Windows 10: Win10 upgrade and a retail purchase of Win10 Pro- not the same.

MAJOR EDIT 2015-08-02 I am grateful for the folks that have posted here to correct my outdated views of how Win10 is activated and stored. My age is showing and what used to be the way I remembered how MS protected its OS from being misused and how it can remember that my computer has a valid license has changed a LOT since the days of Win95 and XP. I will highlight the changes but leave my mistakes for others to comment on.

The confusion that most people are having is what they are getting with the Win10 upgrade. Too many people are assuming that MS is giving away free copies of retail Windows 10. That is simply not the case. MS is letting Win8.1 users patch their Win8.1 computer to make it run a a copy of Win10 with very limited rights. If you want all the rights that a retail version has, you need to BUY a copy of the full retail Win10 Pro product. Don't confuse the two, they are different in what you can do with them. EDIT This statement is simply wrong. If you start with retail, you end up with Retail Win10. If you start with OEM, you end up with OEM Win10. End EDIT From another of my posts:

Think of the Win10 upgrade as simply an update patch on top of Windows 8.1 to make it look like Win10. Lets call it Win8.1++. Don't think of it as a completely new install of Win10 because it isn't (EDIT Ay-yi-yi. I really blew this part. In fact it is the same as the retail version of Win10 if you started with the retail version of your old OS, OEM has the same restrictions End EDIT). It only has a generic product key and it does not have a way of doing a clean install by just using a Win7/Win 8.1 product key on a new computer (EDIT that is still true as far as I know. Some people have said that they have successfully activated a clean install on top of an OEM version of Win7 without first doing the upgrade to Win10- I simply cannot verify this End EDIT). You do have the ability to do a clean install of Win10 on the upgraded computer, but only on that upgraded computer. Like any other retail copy of Win8.1 that you want to move to a new computer, you first have to do a clean install of Win 8.1 then run updates on it including the one to make it LOOK LIKE Win10 (Win8.1++). Of course, you need to wipe the old copy of Win8.1++ off of the original machine as well. Simple enough. Oh, and you only have a year to play with it before the win10 update patch for Win8.1 that turns it into Win8.1++ goes away so no more transfers to a new computer after that (unless MS once again changes the rules or make exceptions).

If you want a real, complete retail version of Windows 10 with all its rights and privileges including the ability for a clean install on a new computer, then you have to buy Windows 10 Pro for $199 which will give you a unique, valid Windows 10 product key. EDIT True Enough. Of course a retail version of Win8.1 can also be moved to a new computer but what happens after the year's free upgrade, I donno. End EDIT

EDIT here is a major change from why I thought I knew. After a Win8.1 to Win10 upgrade has been done, MS creates a hash code for your computer and stores it on their servers. You will never have to enter a product key again for either Win8.1 or Win10 on that computer for a clean install. End EDIT

:)

 

Activation error code 0xC004C003

1. Where or from whom did you purchase the "retail key?"

2. What, if any, Windows version was installed on the computer before you installed Win10?

3. Is the "retail key" for Win10 Home, Win10 Pro, or...?

 

upgrade from win10 home to pro using a win8 product key

Is this possible ?

Win7 home on an OEM pc.

I have a win 8 pro ( not 8.1 upgrade retail product key.

If I upgrade win7 hp to win10 home,

can I use the win8 pro retail key to upgrade win10 to pro

edition ?

 

Lolwut?!

Utter twaddle, congrats.

 

Well, it is a response. Exactly what is twaddle would have been nice to know.

In the meantime, I blame the press for the confusion. "MS giving away free copies of Windows 10" was the headlines. MS never said that, they just said that people with computers running Win7/8.1 could do an upgrade to Win10. They never said that you would get a valid, retail Windows 10 Pro product key from the upgrade.

 

LOL u can clean install win 10 pro that you get who said this horse hog wash about it don't believe it as a friend of mine made the media cd and clean installed win 10 pro when it asked for a key he simple clicked skip, as soon as he plugged in his user microsoft account, it registered itself. all was good he has a clean install of win 10 pro full version. Ms would not screw us people who bought a full retail copy of 8.1 ort 8 with just a patch, sorry to burst your bubble.

 

Think you need to do a bit of reading before posting twaddle (utter rubbish / nonsense) like that.

Regards
Keith W

 

It IS a free Upgrade, and carries OEM rights (yeah, people upgrading from retail copies of 7/8 get cheaped out a bit, but they still carry the rights of their original licence for 7/8...)


I think MS intends 10 to be free, while having data mining and Store purchases make their money. The "1 year" limitation is probably to encourage 7/8 users to upgrade sooner.

After that first year, MS will have another promo.

 

Yup it has OEM rights but is still win 10 pro regardless of what the article you have read says it is full clean installable.

 

Good to know! But you may not know why the install worked. MS started requiring the use of using the BIOS to store the Win8 product key on the motherboard back in 2012. So when your friend's "clean install" was done, it was not on a new computer but one that already have a valid Win8.1 product key embedded in the mobo. That product key was the reason why the computer was able to register. I am not sure if registered means activated tho. Could you check with him and see if it says that it is activated?

 

Win10 registers via HWID after you upgrade/purchase Win10 from the Store (on an un activated copy of 10).

That said, this 8++ makes no sense. 10 has money making methods for MS, such as data mining and the Store, hell they are already making Minecraft for Windows 10, which will bring lots over once MS slowly start deferring updates on Java version of Minecraft.

It makes little sense that MS is selling copies of 10 in stores, but whatever.

 

"Cheaped out" in what way?

 

That it's only tied to 1 machine, just like with an upgrade from 7/8 OEM.

 

I think that this mechanism is a lot more plausible:

Windows 10 Tip: Associate Your PC with Your Free Windows 10 License - Thurrott.com

 

OP: Let me get this straight.

You should pay $199 now because otherwise you MIGHT have to pay $199 a year from now?!?

In what world does this make any sort of logical sense?