Software Windows 10 Free Upgrade?

dbeachy1

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Well I did a clean install and now can't use my old windows 8.1 product key. Can't connect wireless either. I tried to go back to windows 8.1 but no luck there. When I rest it just resets to win 10

Correct, unfortunately Windows 8.1 keys won't work in Windows 10. I would call Microsoft support -- if you give them your current Windows 8.1 key they may be able to give you a Windows 10 key right over the phone (just a guess, though).

As for your wireless problem, you probably just need to reinstall the driver from your computer vendor's Web site.
 

Keatah

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I just read in a local newspaper that the Win10 upgrade won't be free any longer after 07/29/2016. So it seems we have one year to decide, it isn't too bad.

That's probably when the beta-test phase will be over.
 

gattispilot

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A Windows 10 clean install is not an upgrade. In order to get the free upgrade, you need to start the installer from within the old OS.

Yes. But I never would upgrade.

I got the wireless to work. Orbiter seem to run fine except for the missing symbols in the windows. Windows 8 did that also
 

Hielor

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That's probably when the beta-test phase will be over.
The Windows 10 beta test ended on 7/29/2015, when it was released. If you wanted to be a part of the beta test, you could have opted in to the insider program (and millions did).
 

blixel

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I've done the Windows 10 upgrade on 3 of my systems so far. I haven't upgraded my main system yet because I can't be inconvenienced. I haven't had any real problems with my upgrades, but I will say that I don't really believe in OS "upgrades", so all of my upgrades have been done with the intent of immediately following them up with a partition dump, re-partitioning, formatting of the partitions, and finally a new OS installation on an empty drive.

Since you are not given a Windows 10 Product Key as part of your free upgrade, I did quite a bit of reading to find out how we would be able to do a clean install without the Product Key. In short, you have to go through some extra steps or it won't work. Unfortunately you can't just simply download the Windows 10 image, put it on a DVD/USB, and then reboot and install.

What I found through my online searching was that you absolutely must perform an OS upgrade first - from a qualified version of Windows that is already activated. So if you're upgrading from Windows 7, you must make sure that that version of Windows 7 you are upgrading from is fully updated and is itself properly activated. Then you have to upgrade it to Windows 10. The upgrade process will not require you to enter a Product Key. Once it has been updated, Windows 10 will eventually activate itself on that system. Do not attempt to do a format / clean re-install until you have checked, double checked, and triple checked that Windows 10 is showing that it has been activated.

Apparently when that activation happens, Microsoft essentially remembers that that hardware has been activated. And according to what I read online, Microsoft will still acknowledge that that system is activated even if you change out some hardware. If you change out too much hardware, you may have to go through an additional re-activation process at some point. I've had to do that in the past and it isn't difficult. But if I were planning to upgrade the hardware on my computer, I would do it prior to upgrading.

Getting back on track...

Once the system has been properly upgraded and activated, you can then completely wipe the system clean, reinstall Windows 10 onto a freshly formatted drive, and once that is done, it will still be activated. (Note that when you install Windows 10 after the drive has been formatted, it will ask you for the Product Key 2 different times. Just "skip" it in both places.)

This process does work as I've done it on 3 different computers now.

The first time I did it I did experience a problem only because I didn't follow the proper steps. I upgraded a Windows 7 computer to Windows 10, and then immediately formatted and did a clean install of Windows 10 on that system.

The problem was after initially upgrading to Windows 10, I didn't wait for Window 10 to have a chance to activate. (Only because I assumed it was essentially instantaneous.) So when I did the format/reinstall, the system never showed that it was activated due to the fact that the upgrade process was done improperly.

This cost me a lot of time as I had to then go back and do a format/reinstall of the original Windows 7. And then activate it. And then do the Windows 10 upgrade (a second time on that system), and then wait for it to activate. And then finally do a Windows 10 clean install (for the second time on that system), and then it was properly activated. Due to that first botched attempt though, I didn't have any problems on the next 2 systems as I then knew to check (and double check) that Windows 10 showed that it was activated prior to doing the format / clean install.

I'm not content to upgrade an entire operating system from one major version to the next. In my experience, an operating system can't even stay de-cluttered on its own, let alone when you install a new operating system over top of an old one. I think a clean format/reinstall is always ultimately easier and less problematic than trying to upgrade. But that isn't going to be true for everyone I suppose. I keep all my "data" (music, photos, downloads, documents, pdf's, etc...) on a different physical drive. (And I have a mirror of that drive for backup.) So when it comes to doing a clean install, I am only inconvenienced by having to reinstall all my programs. Which is definitely inconvenient ... but is (to me) less inconvenient than trying to deal with a heavily polluted operating system that is a hodgepodge hybrid of an old OS mixed with a new one.
 
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Notebook

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My main machine (HP Envy laptop, about a year old) went across to 10 happily. This morning it did a HP BIOS upgrade, now the Edge browser won't open. Also, the start menu won't open.
Get a message "Critical error, Start Menu won't open, will try to fix it next time you login".
Hasn't managed it so far...

