Windows 10: W10 licence transfer. What happens if I change/upgrade my PC later on?

Logical, if something of an annoyance. (3 OS installs on new hardware, if you want a virginal Win10 installation.)

I hope that this will be verified prior to the end of the free upgrade program.

I also hope that here's a backdoor way to install and activate Win 10 from the free upgrade without installing the qualifying OS first. With the Win 8 upgrade license, the official way was the same: install it as an upgrade from an installed, and activated, qualifying OS. There is a simple work-around for that that allows 8.1 to be installed and activated on a new system without any prior OS. I recognize that it there may be no backdoor for Win 10: the upgrade is free, and it does not produce a license key.

 

I see. Not the most elegant procedure but I can live with it. Thanks for the explanation.

 

Indeed, this is very confusing. I found out that with Win8.1 and an mobo with a UEFI BIOS, the product key is baked into the mobo. That is why no key was needed when I upgraded my HTPC. How that works on other, older mobos without a UEFI BIOS I am not sure. So Win10 uses the baked in product key for doing a clean install (that is how it recognizes that there is already a valid license). Now can the same Win8.1 key be added to a NEW mobo and will Win10 upgrade? It comes down to the question of does Win10 do a lookup in a MS database of used Win8.1 license numbers? I think so. MS used to just use a hash mark algorithm to verify that the license was valid but obviously, MS now knows that the license was used otherwise all anyone would need is a single valid Win8.1 key and use it over and over.
I have a feeling that, like the old OEM license procedure, you will have to call MS (in India and talk with Susie) and say that you replaced a "defective" mobo in your original computer and you need to have the Win 8.1 license number renewed. That should allow you to do another upgrade to Win10 with new hardware. And you may be able to do it long after the one year "free upgrade".
Just to add to the confusion, I have Technet Win8.1 Pro Retail licenses that are good for 10 activations! My mind boggles.

BTW, I just ran Keyfinder on both my Win10 insider and my upgraded HTPC (using the MS MediaCeationTool.exe program. Both have the same revision number (ends in 363) and both have the generic Win10 Pro license number that came with version 240:
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

 

If that's the case, those keys can be extracted from the BIOS and used to do a clean install of Windows 10 without a prior Win7/8 -> 10 upgrade installation. I think.

I still allow that a retail Win 7/8 key registered for the free upgrade may allow a direct Windows 10 upgrade. If the key is registered with Microsoft servers as valid for the free upgrade, beyond the 1 year period, then I can't see why it wouldn't be recognized during the process of a clean installation, as it is being recognized during an upgrade just fine.

I'll be waiting to see confirmation from someone on this. The key is that the license must have gone through the upgrade process at least once before, to be registered as a Windows 10 license. Then I hope it would work on new systems, for a clean Windows 10 installation.

 

My computer's motherboard has a UEFI BIOS, but Windows didn't come pre-installed on my computer... it was a system builder copy I bought and installed, since Microsoft had already pulled the retail copies from shelves.

So, is the Windows 7 key still baked in it? Or is that only if it comes pre-installed on an OEM machine?

 

The product key baked into the mobo is probably just the Win8.1 product key which you should already have. As far as Win7, not so simple. MS REQUIRED Win8.1 to be put on the OEM's mobos (and MS burned our Retail numbers into the UEFI BIOS for our system builds during installs). Win7 does NOT have to do this which is why MS is saying that you copy down your Win7 product key during the upgrade as the Win10 install will likely ask for it. Win7 also had OEM license numbers so that adds even more confusion.
Of course, I could be wrong about all of this but its sounds reasonable, heh.

 

Well, I upgraded directly from Windows 7 and didn't have to put in any product key.

I have the COA from my copy of Windows 7 though for reference.

 

Good to know. That sounds like having a UEFI BIOS will store both Win7 and Win8.1 product keys.

 

According to this Microsoft Community thread:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/how-do-i-transfer-windows-retail-license-after/6ee1dfe0-8adc-4cce-a46a-748963cf56d1?rtAction=1438237655029

when we upgrade Retail Win 7/8.1 to Win 10, we don't actually get a Win 10 retail license that would allow us to install Win 10 on a new machine? (assuming current machine with upgraded Win 10 breaks down completely after 2 years)

 

That's my understanding. The Windows 10 license is valid on that computer only. I have yet to read definitive proof to the contrary.

 

I expect things to work differently later on. If the Win 7 / 8 full retail license is registered with Microsoft's servers as being valid for a Windows 10 upgrade, including beyond the 1-year free upgrade period, then it should just identify as a Windows 10 compatible license.

I think Microsoft will see this reasoning, and make the proper adjustments. There is no purpose to a person laboriously installing Win 7 / 8 before initiating an upgrade, only to format again once it's finished to a Win 10 clean install on the same device. That's discourteous of Microsoft towards people's time, people's SSD health by making excessive and needless writes, and it makes a poor impression of Microsoft's planning and organization skills. It also presents a potential motivation for a person to not bother with moving to Windows 10: If Microsoft can't handle this small part smoothly, cleanly, and efficiently, what does that say about Windows 10?

 

Doing that process does add time, but it only needs to be done once per computer. That amount of data isn't going to be a measurable blip on the life of an SSD. It isn't the ideal method, but it certainly isn't a big deal. I'm somewhat looking forward to it, because I'll be able to run 8.1 on my new tower build to test out the hardware before upgrading to Windows 10. I always end up installing my OS twice on a new build anyway. Once to test the hardware and make sure I have the best drivers installed. Then, once everything seems smooth, I format, install again, and then start adding my data and apps.

 

Read further down the replies. Yes, you can transfer it to a new machine, but you have to do so by installing Windows 7/8.1 on the new machine and upgrading that.

 

That's not transferring the existing Win10 license; that's generating a new license for the new device. MS has said for a long time that the Win10 license is good for "the life of the device". This clearly means that a different device requires a different license.

 

Disagree ... the "purpose" is to be able to do a clean install -- removing all the "cruft" that has accumulated over the years on PCs that started out with Win7 or Win8. Understand that when you create the reinstall media (AFAIK) this will only reinstall the OS -- NOT the apps, settings, and data you have on your PC.

The "purpose" of MS doing this is to allow folks to do a clean install on their PCs, should that become necessary, without have to go to all the trouble of reinstalling Win7 or Win8, doing hundreds of Windows updates again, and doing the Win10 upgrade again -- just to get a working PC back.