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

If you buy a full Retail Version it will come with a product code, and you could transfer that way. That's what I've been saying all alone, because the free upgrade uses a generic key, transferring it is near impossible. Even if it is a Retail version. This may be by design, thus the "life of the device." Buy a full retail version and you don't have that restriction. All of my PC's are upgraded to 10 Pro so I can't test moving 10, it's going to activate anyway. For me its just a theory at this point.

 

And during the free year, you move your previous OS to a new computer and activate it, as legally allowed with a retail license, and then upgrade it, as legally allowed.

Now, with the generic key and hardware ID scheme, Microsoft has created a loophole that will allow users to have multiple illegal Windows 10 installations with permanent activations stored on their servers.

 

How do you figure that? You can only activate with the generic key, if you first upgraded from an activated qualifying OS, and then activated Windows 10. Clean installs using that generic key on hardware not already previously activated, like I mentioned, will fail activation. That's the way its supposed to work anyway.

 

You read wrong. That is simply not the case.

 

This reads a little wonky, but you are correct (I had to read your message 3 times to understand exactly what you were saying).

Activation for an upgrade only works if that hardware has been upgraded from an activated Windows 7/8.x, using the generic key without upgrading results in a blocked key error.

 

No, not true. You transfer it to another PC by first installing Windows 7 or 8.x on that PC and activating it, then you can perform the upgrade on it. I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand (you claim to not understand how this could work).

After the year of free upgrades is over, this will still work because your original 7/8.x key is marked as upgraded, so the new upgrade will activate just like it always has.

 

I dunno, I updated a Windows 7 Ultimate system to Windows 10 Pro, and it got activated, I was expecting it to not be and having to buy a new license. But it appears that Microsoft is being very generous with this, they want everyone to be on Win10. That should not be a problem though.

 

The point would be that when you cannot upgrade for free anymore, you will no longer be able to install it on a new machine. It will only activate on your old machine = oem license.

 

Link to that info, if you have it please? What happens if you do that but don't wipe, the previous install/upgrade? What's to stop somebody from doing endless free upgrades with that one windows 7/8.1 Product code?

 

Edited it but not sure if its any easier to understand. made sense to me when I posted it.

 

In my case I just transferred my upgraded 10 image from my laptop to my wife's MacBook. I didn't even have to call MS - it activated immediately.

There may me some logic in their plans you do not like but "unfair" doesn't appear to be one. Office 2010 transferred OK and activated also. I just backed up and restored incidentally using a standard image and am currently restoring my next 8.1 image to upgrade on my laptop again.

It seems to me that if you have a valid license they don't bug you any more than in the past if you move it around.

If it makes a difference I have retail licenses (from the 7 to 8 upgrade cheap thing).

 

What part of "After the year of free upgrades is over, this will still work" didn't you understand? Your old Windows 7/8.x key is stored in MS's activation servers as having been free upgraded, so any time you re-upgrade it will activate even after the 1 year.