 onto it, took it back to Walmart for another one, and used the same method to clean install Windows 10 on it as well.

 

Very good...although i did just re-read the article this thread originally linked to and note that it mentions that once mainstream gets threshold 2...we would be able to do it it as well: (and that is supposed to come next tuesday, Nov 10th)...

Windows 10 preview for the win

With Windows 10 Insider Preview builds, Microsoft has been experimenting with a new system that makes the activation process a lot simpler, as it allows product keys that came with Windows 7 or 8.1 to be used for the new OS.
The first time the company implemented this change was in Windows 10 build 10565, and the Threshold 2 update coming in early November will also bring this change to stable users.
“We have received a lot of feedback from Insiders on making it easier to activate Windows 10 on devices that take advantage of the free upgrade offer to genuine Windows by using existing Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product keys. If you install this build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview on a PC and it doesn’t automatically activate, you can enter the product key from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 used to activate the prior Windows version on the same device to activate Windows 10,” Gabe Aul, head of the Windows Insider program, explained how the new system worked in build 10565.
Given the fact that Threshold 2 will be the new default (users upgrading from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 will get directly to Threshold 2, just like those resetting their PCs), such a change really comes in handy and is supposed to fix any trouble you might have with the activation system.

 

I would create the genuine ticket.xml file anyway as a backup. 30 seconds may save 2 hours re-installing if entering the Product Key doesn't work.

 

The first insider build to allow Win7/8.1 keys was 10565. Insiders are now on 10576, the second such build. I've heard no complaints of the Win7/8.1 keys not working as advertised in these builds to date. I haven't tried it personally since I'm already activated on 10576, though.

People who are on 10240 I highly recommend to stay there, as in a few days Microsoft will be releasing a cumulative update for 10240 activations that will include the ability to use the Win7/8.1 keys, if needed. It is scheduled to come through Windows Update, so 10240 users will not have to reinstall the OS--it won't come in a build form as it does for Insiders. After that update, 10240 users will have the functional equivalent of 10565, at least, and will not be required to install a new build. If you are already activated in 10240 then you will remain activated after the "th2" cumulative update. (The above is my understanding of the situation--I've been in the Insider program for a year.) Hope this helps!

 

Very much so, waltc...extremely informative! *Smile
I love your avatar of Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No (in fact, that is the first shot you see of him in the movie)....
I'll tell my friend that it should be ok for him to do it after we get the cumulative update (hopefully next tuesday as was mentioned)...

 

Personally, I don't really see what the big deal is. 1. Take 30 seconds to create and copy the genuineticket.xml file and have an activated Windows 10 with a tried and proven method now.... or 2. Wait and hope that Microsoft puts something out in the future that might or might not work. And because of the uncertainty of it working, if a person knows how to get the genuineticket.xml file and doesn't have it as a backup is just plain - well....stupid. I just fail to see the excitement that people have about being able to manually type in a Product Key, maybe in a couple weeks, who have an activated Windows 7/8/8.1 installed now who could accomplish the exact same result with probably less effort than it takes to physically type in a Product Key correctly.

 

I think on the particular computer he wants to do it on, that he no longer has his windows 7 installed on it...i believe he had replaced it with Linux Mint...With the new method, he would be able to boot off the windows 10 iso dvd, delete his mint partitions and install windows 10 clean and directly, simply entering the windows 7 product key to activate it...and if that's the case, the method you are recommending NavyLCDR would not work for him...So he NEEDS the new method, not like he has a choice (other then first re-installing 7 again which he does not want to do)...

 

I auto enter my keys with a PID.txt file anyway. Have been since Windows 7 to save ever having to type them in manually during an install. Still do it with Windows 10 so I don't have click skip several times. All my systems already have digital entitlements for 10 Pro. One wonders what will happen when the free upgrade period ends? Will they remove this option? Or let you upgrade but not activate? The free upgrade offer isn't forever.

 

When you clean install 10565 + on a clean system and activate it with a 7 key it is not stored. If you look with ShowKeyPlus you have the generic key and Windows is activated through digital entitlement. If you enter a Windows 10 key this key is stored.

If the free upgrade ends next year (my crystal ball says it will not) it could accept the key and just not activate when you connect to internet (or activate using an existing digital entitlement if your system was already activated of course).

 

Me. I always had issues using PID.txt file for windows 10. It reported windows 10 RTM as not genuine. At least I had an image backup. So, I just upgraded to windows 10 without PID and didn't enter a key. That is one method I tested.

 

So once my friend activates with his windows 7 key, the installed version is going to change the product key to the generic 10 key anyway and add on the digital entitlement for his hardware on their server. Then in the future, if he should ever need to clean install again, it should activate automatically just as it would for me (who initially did the upgrade and then a clean install)....

By the way, i was just wondering, if i ever need to use the clean install iso again on the same hardware (i only have windows 10 installed) do you really need to manually delete the old partitions, or will windows do that automatically anyway during the new clean install?