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Cannot active Win10 Pro from Fresh ISO

M

manitoublack

Junior Member
Here's a doozy, that even the Microsoft tech team said I should roll back and do an upgrade from win 8.1

After being a member of the beta-test program I thought I'd install the retail build, which is available from MS here. Installed it no worries, but would not accept my old 8.1pro keys from TechNet. no worries just hit skip and finish install.

once in windows try to update my product key, no luck. Tried phone activation, no luck. Spoke with tech, keys are good. Gave tech remote access to my machine, still no luck... Even gave me a virgin win10 key which had issues.

Eventually they suggest I remove win10, install win8.1 and do an upgrade to win 10... But I want a clean install, that's the point of getting the ISO from Microsoft.

Anyone else have a similar issue? or any pointers

Regards
Jordan
 
manitoublack said:
Here's a doozy, that even the Microsoft tech team said I should roll back and do an upgrade from win 8.1

After being a member of the beta-test program I thought I'd install the retail build, which is available from MS here. Installed it no worries, but would not accept my old 8.1pro keys from TechNet. no worries just hit skip and finish install.

once in windows try to update my product key, no luck. Tried phone activation, no luck. Spoke with tech, keys are good. Gave tech remote access to my machine, still no luck... Even gave me a virgin win10 key which had issues.

Eventually they suggest I remove win10, install win8.1 and do an upgrade to win 10... But I want a clean install, that's the point of getting the ISO from Microsoft.

Anyone else have a similar issue? or any pointers

Regards
Jordan
Click to expand...

I'm not speaking from experience so take this for what it is, but I read that once activated via the upgrade, all subsequent installations (clean or otherwise) will not require it because the license is literally tied to your motherboard (UEFI?) this time, and not some generated system code as in the past. Presumably you would need the internet to validate. I guess semantically it is still considered activation, but entering the key won't be necessary for subsequent installations so you can reformat and install as many times as desired.

It is my understanding that all Windows 10 licenses are being treated similar to "system builder" licenses in that it can't be transferred to a new machine with the difference is that Microsoft has the technical ability to The fact that the retail price is similar to the "OEM" price sort of affirms that.

Maybe someone with experience can comment.
 
What I did was do the upgrade and the moment I was on the desktop and saw that Windows was activated, I formatted and did a clean install with the same Win 8.1 Pro key that I had used, it was upgraded to a Win 10 key
 
I tried using my 8.1 pro key after the in place upgrade to attempt a clean install and it wouldn't accept it so I just rebooted and rolled back to 8.1.
 
Puffnstuff said:
I tried using my 8.1 pro key after the in place upgrade to attempt a clean install and it wouldn't accept it so I just rebooted and rolled back to 8.1.
Click to expand...

You are not suppose to do it that way. It has been mentioned many times that the way to do is

1 - Upgrade from within the current Windows (7/8.1) to 10
2 - Make sure that it is activated

Then if you want afresh install you would either
3A - Do a PC Reset from within Win 10
or
3B - Fresh install from UBS/DVD, skip the product key step, it will activate automatically.
(IF you upgraded first as in Step 1)
 
Dahak is correct. Gabe Aul (Microsoft's chief spokesman for Windows 10) has written repeatedly that the free upgrade must be done through Windows Update. Then you are free to use the ISO and do clean installs.

Ed Bott had some good news about the Win 10 license: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-releases-new-license-terms-for-windows-10-no-surprises/
It is the same as Win 8, so people with retail licenses can move from one system to another or upgrade CPU's & MB's, as in the past.
 
Whisper2 said:
Dahak is correct. Gabe Aul (Microsoft's chief spokesman for Windows 10) has written repeatedly that the free upgrade must be done through Windows Update. Then you are free to use the ISO and do clean installs.

Ed Bott had some good news about the Win 10 license: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-releases-new-license-terms-for-windows-10-no-surprises/
It is the same as Win 8, so people with retail licenses can move from one system to another or upgrade CPU's & MB's, as in the past.
Click to expand...

Another confirmation that Dahak is correct. I am not sure what MS "tech" was smoking. Maybe he thought you already had a key for 10.
 
Tech's solution of installing 8.1 and doing the upgrade is correct...your 8.1 key is an 8.1 key. You more or less "trade it in" and get a Win10 key when you activate.
 
Shit thing is now I have to find a TechNet copy of Win 8.1 or 7 as they're no longer available, to do the bullshit upgrade as I was running the Beta from a clean ISO...

Cheers for the response lads, not what I wanted to hear, but it's unfortunately what I expected.

Regards
Jordan
 
manitoublack,

After you complete the upgrade, you will find that Microsoft assigned a new key for Win 10. It is completely different from the Win 8.1 key. I used Jelly Bean to find it. This app worked but it installed several garbage app's along with the one I wanted. I don't know what they were because I wiped the drive right after I got the key.

I used the new key for the clean install of 10. The build was activated without any action on my part other than entering the key.
 
Whisper2 said:
manitoublack,

After you complete the upgrade, you will find that Microsoft assigned a new key for Win 10. It is completely different from the Win 8.1 key. I used Jelly Bean to find it. This app worked but it installed several garbage app's along with the one I wanted. I don't know what they were because I wiped the drive right after I got the key.

I used the new key for the clean install of 10. The build was activated without any action on my part other than entering the key.
Click to expand...

Yes, I noticed my key changed when upgrading from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro.

Then did a clean install using the link provided by the OP.

P.S. I used Belarc Advisor to find my key (this utility is supposed to be clean of adware/bloatware, and I didn't notice any installed).
 
Last edited:
cbn said:
P.S. I used Belarc Advisor to find my key (this utility is supposed to be clean of adware/bloatware, and I didn't notice any installed
Click to expand...

Belarc is a good product. It give one all kinds of info. Jelly Bean was fast -- all it did was provide the keys for Windows and Office. I didn't care about the garbage because my next step was to wipe the drive.
 
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