Windows 10 upgrade path and activation issues

Sounds like Win 8 from the start again. This free upgrade was only supposed to last for a year. What's the latest in that regard?
 
The upgrade process is free for a year. If you upgrade within the prescribed period then you don't pay, ever.

If you miss the upgrade boat, then you pay.

That's how I understood it anyway.
 
Just completed the upgrade and my windows is activated... Finally!

Now doing a reset of the OS , let's see how that goes!?
 
Did the reset from within Windows 10 and it gave me a nice shiny new windows. I did pick up some micro lag so I decided to take the plunge and load fresh and boot from the ISO (which I did the upgrade originally) and you won't believe it...

Windows won't activate.

Fml.
 
techead said:
Did the reset from within Windows 10 and it gave me a nice shiny new windows. I did pick up some micro lag so I decided to take the plunge and load fresh and boot from the ISO (which I did the upgrade originally) and you won't believe it...

Windows won't activate.

Fml.
Click to expand...

if you installed from scratch so that is to be expected. better install windows 8 again and reupgrade :p I wonder if I can clone my win8 partition and upgrade that so I can dual boot
 
techead said:
Did the reset from within Windows 10 and it gave me a nice shiny new windows. I did pick up some micro lag so I decided to take the plunge and load fresh and boot from the ISO (which I did the upgrade originally) and you won't believe it...

Windows won't activate.

Fml.
Click to expand...

I used some tool I found with Google to extract my Windows 8.1 Pro key before I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro late last night. I never ended up needing it for some reason, even after a fresh install after that initial installation. As far as I can tell my Windows 10 Pro is activated. I think the difference was that I didn't boot to the USB I made - I just ran the setup from the first installation of Windows 10 and took it from there. After preparing the installation, the OS restarted itself and did it's thing.
 
I need help please.
I have done 2 successful win7pro to Win 10 pro upgrade with no issues (was not asked for product key either)
My third laptop has a 100% Legit copy of Win 7 Home Premium. I the product key sticker and the product key on the machine (found using a product key software) are a match and if I re-activate it under windows 7 it goes through perfectly.

Now on the upgrade to Win 10 I downloaded the specific ISO for the Home edition and proceeded to try upgrade. Very early on it comes back with "This product key didn't work" AND IT GOES NO FURTHER.

How do I sort this out?
 
HavocXphere said:
The privacy configs are apparently super dodgy so you guys might want to disable some of that crap

https://jonathan.porta.codes/2015/07/30/windows-10-seems-to-have-some-scary-privacy-defaults/
Click to expand...

The one comment seems worse:
LOL that's not even the tip of the iceberg, be sure to READ THE LICENSE CONTRACT.

Click on search>settings icon>Other privacy settings>Privacy statement

Then you will get the atrocious contract, including, between many offenses, this:

(google "Microsoft Privacy Statement" if you do not have Windows 10, and want the full text)

"Reasons We Share Personal Data
We share your personal data with your consent [...]"

Ask any lawyer. That does mean that you are giving your consent to Microspyware for your personal data to be "shared". It is a statement of fact: Microspyware shares your personal data, and you consent to it.

It does not says that you will be asked for your consent, it says that you consent to it.

It does not impose any limitation on the "sharing". Anything goes.

"[...]we share personal data among Microsoft-controlled affiliates and subsidiaries. We also share personal data with vendors or agents working on our behalf[...]"
"[...]we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders)[...]"

It also says:

"Personal Data We Collect"
[...]
"Name and contact data. We collect your first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data."

"[...] the content of your documents, photos, music or video [...] the content of your communications sent or received [...]

subject line and body of an email,
text or other content of an instant message,
audio and video recording of a video message, and
audio recording and transcript of a voice message you receive or a text message you dictate"

"Contacts and relationships"

"Credentials. We collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information"

Note that it does not says that it collect the passwords you provide to Microsoft. It just says "passwords". ANY password.

"[...] (GPS) data, as well as data identifying nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, [...] location derived from your IP address [...] a city or postal code level."

"[...]age, gender, country and preferred language[...]"

"Interests and favorites. [...] such as the teams you follow [...] the stocks you track [...] In addition to those you explicitly provide, [...] may also be inferred or derived from other data we collect. "

THE STOCKS YOU TRACK. That would be absolutely illegal without a contract.
ASIDE THE INFO YOU EXPLICITLY PROVIDE. That means that Microsoft gets the right to survey you by any means, aside Windows 10.
It does not need to survey you only trought a computer, phone, or website running Windows 10, it can survey you trough any way.

There is no opt out.

"Usage data. [...] such as the features you use, the items you purchase, the web pages you visit, and the search terms you enter. [...]"