Well, been at it all day, so going back to 8.1 it came with. Strange thing, its currently downloading Windows 10...

N.
 
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Lmoy

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I'm glad to hear the Windows 10 upgrade is going well for most people. After the horrifying experience of Windows 9, I was nervous about another new Windows release.
 

Hielor

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I'm glad to hear the Windows 10 upgrade is going well for most people. After the horrifying experience of Windows 9, I was nervous about another new Windows release.
Windows.... 9?
 

N_Molson

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Windows.... 9 ?

That one was so horrific that you didn't even heard of it. It was classified a few hours after release, and all people that downloaded it were visited by men in black. :yes:
 

Xyon

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You could always do a clean Windows 10 install. (Granted, I really dislike reinstalling all my applications, but I have done it a few times over the years.) However, I'm not sure you can do a free clean install right off the bat if it can't upgrade your existing Windows successfully first, even if you launch the installer from within your existing Windows. i.e., it may make you pay for a license key in that case. :(

EDIT:
You could contact Microsoft support about your upgrade failure -- they might be able to give you a new key to use for a fresh install.

If you do find yourself having to reinstall everything, give ninite a go - it helps ease the pain of getting (some) of your programs reinstalled (and automatically declines toolbar installations and the like, which is nice).
 

ISProgram

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I'm considering doing a factory reset on my computer to crudely fix an issue I'm not going to specify. The computer originally used 7 before I (free) upgraded to 10; I'm wondering if I can still re-upgrade if I do reset.
 

BruceJohnJennerLawso

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That one was so horrific that you didn't even heard of it. It was classified a few hours after release, and all people that downloaded it were visited by men in black. :yes:

It was Windows Vista with Cortana tacked on. Except, Cortana has a male voice, and thinks her name is Microsoft Bob...
 

dbeachy1

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I'm considering doing a factory reset on my computer to crudely fix an issue I'm not going to specify. The computer originally used 7 before I (free) upgraded to 10; I'm wondering if I can still re-upgrade if I do reset.

From everything I have read, once you upgrade to Windows 10 your Windows 10 key is stored on Microsoft's activation servers and so you can then do a clean reinstall of Windows 10 by booting from the Windows 10 DVD and selecting a clean installation -- it should automatically activate for you. You can download the Windows 10 ISO here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
 
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ex-orbinaut

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Well, I finally took the plunge today. Evidence, and it seems quite OK, so far.

Win10.jpg


(even kept my original desktop wallpaper...)

Chatting with some members of a DCS VS forum about Win 10 in general, I piped up about my worries of re-installation. Comments about it had been pretty good, and one of the guys suggested using the Media Creation Tool (I notice it is also there in dbeachy's link in his post above).

So, there it is. I've got my installation on USB, tested, and the installation of both 7 and 10 backed up on two partitions on an external HD. I am happy!

Now, to see if I get all of the problems I see, reading back up through the posts. Hmmm...
 
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meson800

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However, I'm not sure you can do a free clean install right off the bat if it can't upgrade your existing Windows successfully first, even if you launch the installer from within your existing Windows.
I believe you can. In the Media Creation Tool at least(which I used when I took the plunge on my computers), you get three options- "Keep apps and data"(in place upgrade, works great), "Keep data"(not sure why you'd do this), and "Keep nothing"(should be a clean install).
 
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ex-orbinaut

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One thing really stands out: the boot up time from switch on to ready to use is dementedly fast.
 

jedidia

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Using it at work for a while now... Has anybody else experienced the annoying bug that when you drag a window from your primary to a secondary monitor and fullscreen it without dropping it (by draging it to the top of the screen) The window goes black, and will stay that way until you put it back on its original monitor? I wonder if it's a general issue or if it's got something to do with my laptop...

Oh yes, and a tip for the uninitiated: If you go mad by searching for advanced options in the completely dumbed down err... sorry... streamlined system settings, right click on the start button, and then choose control panel from the menu that pops up... and you'll get the full Win-7 style control panel. I do wonder what they were thinking when they did that. Why not just automatically bring that up if the user has administrator rights??
 

Fabri91

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That's due to the hybrid startup introduced in 8 (kernel session is hybernated, only the user session is new at each boot). If you either deactivate this functionality or perform a reboot you'll see more typical boot-up times.
 
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ex-orbinaut

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Well, as from Win 8 (which I never got for my PC) WIN SDK now includes DirectX SDK with it. That's great! No transitory head scratching figuring out which of two (from many) downloads to get for a stable WINAPI dev installation.

I have Win 8 on my Asus T100, which I used about twice because of the hideous OS (I am not following the bandwagon with that comment, it is hideous in my opinion, too, almost unusable). I want to fire it up and see if I can get the Win 10 offer for that, too. I am so far impressed by 10.
 
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