Windows 10 upgrade path and activation issues

I have been holding out for the free upgrade thinking that even users with pirated copies of windows would qualify.

I have installed two pc's with windows 7 (using the same disk) without using a licence key and keep getting the counterfeit message (understandably).

Do you have to have a genuine key per install to qualify for the upgrade?
 
getafix33 said:
I have been holding out for the free upgrade thinking that even users with pirated copies of windows would qualify.

I have installed two pc's with windows 7 (using the same disk) without using a licence key and keep getting the counterfeit message (understandably).

Do you have to have a genuine key per install to qualify for the upgrade?
Click to expand...

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/15/8613591/windows-10-no-free-upgrade-for-pirates

Now, we're finally getting a full clarification: there's no free upgrade at all. Pirates just have to pay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft is hoping to convert pirated copies to properly licensed ones

Microsoft says that it's planning to run some "very attractive Windows 10 upgrade offers" that will allow people with pirated copies to move to an official version. Specific details of that haven't been announced yet, but that likely won't come until we actually hear about when Windows 10 will arrive. For now, it's still targeted for this summer.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, that clears it up. I will purchase keys and then upgrade.
 
Here's what I learned from my Win 7 Pro upgrade to Windows 10.
I have 2 OEM activate Windows 7 PC's.
Both showed the Windows 10 upgrade icon and I reserved my copy, but neither machines showed the update as available in Windows Update..
I tried the below and add the reg key to the registry and the upgrade showed in Windows update...all 2.7 GB of it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/techsuppor...t_install_windows_10_have_tried_wuauclt_have/
Both machines downloaded the update and installed and upgraded to Win10 no issues.
I made sure both were activated.
I Decided to do a RESET on the machine I had now upgraded, this worked perfectly. Clean Windows and it was activated.Yay.
Then on the same machine I decide to do a complete wipe and install from the ISO image I had download from MS via the update tool.
During the install I choose to skip entering a Product key (as Win 7/8 key will not work anyway).
Once the install was done and everything was up and running, Windows 10 would not activate and told me that the product key was blocked. I was rather stumped.....and annoyed.
Some furious investigation and I found + noticed the following....
: When installing from scratch using the x64 ISO(or bootable image of the ISO), for some reason Win 10 Home had installed?? (I dont remember seeing an option to choose?), not Pro. This is something to keep in mind if you've also gone for the full reinstall.
Since my machine was licensed for Win 10 Pro, it would not activate on Win 10 Home.
Using details found here: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/07/29/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10/ I noticed that the product key my machine was showing was the HOME product key.
I choose to upgrade/change my Product key and used the "Pro" product and viola! Windows 10 told me it was upgrading features!! Once done I rebooted and Windows 10 was upgraded from Home to Pro and showed as ACTIVATED.
Since then everything is working as it should.
 
Updated my BIOS and now a perfectly activated Windows 10 upgrade wants to be activated again. What gives?
 
Fox1 said:
How do I go about activating again? :)
Click to expand...

Start from scratch: Install the OS that qualified you for the upgrade, either Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, upgrade to Windows 10 and then activate.
 
Oh well, I have the whole long weekend to backup and install.
 
Fox1 said:
Oh well, I have the whole long weekend to backup and install.
Click to expand...

I bought a PC the other, installed Windows 8.1, upgraded to Windows 10 and a couple of weeks later the PC has what appears to be motherboard failure. I'm going to take it in today for a warranty claim and if it's replaced, i'll have to go through the whole Windows install process again. Yay.
 
vinodh said:
I bought a PC the other, installed Windows 8.1, upgraded to Windows 10 and a couple of weeks later the PC has what appears to be motherboard failure. I'm going to take it in today for a warranty claim and if it's replaced, i'll have to go through the whole Windows install process again. Yay.
Click to expand...



I've been trying and failing to do this 'upgrade' and when I rebooted I noticed I can't get into my bios settings anymore (it just keeps booting). Maybe that's why the installer keeps crashing at 99%
 
jansdejager said:
I've been trying and failing to do this 'upgrade' and when I rebooted I noticed I can't get into my bios settings anymore (it just keeps booting). Maybe that's why the installer keeps crashing at 99%
Click to expand...

How are you installing? Via Windows update, the Media Creation Tool or a downloaded ISO? The ISO method worked for me. The other two methods failed miserably. The Media Creation Tool gave that stupid "Something Happened" message.
 
vinodh said:
How are you installing? Via Windows update, the Media Creation Tool or a downloaded ISO? The ISO method worked for me. The other two methods failed miserably. The Media Creation Tool gave that stupid "Something Happened" message.
Click to expand...

Like I said, the installer crashed at 99%. I have a usb stick that boots into the installation environment but then asks me for drivers. Plus there are missing files like autorun.inf (the error when I open setup.exe inside win8). I'm halfway through windows update now so I'll wait to see if that pans out, otherwise I will try my win7 install. They'll probably sort out their issues eventually. Don't want to get any more copyright infringement notices so I won't be torrenting it.
 
jansdejager said:
Is there any point to pro? Do you use Bitlocker, etc?
Click to expand...

I use Pro because there's a few things that I can set in group policy that make my life easier, like taking away the "restart now to install updates!" pop-up.
 
Windows 10 or 8.1 ???

I ran the windows 10 install app as per upgrade download.
New system etc activated.
When I run Belarc Advisor I see:

Microsoft - Windows 8.1 (x64) 00326-10000-00000-AA324 (Key: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxx)

Please tell me what is going on here.
 
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freedom123 said:
I ran the windows 10 install app as per upgrade download.
New system etc activated.
When I run Belarc Advisor I see:

Microsoft - Windows 8.1 (x64) XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (Key: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX)

Please tell me what is going on here.
Click to expand...

So long as Windows is activated I wouldn't be concerned. If you upgraded an OEM Windows, the product key might be stored in the BIOS, and therefore still valid.

N.B. - dude, you shouldn't really publish your product key publically as you've done in your post. ;)
 
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