Win7 to Win10 free update, but hard drive died. Can still get Win10 for free?

[varrys]

My brother did the free upgrade from Win7 to Win10 when they were offering that. Then his hard drive died with nothing recoverable. He put in an old hard drive and got it working, but it's Win7 still. Is there a way for him to get back to Win10 without having to pay for it? Same mobo and the like, so does he need to call them? Or can he use whatever the Windows key is to upgrade it because it's already been done?

[da na]

The Windows 10 key should be stored on a chip on the laptop's motherboard.

If you make a Win10 install media and install Windows 10 on that drive, during installation there should be an option like "i dont have a product key", click that and it should auto fill it later. 

[varrys]

Just now, Mel0nMan said:

The Windows 10 key should be stored on a chip on the laptop's motherboard.

If you make a Win10 install media and install Windows 10 on that drive, during installation there should be an option like "i dont have a product key", click that and it should auto fill it later. 

It's a desktop, not laptop, but I assume the same applies. So as long as he reinstalls, says "don't have key," it somehow figures it out later? I'll be happy if it's that easy, but if he updates and that somehow doesn't work, what are his options at that point? Forced to buy a new Win10 key? I don't know that he has a copy of Win7 lying around at this point.

[da na]

Just now, varrys said:

It's a desktop, not laptop, but I assume the same applies. So as long as he reinstalls, says "don't have key," it somehow figures it out later? I'll be happy if it's that easy, but if he updates and that somehow doesn't work, what are his options at that point? Forced to buy a new Win10 key? I don't know that he has a copy of Win7 lying around at this point.

Yeah it'll figure it out later, as you said. It's stored on the motherboard, not the HDD (Often where the BIOS config/settings is saved) 

[Levent]

3 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

The Windows 10 key should be stored on a chip on the laptop's motherboard.

If you make a Win10 install media and install Windows 10 on that drive, during installation there should be an option like "i dont have a product key", click that and it should auto fill it later. 

SLIC injection wasnt really a thing with most Windows 7 devices. Those devices usually came with pre-activated windows installs and recovery partitions(hence when you reinstall from the official ISO you would loose activation and activation key that came with the device wouldnt work).

[varrys]

2 minutes ago, Levent said:

SLIC injection wasnt really a thing with most Windows 7 devices. Those devices usually came with pre-activated windows installs and recovery partitions(hence when you reinstall from the official ISO you would loose activation and activation key that came with the device wouldnt work).

Sorry, I don't know what SLIC injection is. I don't believe it was a prebuilt system though. He assembled, but years ago. So maybe he WOULD have Win7 key somewhere. But I just want to make sure that if Win10 refuses to find his old Win10 key, he's not stuck with a useless system. Or that because he updated that PC from Win7 to Win10, his old Win7 key won't be defunct if he has to reinstall that version.

[Rameares]

I have heard rumors of people just using the windows 7 key on windows 10. Although Microsoft don't officially offer the upgrade for free anymore I don't think they ever actually stopped it just made it more difficult to achieve.

 

I think they are quite good if you give them a call, after all they don't want you moving to another developers OS as you won't be buying apps from their ecosystem.

[SpookyCitrus]

34 minutes ago, varrys said:

Sorry, I don't know what SLIC injection is. I don't believe it was a prebuilt system though. He assembled, but years ago. So maybe he WOULD have Win7 key somewhere. But I just want to make sure that if Win10 refuses to find his old Win10 key, he's not stuck with a useless system. Or that because he updated that PC from Win7 to Win10, his old Win7 key won't be defunct if he has to reinstall that version.

If he had previously updated to Windows 10 on the computer it should have the key saved to the motherboard not the HDD, or it will be linked to his Microsoft Account if he has one. Either way he should have installed a fresh drive or a drive with Windows 10 on it already, reloading a Windows 7 drive/install could potentially get rid of the Windows 10 Key. The free Windows 10 upgrade still exists, you can use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to update Windows 7 to 10 and it should activate(as long as 7 is activated) otherwise have him fresh install Windows 10 and see if it activates(it should), even if it doesn't there is no problem with running Windows 10 without a license, it will still work and there is no legal issue with it. 

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, varrys said:

My brother did the free upgrade from Win7 to Win10 when they were offering that. Then his hard drive died with nothing recoverable. He put in an old hard drive and got it working, but it's Win7 still. Is there a way for him to get back to Win10 without having to pay for it? Same mobo and the like, so does he need to call them? Or can he use whatever the Windows key is to upgrade it because it's already been done?

Did he use a Microsoft Account? If so the key/ Activation is stored on that account. Simple as loging in with the account should allow Windows to be activated. Or if not and if you have a Windows 7 key that might be enough to activate Windows. 

[varrys]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

Did he use a Microsoft Account? If so the key/ Activation is stored on that account. Simple as loging in with the account should allow Windows to be activated. Or if not and if you have a Windows 7 key that might be enough to activate Windows. 

I know when I used the Win7 to Win10 update, I didn't have to have the same type of login and Microsoft account nonsense as when I recently built a new PC, and it's front and center. So I don't believe he has a Microsoft account, but I can check.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

1 minute ago, varrys said:

I know when I used the Win7 to Win10 update, I didn't have to have the same type of login and Microsoft account nonsense as when I recently built a new PC, and it's front and center. So I don't believe he has a Microsoft account, but I can check.

Like @SpookyCitrussaid, worst case scenario you have an un-activated Windows 10 install and it will still be a 100% usable system.

 

So, just install Windows 10 and see what happens. It might activate automatically, or you can input your old Windows 7 key to activate it if you have that. Otherwise, there is no harm in leaving it un-activated.

[GoodBytes]

You'll have no problem installing and activating Windows 10.

Just install Windows 10, on the screen where it will ask for the product key pick "I don't have one" (Win7 key won't work, this is not the place. This is for Win10 keys only).

Setup will resume.

 

Once Windows 10 is installed, and you are connected online, and you check for updates and restart, go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation, and you'll see that by magic, Windows 10 is activated. If you used a local account previously instead of a Microsoft linked account, then be sure to NOT change any hardware beside the faulty drive, and you'll have no problem.

 

If Windows isn't activated when you reach the Activation panel under Settings panel, then simply activate it with Windows 7 product key, now it will work. And if that somehow fails, then contact support chat, via the "Get Help" app, explain your situation nicely, and they'll now help you activate Windows 10