Windows 10: What happens with my Win10 license if I go back to Win7 for a day?

As per title.

I've upgraded my Win7Pro to Win10 Professional a few months ago. I want to install Win7 back for testing purposes. I still have my Win7 activation key.

What's going to happen after the testing when I'll install Win10 again? Will it be activated or will I have to pay?

:)

 

What happens to my existing Windows 7/8.1 licenses after my free Windows 10 upgrade?

I have 2 Windows 7 OEM licenses, a Windows 7 Retail license, and a Windows 8.1 OEM license (all legitimately obtained and activated-no pirating). My primary system is a laptop that came with Win8.1 OEM, which I had to downgrade to Win7 OEM (due to software
incompatibilities with Win8.1), and I have since used the Win8.1 key embedded in the laptop's UEFI to install Win8.1 OEM in a Virtual Machine on that laptop.

I understand what license types I will get if I upgrade my systems to Win10 (i.e. OEM 7/8.1 to OEM 10, Retail 7 to Retail 10) and what those licenses entail (such as transfer and support rights). However, I need to know what happens to those old licenses
if I take advantage of the free Win10 upgrade offer. If I upgrade the Win7 Retail copy to Win10, will I still be able to use the Win7 Retail copy on a separate computer (or VM), or will that license become unusable/invalid? If I upgrade from Win7 OEM to
Win10 OEM, can I install Win7 with that OEM license to a VM on the same hardware, or am I essentially trading the Win7 license for a Win10 license?

Basically it boils down to this question: Is the free upgrade program replacing my exiting Win7/8.1 licenses with Win10 licenses and then invalidating/revoking those Win7/8.1 licenses, or am I getting Win10 licenses
in addition to the Win7/8.1 licenses I already have?

 

Can go back to win7 if didn't like win10?

thanks. thump up for you.

 

Hi, your PC should automatically activate if you reinstall Win 10. Once activated, your right to Win 10 is held on MS's activation servers against your hardware.

I suggest you do the following to save a lot of time:
a. Create a disk image using e.g. Macrium reflect (free) + its boot medium + external storage (Use 'Windows Backup'). You can then restore your PC exactly as was with Win10 in under an hour. (Everyone should use disk imaging routinely anyway- strongly recommended here).
b. Reinstall Win 7 and do what you need to
c. Create an image of that so you can restore Win 7 any time you wish in under an hour.
d. Restore your image of Win 10.

Note: you will need to be careful about partitions on your disk - best to delete the Win 10 ones then install Win 7, then delete Win 7 ones and restore Win 10.

And a much easier way is to get a spare disk, put that in, and install Win 7 on that.. no messing, almost no risk.

 

Depending what you want to test, you might also be able to use one of the free Virtual Machines which Microsoft provide for browser testing. You'd need something to host them, but if you have Win 10 Pro you should have Hyper-V already.
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-u...dge/tools/vms/

But the above advice about taking a backup image is still good whatever you do - you never know when a backup image might be needed...