I was not aware... but my support for old hardware tends to end years before microsoft's so...
Windows 10 - who is upgrading day 1?
- Thread starter MiniKnight
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I rolled my desktop up today since I was working on launch day. But it went without a hitch I have yet to find any issue and I have over 200 programs installed. I know for a fact I will find something that does not work but right now it seems to function fine. Veeam Endpoint Protection is the only thing I had to tinker with to get it working.
I was not able to get the Win 10 Preview running on my Dual CPU systems so I haven't tried it on any systems here. Talking with the guys over at Puget Systems and they reported the Retail version does work on these.
My main rig is Win 8.1 Pro Enterprise so it cannot be upgraded, I have no active sub atm and it was from TechNet before they closed it up
I did purchase Win 10 Pro tho so I will get this going. Might have to bite the bullet and get a MSDN Operating sub.. Dang that will hurt.
I have a single socket bench going that Win 10 Preview works fine on. I like it a lot. I am thinking I might end up using that system for main rig status as its pretty zippy compared to the dualys. Its a Supermicro C7X99-OCE and 5960x.
My other systems, wifes lappy etc I have not upgraded yet. Not sure if I want to on her machine LOL.
My main rig is Win 8.1 Pro Enterprise so it cannot be upgraded, I have no active sub atm and it was from TechNet before they closed it up
I did purchase Win 10 Pro tho so I will get this going. Might have to bite the bullet and get a MSDN Operating sub.. Dang that will hurt.
I have a single socket bench going that Win 10 Preview works fine on. I like it a lot. I am thinking I might end up using that system for main rig status as its pretty zippy compared to the dualys. Its a Supermicro C7X99-OCE and 5960x.
My other systems, wifes lappy etc I have not upgraded yet. Not sure if I want to on her machine LOL.
@William , You could convert all your TechNet Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys to Windows 10.
For the last 5 days, I been busy using Ghost to lay down Windows 7 os image on a scratch disk, run the Windows 10 setup to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, make sure Windows 10 license is activate. Then do a clean install with a permanent drive.
Then I'll have Windows 10 for the life of the systemboard / system.
The whole Ghost and upgrade process takes less than 1 hour per system.
I use WDS/MDT to install a fresh copy Windows 8.1 OS, then upgrade, the process would take 30 min.
I believe the free upgrade path is Windows 8.1 Enterprise to Windows 10 Pro.
For the last 5 days, I been busy using Ghost to lay down Windows 7 os image on a scratch disk, run the Windows 10 setup to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, make sure Windows 10 license is activate. Then do a clean install with a permanent drive.
Then I'll have Windows 10 for the life of the systemboard / system.
The whole Ghost and upgrade process takes less than 1 hour per system.
I use WDS/MDT to install a fresh copy Windows 8.1 OS, then upgrade, the process would take 30 min.
I believe the free upgrade path is Windows 8.1 Enterprise to Windows 10 Pro.
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I have to try that but so far the Previews would not work and no Windows Icon ever appeared on my systems. From what I could tell from reading on MS site you could only do the Enterprise upgrade if you had an active sub, which I do not anymore.
I don't know what you mean by "active sub".
Microsoft would upgrade any Windows 7 or Windows 8 system as long as the upgrade process detected the existing system license is "Activated".
I subscribed to Technet 2 separate times, I collected over 20 Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys ( various language , 64bit , 32 bit keys ).
Each Technet Windows 7 keys used to activate 10 machines, but I am not sure how the Windows 10 upgrade process deals with multiple activation with same key. I am note sure if the old keys is "consumed". I'll run a quick test when I have time to see if the old keys still good.
Microsoft would upgrade any Windows 7 or Windows 8 system as long as the upgrade process detected the existing system license is "Activated".
I subscribed to Technet 2 separate times, I collected over 20 Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys ( various language , 64bit , 32 bit keys ).
Each Technet Windows 7 keys used to activate 10 machines, but I am not sure how the Windows 10 upgrade process deals with multiple activation with same key. I am note sure if the old keys is "consumed". I'll run a quick test when I have time to see if the old keys still good.
An active sub means you have a active license through TechNet (which is no longer around) or through MSDN. If your sub has expired then this will not work for you. Though you still can use your keys for products that you had while your sub was active, you just can't use anything new.
This might have changed with release tho. I know that my Enterprise Windows 8.1 Pro would not allow me to upgrade to Win 10 Pro with the preview versions. I never had the tray icon pop up also. Every attempt to try a upgrade failed on my main rig.
I've confirmwd that the technet Multiple Activation licenses for Win 7/8/8.1 continue to be good for new activations even after the subscription has expired. And these licenses can be upgraded to 10 and get the same shared retail license that any other upgrade receives.
