Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade offer is over–or is it? There’s still a way to activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key, in addition to Microsoft’s accessibility offer.
Understand and Fix Windows 10 Product Key Activation. It activated fine. A couple of weeks later, I formatted my hard drives and did a clean install of windows 10 Pro. It would not activate. Sponsored Links. Windows 10 will be the most used operating system which is released in back July, 2015.If you have problem with your current running windows 10 in your system and want to repair or re install windows then you need have windows 10 product key or serial key.
Update: We tested this upgrade method once again on January 5, 2018. It still works!
You Can Still Use an Old Key with the Anniversary Update
RELATED:You Can Still Get Windows 10 for Free from Microsoft’s Accessibility Site
Windows 10 Serial Key Generator
As part of Windows 10’s November update, Microsoft changed the Windows 10 installer disc to also accept Windows 7 or 8.1 keys. This allowed users to perform a clean install Windows 10 and enter a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key during installation. Windows 10 would then report that key to Microsoft’s servers, and Windows 10’s activation servers would give your PC a “digital entitlement” (now a “digital license”) to continue using Windows 10 for free, just as if you had upgraded.
How does Windows 10 licensing status change with changes in hardware configuration. You can clean install Windows 10 without worrying about serial key. The above explains how to clean.
This also works from within Windows 10. Even if you don’t provide a key during the installation process, you can head to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and enter a Windows 7 or 8.1 key here instead of a Windows 10 key. Your PC will receive a digital entitlement.
Now, even though the free upgrade offer is technically over, this method still works in the Anniversary Update, either when installing Windows 10 with Anniversary Update media or by entering the key after installing Windows 10. Enter any Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key that hasn’t previously been used to upgrade to 10, and Microsoft’s servers will give your PC’s hardware a new digital license that will allow you to continue using Windows 10 indefinitely on that PC.
Microsoft hasn’t released any sort of statement about this upgrade method at all. It’s possible that Microsoft will disable it soon, but it’s also possible Microsoft will look the other way and keep this trick around to encourage more Windows 10 upgrades for a long time to come.
How to Use a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Key to Get Windows 10
RELATED:How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys
This process is easy. First, you’ll need a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key. If you have one of those lying around, great. If you don’t, you can use a tool like NirSoft’s ProduKey to find the key currently in use on your Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 PC. Write it down.
Be sure you have backups of your important files before continuing. Even if you plan on performing an upgrade install, something could go wrong. It’s always a good idea to have backups, especially when installing a new operating system.
Windows 10 Installation Key Free
Create Windows 10 installation media if you don’t already have it lying around. You can do this with Microsoft’s Windows 10 media creation tool. Select “Create installation media for another PC” and the tool will offer to create a bootable USB flash drive or burn a bootable DVD.
Insert the installation media into the computer you want to upgrade, reboot, and boot from the installation media. Install Windows 10 normally. You can perform an upgrade installation that keeps your existing files or a clean installation that wipes your system drive.
When you’re asked to enter a key, enter the Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key. The installer will accept this key and the installation process will continue normally.
(If you’re using a Windows 8 or 8.1 system with the product key embedded in your systems UEFI firmware or BIOS, you may also be able to click “I don’t have a product key.” Windows 10 should automatically find the key in your UEFI firmware later and activate your system.)
After you’ve installed Windows 10, head to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and you should see that your PC has a digital license.
If you didn’t enter a key during the installation process, you can enter a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key right in this window when you’re asked to provide a Windows 10 key. Windows will check in with Microsoft’s servers and give your PC a digital license for Windows 10.
It’s that simple. If you ever want to reinstall Windows 10 in the future, you should be able to use the same Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key you entered here. That key will be associated with a “digital license” on Microsoft’s servers, allowing you to continue reinstalling Windows 10 even if Microsoft disables this method of acquiring Windows 10.
You can also sign in to your new PC with a Microsoft account and that key will be associated with your Microsoft account, making it easy to reactivate your digital license if you ever need to reinstall Windows 10 later.
