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Windows 7 Upgrading to Windows 10 Questions

L

lsquare

Senior member
So if I upgrade to Windows 10 using my Windows 7 serial number, is that key locked to my custom built PC for life? Is this confirmed to be the case? So if change the CPU and mobo to the new Intel Skylake platform in the future, will I have to buy a new Windows 10 license? It makes no sense to me that should be the case because I bought my Windows 7 software from a retail store rather than buying a computer with Windows 7 pre-installed.
 
Depends if Windows 7 is retail or OEM. From what I have heard, Windows 10 is stricter on hardware changes (for OEM) than previous OSs.

(If you have OEM) If you do the hardware upgrade, and Windows 7 activates with the new hardware, you should be able to do the Windows 10 upgrade after that. I don't know if that will work with the fresh install using the Windows 7 key. Since that is a relatively new allowance, you may have to be the guinea pig 🙂 On the other hand, I don't know if 10 even cares about the hardware when doing the upgrade using the Windows 7 key, so again, you may have to be the guinea pig here. Just know that the process in the first sentence of this paragraph should work regardless. And will work regardless if your Windows 7 is a retail copy.
 
To further add to it, based on the licensing terms Win10 will follow what your base license is so,

Win7 Retail -> Win10 Retail, allows you to freely move your key
Win7 OEM/System Builder -> Win10 OEM, tied to the computer, (motherboard in MS terms) so not suppose to move it, but people have as there is wiggle room to do so.

Will Win10 OEM allow it to move,
- from a licensing standpoint NO
- from a technical standpoint, MAYBE, based on previous versions of windows.
but again, if its oem you are not suppose to move it anyway
 
Ketchup said:
Depends if Windows 7 is retail or OEM. From what I have heard, Windows 10 is stricter on hardware changes (for OEM) than previous OSs.

(If you have OEM) If you do the hardware upgrade, and Windows 7 activates with the new hardware, you should be able to do the Windows 10 upgrade after that. I don't know if that will work with the fresh install using the Windows 7 key. Since that is a relatively new allowance, you may have to be the guinea pig 🙂 On the other hand, I don't know if 10 even cares about the hardware when doing the upgrade using the Windows 7 key, so again, you may have to be the guinea pig here. Just know that the process in the first sentence of this paragraph should work regardless. And will work regardless if your Windows 7 is a retail copy.
Click to expand...

I have Windows 7 retail.
 
Dahak said:
To further add to it, based on the licensing terms Win10 will follow what your base license is so,

Win7 Retail -> Win10 Retail, allows you to freely move your key
Win7 OEM/System Builder -> Win10 OEM, tied to the computer, (motherboard in MS terms) so not suppose to move it, but people have as there is wiggle room to do so.

Will Win10 OEM allow it to move,
- from a licensing standpoint NO
- from a technical standpoint, MAYBE, based on previous versions of windows.
but again, if its oem you are not suppose to move it anyway
Click to expand...

Wiggle room? Have anyone here actually done it? Are you sure Windows 7 to Windows 10 retail means I can keep the license no matter how many times I upgrade the mobo or CPU in the future?
 
Yes that is how it is supposed to work, although as far as I'm aware they haven't confirmed exactly how you transfer the retail Win 10 license from one machine to another. For example, I did a clean install of TH2 using my retail Windows 7 key which sets up a digital entitlement for the computer. I don't know what will happen when I'm ready to reuse the key on a new machine, and for now just have to hope that it isn't a burdensome process.
 
Good question OP. Like you, I have a retail W7 that I've upgraded to W10. I've been thinking about a new build, and will probably get started when/if Skylake chips ever become more available. I hope I can complete the build before the window for a free upgrade to W10 expires. Even so, I'm not looking forward to doing the W7 install then W10 install on it; my fingers will definitely be crossed.
 
PowerEngineer said:
Good question OP. Like you, I have a retail W7 that I've upgraded to W10. I've been thinking about a new build, and will probably get started when/if Skylake chips ever become more available. I hope I can complete the build before the window for a free upgrade to W10 expires. Even so, I'm not looking forward to doing the W7 install then W10 install on it; my fingers will definitely be crossed.
Click to expand...

As of Windows 10 Version 1511 (Build 10586), you no longer need to upgrade to Windows 10 first to register the entitlement for that machine. You can perform a clean installation and enter the Windows 7 key during setup.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
Windows for IT Pros at TechNet
 
WinOutreach2 said:
As of Windows 10 Version 1511 (Build 10586), you no longer need to upgrade to Windows 10 first to register the entitlement for that machine. You can perform a clean installation and enter the Windows 7 key during setup.
Click to expand...

So, the serial from my copy of Win7 Ultimate (signed by Steve Balmer, no less!) would work with a fresh install of Win10? If so, that is indeed good news, and a smart move by MS.
 
I've got a question:
How can I safely return from Windows 10 to Windows 7?
Maybe anyone ever met any guidelines?
 
If you are within the one-month allowance after your upgrade, and have't used Disk Cleanup to remove the backup, you can use the option in the Settings menu, just below Windows Updates.

If you don't meet those criteria, you can use a system restore point from before the upgrade to get you back to Windows 7.
 
I find the best way to revert is to clone the 7 drive, then upgrade. Reversion is then a simple drive swap.
 
MaryMe said:
I've got a question:
How can I safely return from Windows 10 to Windows 7?
Maybe anyone ever met any guidelines?
Click to expand...

Maybe you can return to Windows 7 and maybe you can't.

I have a Win7 PC and Win7 laptop. The PC has OEM Win7 Pro and the laptop has Win 7 Home that was upgraded to Win 7 Pro. I was not able to update either of these systems to Windows 10. The update process bricked both of the computers. If I had not had a disc image for the laptop and a spare boot drive clone for the PC, I would not have a working Windows 7 computer today. I called Microsoft and they said neither of my computers had a valid Windows serial number, which is not the case. You can't use System Restore when your computer won't boot.

No doubt most people have upgraded to Windows 10 without too many issues, but if you are one of those who have a problem; good luck. I would not attempt a Windows 10 upgrade without a bombproof complete system backup plan.
 
Had a friend decide to update 7hp to 10 and it didn't fly, hung at the "welcome screen". Tried to go back to 7, needed the product key. Finally found that using Produkey, worked well enough. Now is looking for bios license, think we have it but don't know what to do with it. Seriously Microsoft!?!
 
If you don't downgrade within this window, can you still wipe the drive later and reinstall 7?
 
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