Yet another windows 10 thread

[Polyvalent]

Hey everyone.  Been looking everywhere for an answer to this but there's a lot of windows 10 questions to wade through..

 

I recently upgraded to windows 10 without a hitch using a valid windows 7 product key.  I will be upgrading my PC very soon - the parts are arriving at the end of the week.  Since I'm changing motherboards:

 

1) Will I need to reformat my computer due to the new mobo?

2) Will windows 10 allow me to reinstall it on my upgraded machine for free?

 

 

In hindsight, I should've waited to upgrade to windows 10 until after I built the new computer.  Thanks in advance for any help.

[JoaoPRSousa]

"Yet another windows 10 thread"

 

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

 

Sorry for the off-topic 

[Sauron]

1) Maybe, depends on a lot of things. Can't know for sure until you do it.

2) In theory, yes, if not you may need to contact microsoft or reinstall 7 first.

[Polyvalent]

little bit more google and i got part of my answer

 

http://prntscr.com/80f6wo

 

looks like i need to contact support

 

question 1 still stands.  switching motherboard, cpu, and gpu..

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

Yet another windows 10 thread that's named "Yet another windows 10 thread"

[Polyvalent]

Yet another windows 10 thread that's named "Yet another windows 10 thread"

 

 

glad you are giving some quality input in this thread, much appreciated

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

glad you are giving some quality input in this thread, much appreciated

there's nothing to be said more than it already is,

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f02fu/psa_you_must_upgrade_your_existing_windows_os_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3ew2z9/windows_781_to_10_upgrade_tips/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3dfda8/build_10240_did_you_get_assigned_a_licenseproduct/

thank me later. 

[JaZoN_XD]

to install new mobo and everything, you don't neccessarily have to reformat hdd but it's better to reformat and reinstall. To NOT reformat, uninstall ALL of the drivers beforehand, including but not limited to, cpu, gpu, sata, storage controllers, chipset...etc. and then drop in your new mobo  and parts and boot. it windows will either start installing the new drivers for you automatically or you can do it via the cds. by the way, whenever you uninstall a driver, DO NOT RESTART THE PC because it will just reinstall it as soon as you boot up again.

[Polyvalent]

there's nothing to be said more than it already is,

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f02fu/psa_you_must_upgrade_your_existing_windows_os_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3ew2z9/windows_781_to_10_upgrade_tips/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3dfda8/build_10240_did_you_get_assigned_a_licenseproduct/

thank me later. 

 

 

you cant be condescending if you've already acted like an idiot.  thats not how the world works. 

 

to install new mobo and everything, you don't neccessarily have to reformat hdd but it's better to reformat and reinstall. To NOT reformat, uninstall ALL of the drivers beforehand, including but not limited to, cpu, gpu, sata, storage controllers, chipset...etc. and then drop in your new mobo  and parts and boot. it windows will either start installing the new drivers for you automatically or you can do it via the cds. by the way, whenever you uninstall a driver, DO NOT RESTART THE PC because it will just reinstall it as soon as you boot up again.

 

thank you. 

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

An end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer—except the motherboard—and still retain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required. For this you can use an OEM/OEI license however you cannot buy them. An OEI license can only be sold to someone who is an OEM who will then onsell the system. You will need to purchase a retail license copy.

 

If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do not need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.

 

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

@Vizzion

Yeah at most? Just like previous versions of Windows? It might ask you to reactivate windows. Auto activation will probably fail and it'll ask you to try a different product key. In that case? select the "change product key" button, make sure it's the right one and then select phone activation. It'll give you a phone number, try the number thing... if that fails? It'll forward you to an agent.

Tell the agent you upgraded your hardware, tell him this product key is not installed on any other computer and he'll reset the activation on the key and then give you a bunch of numbers to put into the boxes and stuff... blam. Done.

It'll be the same situation if you were to try a fresh install of windows after the motherboard swap.

BEFORE swapping motherboards? Grab your product key. I recommend the free version of magicjellybean keyfinder. Works good for Windows 10. It's saved my bacon too as a computer tech in the past tbh... some customer PC's have such worn out product key stickers that you can't make them out and this was the only way to get the key when I had to do reformats from terrible viruses and stuff.

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

Heyyo,

@Vizzion

Yeah at most? Just like previous versions of Windows? It might ask you to reactivate windows. Auto activation will probably fail and it'll ask you to try a different product key. In that case? select the "change product key" button, make sure it's the right one and then select phone activation. It'll give you a phone number, try the number thing... if that fails? It'll forward you to an agent.

Tell the agent you upgraded your hardware, tell him this product key is not installed on any other computer and he'll reset the activation on the key and then give you a bunch of numbers to put into the boxes and stuff... blam. Done.

It'll be the same situation if you were to try a fresh install of windows after the motherboard swap.

BEFORE swapping motherboards? Grab your product key. I recommend the free version of magicjellybean keyfinder. Works good for Windows 10. It's saved my bacon too as a computer tech in the past tbh... some customer PC's have such worn out product key stickers that you can't make them out and this was the only way to get the key when I had to do reformats from terrible viruses and stuff.

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

it's the same generic key to everyone. who has upgraded. 

 

 

EDIT 5: The popular theory online seems to be that as long as your hardware was legitimately updated to 10240 from an activated version of Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 Preview, you will have an activated Windows 10 RTM. Even if if your 10 Preview wasn't an upgrade from 7, 8, or 8.1 and even if you disable Insider builds: this is contrary to what Microsoft said. After you successfully complete an upgrade, Microsoft will have your HWID stored in their activation servers you can just skip product key entry during clean installation later (you'll automatically be activated under the generic key).

 

EDIT 4: It is a generic key. For Pro, it's VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T, thanks /u/plectid. Seems like it will activate any computer that is marked in Microsoft's system as having been upgraded. So if you upgraded from Win 7/8/8.1 Pro to Windows Insider Preview Pro and you want to clean install RTM, it should be safe to use the ISO posted in the other thread and this key to activate. Still don't know the behavior on Insider systems that didn't upgrade from 7/8/8.1.

 

I upgraded from a genuine Windows 8.1 to Build 10162, and I seem to have gotten a unique product key for Windows 10 now that I'm on Build 10240. My partial key starts with a 3Vxxx. Run slmgr /dlv in a command prompt to see your partial key. Is it different from mine?

 

If you didn't do an upgrade install from a previous version of Windows to the Insider Preview, check slmgr /dlv and see if there's an expiration date and see if your key is still a generic key. This will confirm once and for all the question of whether people with insider builds who didn't upgrade from Windows 7/8/8.1 got a free license.

 

I can also stop insider builds in advanced Windows Update settings! Rebooting now to see if I'm still activated after doing so. EDIT: Still activated after stopping insider updates!

 

EDIT 2: I was able to recover my full product key using ProduKey. Going to attempt a clean install with the ISO that was posted in the other thread, with just this key. https://i.imgur.com/hBvvc0p.png

 

EDIT 3: I was able to clean install AND activate the 10240 ISO with the 3VXXX product key that I found, however others in this thread seem to report having the same key, so I speculate two possibilities:

• The 3VXXX product key is a generic key assigned to everyone who upgraded from a genuine version of Windows. As long as you have hardware that is whitelisted in MSFT's system as having been upgraded from genuine Windows 7/8/8.1, you can activate using this generic key.
• The 3VXXX product key is unique, all keys that MSFT assigns to upgrades just happens to end with 3VXXX.