"[...]This also includes data about your device, including IP address, device identifiers, regional and language settings, and data about the network, operating system, browser or other software you use [...]"

Worse, there is another clause that says that MICROSOFT WILL CHANGE ANY CLAUSE AT WILL.
"Changes to This Privacy Statement
We will update this privacy statement [...]"

So, by using Windows 10, or any MS product or website, including Microsoft Account or Bing (which you are forced to use each time yo do a local search in W10), you are signing a BLANK CONTRACT IN FAVOR OF MICROSOFT.

You effectively give Microsoft unlimited rights. Microsoft can walk into your house and claim it. It can demand any of your properties, any payment, any personal debt, anything.
Click to expand...

There is more than enough for identity theft...
 
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A word of warning to people with a laptop that has a OEM product key in the BIOS

I did an upgrade from 8.1 to 10 and it worked perfectly. I then used the "reset this PC" feature in Windows 10 and it gave me a shiny new Windows 10. I wanted a CLEAN install, and I had read elsewhere that if you go through this UPGRADE process and your Windows 10 (after the upgrade) is Avtivated then you are good to go and do a CLEAN install from USB/DVD media. I used the ISO I downloaded via the MS media creation tool.

I did the clean install and it will NOT activate. It insists that the Product key is blocked. I tried all the manual workaround but nothing will work. Totally bizarre.

So the idea of the activation being "married to the hardware" doesnt quite add up in my mind.

The next step is to reinstall 8.1 and do the upgrade AGAIN (fml) to Windows 10 and I'm going to use a Product key tool to see if it is the same as my legal 8.1 key.

Some people are saying that there will be a different (non-generic) key, other people are saying that it's the same as the 8.1 key.

So much confusion but I am going to get to the bottom of this k@k
 
Well you could have done this:
1. Upgrade to windows 10
2. Then choose refresh and keep nothing
 
On wednesday morning i started the upgrade and my screen went black but could still see and hear the laptop was running. I went to work and after 3 or 4 hours it was still on a black screen so told my daughter to switch it off. I got home just after 7pm and restarted my laptop and it was on about 75% loaded so let it run its course and it seems to have been upgraded.

Are the active tiles supposed to be on my desktop when I log in because I still have my old desktop icons there and the tiles only appear if I click the window in the left bottom corner?

How do you add new tiles and make them active because if I download them from the store they do not appear anywhere and if I go back to the store they basically say they must be installed and activated which don't seem to work.
 
does it prompt you to download the OS/ to install / both ?
 
in the taskbar hovering cursor over updates icon it says "Windows is downloading updates (70% complete)
But when I go to Windows Update it says nothing...just 4 updates available
 
techead said:
A word of warning to people with a laptop that has a OEM product key in the BIOS

I did an upgrade from 8.1 to 10 and it worked perfectly. I then used the "reset this PC" feature in Windows 10 and it gave me a shiny new Windows 10. I wanted a CLEAN install, and I had read elsewhere that if you go through this UPGRADE process and your Windows 10 (after the upgrade) is Avtivated then you are good to go and do a CLEAN install from USB/DVD media. I used the ISO I downloaded via the MS media creation tool.

I did the clean install and it will NOT activate. It insists that the Product key is blocked. I tried all the manual workaround but nothing will work. Totally bizarre.

So the idea of the activation being "married to the hardware" doesnt quite add up in my mind.

The next step is to reinstall 8.1 and do the upgrade AGAIN (fml) to Windows 10 and I'm going to use a Product key tool to see if it is the same as my legal 8.1 key.

Some people are saying that there will be a different (non-generic) key, other people are saying that it's the same as the 8.1 key.

So much confusion but I am going to get to the bottom of this k@k
Click to expand...

Did you skip Enter a product key page while reinstalling win10?
 
frobbertze2 said:
Article on forbes yesterday http://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2015/07/30/windows-10-updating-reinstalling-and-activation-guide-essential-advice-to-avoid-problems/ also states that a clean installation after upgrade still asks for a product key. The product key can be extracted via ProduKey though.
Click to expand...

Not true.

Note

If you upgraded to Windows 10 on this PC by taking advantage of the free upgrade offer and successfully activated Windows 10 on this PC in the past, you won't have a Windows 10 product key, and you can skip the product key page by selecting the Skip button. Your PC will activate online automatically so long as the same edition of Windows 10 was successfully activated on this PC by using the free Windows 10 upgrade offer.
Click to expand...

Source: Microsoft (Straight from the horse's mouth)
 
I have Start8 on all of my Windows 8.1 computers.

What happens to this with Windows 10 ?

And do you still need it ?
 
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