This may not be what Microsoft intended or exactly what their terms of use specify. But it is the current situation.
You've been wasting your time. The upgrades are tied to HWIDs, not keys. Once you do an upgrade on a machine (virtual or not), your HWID gets added to a whitelist on Microsoft's activation servers. If you do a clean install (full clean, not from within the installed OS... OR on a blank drive) on a machine that has had an upgrade done, you will not need to enter a key. You click skip until you are in the fully installed OS and then click activate. It will assign a generic product key to you and activate.
Let me reiterate. You are not converting keys. When doing an upgrade, you are registering your hardware identification hashes based on system board serial number/primary network card MAC address.
Please read this for full detail.
You should actually be getting a VL channel generic key. Not retail.
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I'm up to 8 upgrades attempted, 7 successful (1 desktop, 2 laptops, 4 VMs & one "failed" laptop due to old CPU). Very easy upgrade, best ever from MS. One is a "gotta work every day without fail" VM running my cameras. A few easy clicks and get some coffee while it chugs along.
I expected to wait a month or so before doing the daily-use workstation at my desk - but with absolutely zero problems so far and a generally great experience I think I'm getting brave enough to do it this weekend.
MS did a good job.
I expected to wait a month or so before doing the daily-use workstation at my desk - but with absolutely zero problems so far and a generally great experience I think I'm getting brave enough to do it this weekend.
MS did a good job.
I have a DIY desktop running the retail version of Windows 8.1. I understand I could upgrade it to Windows 10 right now. However, I'm also planning to build a new desktop later this year, to replace this one. So that raises a few questions:
- How do I go about getting Windows 10 on the new build once it's done? The Windows 8.1 key is retail so it's not tied to hardware, I can use it on another PC if I want, but will the Windows 10 licence behave the same way? I understand a straight clean install of Windows 10 won't work since I don't ever see the actual Windows 10 product key (correct?), but can I simply install Windows 8.1, do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 to register the hardware, then clean install Windows 10 and get it to activate? Even if I've previously done that on another PC with the same Windows 8.1 product key?
- If I sell my old motherboard (which will be registered on Microsoft's servers as having a valid Windows 10 licence), does that mean whoever buys it can install Windows 10 on it and it will activate automatically, even if they don't have a licence themselves? Can that activation cause trouble for me down the line? Is there any way I can disassociate the Windows 10 licence from the old motherboard?
This works. Tested. MS does not record the fact that your 8.1 license has been upgraded so you can re-use it on new hardware and then - at least until July '16 - do the Win10 upgrade to "register" the hardware id.
Doing this is technically outside the terms of the license. Doubt MS will care as you are not pirating/copying.
Yes, they can. But it shouldn't cause you any trouble. There is no evidence MS is tracking the "new" whitelisted hardware IDs to the original product key used prior to upgrading.
1. Yes, you should (I haven't read the upgrade terms, but I'm basing this on prior knowledge on earlier OS upgrade licenses) be able to transfer that combination of 8.1 retail + 10 upgrade to another machine. You will likely have to get on the phone with Microsoft to explain that you are transferring your 8.1 license to that new machine. You will have to do the Windows 10 upgrade (use the iso instead of waiting for that tray icon) at least once before doing a full clean install. You must cease use and erase it from the old machine, including the Windows 10 upgrade that was "based" on that 8.1 retail license. You can only use 8.1 retail or 10 on one computer. Not 8.1 on one machine and 10 on another. Those licenses are technically tied together. (this is the ethical answer, if you care about that)
2. Windows 10 upgrades are not tied to the key you upgraded from, as I have said. If you sold your motherboard/system to another person, and you had done the upgrade on that machine at some point, at least according to the knowledge we have, Win 10 would activate for that person, if they installed the right version (regular or Pro).
Updated my Acronis backup, did the Nvidia driver update and gave the upgrade an try. This is from the upgrade tool that I got when I purchased Win 10 Pro.
Rig is ASUS Z10PE-D16, 2x E5-2698 V3's, 128 GB RAM, OS-2x SanDisk X210's in Raid 0, 2x Nvidia Titan Blacks.
I have a bunch of software installed that the upgrade tool might not like, the preview version when a long ways into the upgrade and bombed out end saying something very close to this and reverted back to my orgional OS.
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Rig is ASUS Z10PE-D16, 2x E5-2698 V3's, 128 GB RAM, OS-2x SanDisk X210's in Raid 0, 2x Nvidia Titan Blacks.
I have a bunch of software installed that the upgrade tool might not like, the preview version when a long ways into the upgrade and bombed out end saying something very close to this and reverted back to my orgional OS.
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