Windows 10: Retail Win8 upgraded to Win10: Use the license on a new machine in the

I do know you Bob
but wait, there are two eternal optimists in the world - there's still hope then!

I'm sure MS is crunching the numbers and will some decisions late July, rewrite the EULA once again and chaos shall reign!

I was waiting for someone to say:
"Sure Bill and how much is that lawyer going to cost? Why not just pay for a Win10 Retail license?"

Men in Tights Toll bridge scene
Little John: A Toll is a toll...
Achoo: Hey man, this ain't exactly the Mississippi. I'm on the east bank, I'm on the west bank ...
Robin Hood: That's not the point ... It's the principal of the thing

 

Long live eternal optimism!

Microsoft tweaks activation rules for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update | ZDNet

My upgrade path is Win7 Home (OEM key present) -> Clean install Retail Win8 Pro -> Upgrade to free Win10 Pro
I sign-in with a local account, but I have a few MS accounts that I use for testing.

I will have to test this after 29 July 2016 *Wink
But it sounds as though MS understands the issue many people face with Retail keys for previous versions, the free upgrade to Win10, and the free upgrade ending.

 

About 1)
Isn't your base license not usable after free-upgrading to Windows 10 for 30 days?

 

Nothing happens to the Windows 7/8/8.1 product key when you upgrade to Windows 10. You can uninstall Windows 10 and do a clean install of Windows 7/8/8.1 ten minutes after upgrading if you want to.

 

AS Navy mentioned, the previous license is fine to use within the constraints of the Win10 EULA.

One license, one machine - Win10 is an upgrade license for the previous license. You cannot run both at the same time.

You can uninstall Win10 and install the previous license anytime you wish.

 

Have you not tied the Win10 licence for that copy of Win8.1 to the current machine already ?

ie you can't use win 8.1 key to install Win10 (free) on a new machine , as digital entitlement is on current machine , or is that invalided when you uninstall from Current machine ?

in the future it won't be free anyway ....so I think I'm missing something.... or need to reread the thread ?

 

I have an old computer with Windows 7 retail installed on it. I upgrade that computer to Windows 10 for free. That computer gets a digital license for Windows 10 permanently stored on Microsoft activation servers. The user has no way of deleting that digital entitlement from Microsoft activation servers.

I get a new computer. I remove all versions of Windows from the old computer by reformatting the hard drive. It still has the digital license for Windows 10 for it saved on Microsoft activation servers, though. I could re-install Windows 10 at any time and it would retrieve the digital license to activate itself. I install my Windows 7 retail version on the new computer. I upgrade that to Windows 10 for free. The new computer now ALSO has an digital license for Windows 10 saved on Microsoft activation servers. The digital licenses saved on Microsoft activation servers are matched with Hardware ID's of the computers - not the product keys they came from. That's why every upgrade to Windows 10 Home from Windows 7/8/8.1 will get the same product key. Every upgrade to Windows 10 Pro will get the same product key. Etc. When you re-install Windows 10 you skip entering the product key. Because the digital license is matched with the hardware ID of the computer, not a product key.

Now, there are two computers with digital licenses for Windows 10 stored on Microsoft activation servers that originated from the same Windows 7/8/8.1 product key. That's just the way it is. Microsoft is relying upon the user to stay honest.

 

My understanding of Slartybart's 1) is the installation of your old version Windows on the new machine.
If you've used the free upgrade offer, you won't be able to install the old version Windows after 30 days. The license will be bound to Windows 10 already. Isn't this part of conditions of the free upgrade offer?

 

No. Plenty of us have fully tested this. We've done just about everything imaginable, including moving the previous Windows 7/8/8.1 retail product key to a different computer both within 30 days and outside 30 days of using it to upgrade an old computer to Windows 10 with. About 7-8 months ago there was a very prominent member on this forum who used to absolutely swear that a Windows 7/8/8.1 product key became unusable after it was upgraded to Windows 10. After fully testing it himself using a valid experiment he discovered that we were right. The Windows 7/8/8.1 product key is no more affected by the upgrade to Windows 10 than moving it to a new computer without upgrading it.

 

This only shows MS is not enforcing the EULA at the moment. But they may do something about it in the future.

 

All the EULA states is if you transfer windows 10 to new device, you need to remove it from old drive. Downgrading is totally pemissible provided you only have one instance of windows.

 

Downgradable even after July 29 deadline?

 

I can't wait until the Free upgrade offer ends *Wink

MS is changing “digital entitlement” to “digital license” .......

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14371 for PC | Windows Experience Blog

*chuckle

 

Yes but need to reinstall.

 

Now that the date has passed and Anniversary Update 1607 is available, have you or anyone tried moving Windows 10(upgraded from retail license) to a new machine(or new motherboard)? What's the result?