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Windows 10 Serial Key Free Download
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279 with 132 posters participating, including story authorUpdated, July 31 @ 15:55 BST (10:55 EDT): This story has been updated with a few more details, and some other (quicker) ways of achieving an almost-clean installation of Windows 10.
Original story
Windows 10 is an unusual release for Microsoft: if you have a licensed version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1, it will very easily upgrade to Windows 10—you don't even need to enter a licence key. Clean installations, however, are a bit trickier: you do need to enter a licence key, and your Windows 7/8 key probably won't work.
Fortunately, if you're running Windows 7 or 8, and you really want to use your free Windows 10 licence key to perform a clean installation rather than upgrade, there is a solution. It's pretty convoluted, but it works.
First, you need to do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10. You can do this via Windows Update, or if Windows Update isn't playing ball you can use the direct download tool: English/American/German/French/Italian/Dutch. If you use the download tool, make sure you select 'Upgrade this PC now.' It goes without saying that, before you install any new operating system, you should back up any important data beforehand.
Once the upgrade has completed, make sure you've been activated by Microsoft. Open up the new Settings app, then head to Update & Security, Activation. It will say on the right whether you're activated or not (see image). Also note down what version of Windows 10 you have (Home, Pro).
If you haven't yet been activated, you can try forcing it via command prompt: run cmd.exe as an administrator, then type slmgr.vbs /ato. You may need to try a few times, as the activation servers were being hit quite hard.
This first step will convert your current Windows 7/8 key into a Windows 10 key.
Now you need to install Windows 10 again! Grab the Windows 10 download tool and run it. This time, select 'Create installation media for another PC.' Select the appropriate version (Home, Pro) and the tool will generate an ISO for you. Let the tool help you burn the ISO to a DVD or USB memory stick.
Now, proceed with a clean installation of Windows 10 (select 'Custom: Install Windows only' when prompted.) When it asks you for a product key, click Skip. If it asks you multiple times, just keep hitting Skip.
Once you've installed Windows 10, it should activate normally. Again, you might need to manually slam the servers using slmgr.vbs /ato. Voilà: a clean installation of Windows 10.
In theory, you should be able to reinstall Windows 10 again in the future on the same PC, but if you make significant hardware changes you might need to use the manual telephone activation process. Currently, it isn't clear if you can take your freebie Windows 10 licence key and use it to install Windows 10 on another machine. Some users are reporting that ProduKey, Magic Jelly Bean, and other key-viewing tools have enabled them to get a new Windows 10 licence key that can be used on another machine, but some users are just getting a generic licence key that isn't transferable. Your mileage may vary.
Caveats and other gotchas
Obviously, it's crazy that you have to go through a full OS installation just to upgrade a licence key. It would be a lot easier and faster if Microsoft provided some kind of tool that converted Windows 7/8 keys to Windows 10.
If you bought a retail copy of Windows 10, this guide doesn't apply to you at all: you'll have a Windows 10 licence key that can be used directly during the installation process.
Another option, rather than installing Windows 10 twice, is to click the small 'change what to keep' button during installation, and then select 'nothing' from the following screen. This will delete all of your files, apps, and settings. This will be functionally the same as performing a clean installation, but there may be small underlying differences.
Another method is to upgrade to Windows 10, head into the new Settings app, and go to 'Update and recovery.' From there, you can click 'Reset this PC,' which gives you the option of reinstalling Windows 10 and either a) keeping your apps and files, or b) wiping everything clean. Again, this isn't quite the same as a clean installation, but it's very similar.
If you do opt for the upgrade-then-install method, one slightly faster route is to download and burn an ISO the first time you run the tool, and then upgrade from that ISO. You can then use the same installation media to do a clean installation, rather than downloading Windows 10 again using the tool.
If you get the following error when trying to activate Windows 10, don't panic: 'Error code: 0xC004C003. Activation server determined that the key has been blocked.' Some users are reporting that they are seeing that error, even with a legitimate key, perhaps due to the activation servers being overloaded. Of course, if you're not actually using a legitimate licence key, then... well... do panic.