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

That seems like it could back-fire on MS. If all Windows 10 licenses use a generic license, or a unique license, then a person who has a registered upgrade license from Win 7 / 8 -> 10 might be able to iterate copies of Windows 10 on as many devices as they want, with nothing to signal that any of them are invalid.

 

No, it's not. I quote from the EULA:

The license is the license. You can't "generate a new license". The license is the legal terms. Not the key, not the installation, not the upgrade.

The first time you perform an upgrade, your Windows 7/8.x product key is marked in MS's databases as being associated with an upgrade to Windows 10. No new key is generated (other than a generic one used by all windows 10 upgrades).

 

You two are debating semantics now, rather than process and terms. License is often used to mean key and vice versa. In fact, they used to be referred to as license keys.

The EULA does mention stand-alone software, which I take to mean the retail box version, not what is downloaded. I would fully expect the retail box version to be transferable to different devices.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Usete...10_English.htm

b. Stand-alone software. If you acquired the software as stand-alone software (and also if you upgraded from software you acquired as stand-alone software), you may transfer the software to another device that belongs to you. You may also transfer the software to a device owned by someone else if (i) you are the first licensed user of the software and (ii) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. You may use the backup copy we allow you to make or the media that the software came on to transfer the software. Every time you transfer the software to a new device, you must remove the software from the prior device. You may not transfer the software to share licenses between devices.



So our retail Win 7 / 8 copies retain their original transfer rights after an upgrade to Windows 10.

 

NO WIN10 LICENSE NUMBERS FOR UPGRADES. It is just a generic number for all Win10 upgrades: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T. The real product key is stored on the motherboard and is the the product key that comes from the initial Win7/Win8.1 OS. This is a completely NEW process that MS is doing for the upgrade. If you want a real Win10 Retail Product Key, you will have to buy a retail copy of Windows 10 Home or Pro. The upgrade is free, MS does not have to provide you a way to move the upgrade around to other hardware. It is just like the old OEM Windows keys in that regard. Don't believe me? Run keyfinder:

 

Assuming the original licenses aren't negated by the upgrade, this was never in question. You can't transfer the Windows 10 license (or key, whichever you prefer to use) to the new system. You'll need to install the previous version, activate, and then upgrade. That process will need to be repeated for each device. The point is, you can't upgrade and activate Windows 10 on one computer, then go right to a clean install on another device with Windows 10.....unless you were to purchase the stand-alone, boxed version.

 

Exactly. It's as if we're getting free OEM licenses.

 

Just don't count on using the same Win8.1 license number on another machine that came from your first upgraded computer and expect it to activate or be able to upgrade to an activated Win10 while continuing to run the 1st computer on Win10. Even moving the Win8.1 copy to a new computer will require you to contact MS and 'splain it to them. As Robert Heinlein wrote "TANSTAAFL".

 

How literally is that meant?

Can I simply agree to never boot from that device again?

How about if I just put the hard drive in the closet and don't "remove the software" from anything?

Must I reformat the partition? How do I convince MS I did or didn't do that?

Must I formally log into or contact MS in some way and "deactivate" something?

But I fully expect EULAs to remain unclear on finer points and expect the real world to correspond to something else--whatever MS decides to actually enforce. That will be revealed by what various experimenters attempt to do over the coming weeks. In the meantime, I'll run Windows 7 Retail.

 

That's why I added my first line starting with assuming. In versions past, when you took a full license and used the upgrade (cheaper) version of the newer OS, your previous license was negated. I assumed that was true in this case, so once you upgrade a license, it's no longer valid for future use (as the previous OS). Delicieuxz is saying that doesn't happen this time around, so it remains to be seen.

I can see both outcomes happening. On one hand, if your 8.1 license was retail, it should be able to be moved. However, that could allow a person to buy one legal license of 8.1, and use it to upgrade an entire household worth of computers to Windows 10.

 

Geez. MS's policy has been the same since Win7. If you bought a RETAIL version of the OS, you can move it to any computer you want. What you CANNOT do is to have TWO ACTIVATED computers running the same product key AND connected to the internet. So move the license around as much as you want. Just don't expect to have two computers running normally by using just one key, MS figured that scam out a long time ago. That is still true after a Win10 upgrade as the computer's product key is still the original one from Win8.1. Win10 upgrades have no product key of their own, just the one from the previous OS that you upgraded from.

 

That's my interpretation, too. If you buy a Retail copy, you can install that on one machine, and later, transfer that to a second machine, presuming you then remove it from the first. But the "free upgrade" (IMHO) does not work that way. It can be applied to one machine, but it is only good for "the life of that device". When that device gets replaced, you have a new device and even though you could "technically" install your Win10 copy to that device using an ISO you made from the old device, it would (most likely) NOT activate because the hash code generated from the hardware of the new device is going to be different from the hash code generated from the hardware of the old device -- the device that was associated with the activation of that copy of Windows 10.

If this were NOT true, that is, if the activation was only tied to the product key, then why does MS warn that if you make major hardware changes to the device, you may have to contact MS Support to reactivate your device? Historically, activation has been tied to specific devices through the generation of hash codes -- which were then stored on the activation servers. Why would this no longer be true of Win10 -- given the warning that MS has issued about hardware changes?

 

One point to add, the qualifying system you're upgrading must be activated. I played around with dual-booting Win8.1 and MS denied that (it told me the key was in use on another system). So there seems to be multiple authentications in this case, the original OS (activated) and whatever Win10 does with it's generic key hashing - it would be a good test though.

I strongly suspect that the subsequent install of the original OS will not activate - that then is not a qualifying OS that you could use to do the Win10 upgrade.

+edit
MS has stated that hactivated or non-authentic systems will upgrade to Win10, but they will not be activated.

Remember the hubbub about pirated versions ??

I suppose you might be able to rearm what is then basically a trial install, but I'm not certain.
It's also unclear what happens when the trial period, or extensions of it, expire.
Warnings, then no boot?

I only know that some features of Windows 10 (personalization for example) are not available if the install is not authenticated and activated.

The new licensing agreement closely follows the old licensing agreement. Mostly, the wording has been simplified and some EULAs are consolidated into one. MS will most likely issue new EULAs as Win10 and other MS programs (Office 2016) mature.
-edit

 

Mark:

You could be right.

But are you just surmising?

I ask because we've been repeatedly told that someone upgrading to 10 from retail 7 or 8.1 via the "free upgrade" will retain retail status--and all that implies---e.g. have what amounts to "retail 10", with the right to install to new hardware repeatedly and indefinitely into the future, albeit on only ONE PC. Thereby avoiding the "life of the device" issue.

Are you surmising? Any links? I'm not disagreeing, just trying to understand why you have the opinion.

Again, I'm referring to the "free upgrade" on a RETAIL Win 7 or 8---and then future clean installs to whatever hardware on ONE PC per license.

 

The free upgrade will be associated with the Win 7 / 8 license it is applied to. A retail Win 7 / 8 license can transfer to a new PC, and the Windows 10 upgrade will still be available to be applied to that new installation, even after the 1-year free upgrade offer has passed.

It seems that the free upgrade acts as OEM on the PC which it is installed to, but the ability to upgrade to Windows 10 remains transferable for retail Win 7 / 8 licenses, albeit requiring a convoluted installation process.