Buying Windows 8 upgrade key to activate my pirated copy to then get a free upgrade to Windows 10?

[Tro]

I've been running a pirated copy of windows 8.1, since I bought it legitimately once and lost the key.

To the point, I can get a windows 8.1 "Upgrade" for about 10 euros.

Could i purchase this key to activate my windows to get a free upgrade to windows 10?

IF you can't activate a copy with an upgrade key, would reinstalling work? Or maybe installing windows 7 and then "Upgrading" to windows 8.1 again?

 

My last topic on this forum got 0 views, so hopefully this post will actually exist

[Agazed]

yes

[Tro]

yes

What a detailed and helpful answer. 

 

Yes to what?

[Agazed]

What a detailed and helpful answer. 

 

Yes to what?

 

Buying Windows 8 upgrade key to activate my pirated copy to then get a free upgrade to Windows 10?

 

You answered your own question. If the activation doesnt work, you can re-install the copy from Microsoft with no issues.

[Speedbird]

I've been running a pirated copy of windows 8.1, since I bought it legitimately once and lost the key.

To the point, I can get a windows 8.1 "Upgrade" for about 10 euros.

Could i purchase this key to activate my windows to get a free upgrade to windows 10?

IF you can't activate a copy with an upgrade key, would reinstalling work? Or maybe installing windows 7 and then "Upgrading" to windows 8.1 again?

 

My last topic on this forum got 0 views, so hopefully this post will actually exist

An Upgrade key is only valid if the PC is already licensed for Windows 7. If you have a key, you can do the phone activation and tell them that you did a clean install with an upgrade key and that you have a Windows 7 key. They should let you activate.

[Tro]

Upgrade keys are annoying, you'll probably need to install Windows 7 and upgrade to Windows 8/8.1

Does the windows 7 installation have to be legitimately activated in order to upgrade? Or does it even work without being activated at all?

[theKumba]

Upgrade keys are annoying, you'll probably need to install Windows 7 and upgrade to Windows 8/8.1

I think you might even have to activate the os you are upgrading from. I remember having a similar problem a year or so ago.

[Tro]

An Upgrade key is only valid if the PC is already licensed for Windows 7. If you have a key, you can do the phone activation and tell them that you did a clean install with an upgrade key and that you have a Windows 7 key. They should let you activate.

See thats the thing, I've never owned a legitimate windows 7 copy, but I vaguely remember buying my windows 8 key as an upgrade, which worked, was a long time ago though, can't quite remember what I did.

[martward]

See thats the thing, I've never owned a legitimate windows 7 copy, but I vaguely remember buying my windows 8 key as an upgrade, which worked, was a long time ago though, can't quite remember what I did.

If you have upgraded from Windows 7 (pirated) to windows 8.1 (and paid for it), you should have gotten an email at some point with you Windows key. You can use that to activate Windows 8.1 (or clean install it). At least that's how it worked for me. If not, you can buy a Windows 8.1 pro key from a site which sells keys for about $25-30, and you will have a legitimate copy of Windows which will be upgraded to Windows 10 if you so desire. 

[Gikero]

Upgrade keys are annoying, you'll probably need to install Windows 7 and upgrade to Windows 8/8.1

I've always done the registry edit to save time. It is pretty simple.

If your original 8 key was preinstalled on the machine you're currently using, you can pull it out with certain programs and just activate. Saves money. Only exception is if you went into the UEFI and purposely deleted that key.