MS agrees to free Win 10 upgrade!

[mr m]

So I just worked on an Acer all in one that was upgraded successfully from Win 8 to 10 during the free download trial last year.

A couple of nights ago the PC hung in the middle of a reboot to install some Win 10 updates. It would boot ok then hang while starting the OS. No repairs worked, no image bkup, no restore points etc and after exhausting all my tricks I decided to nuke it. That is when I realized the system came with 8. I brought it back to the client and I explained that if you want 10 installed on top of 8 you will have to purchase it and pay me again to install it.
She declined.

She just called to say that she called MS and explained the situation and they said they would help her install Win 10 for free since she originally dd it during the free giveaway! I started to laugh to myself and figured she Googled MS and fell for some deceitful Web page. I told her of my fears but she claimed to have reached MS. She has a name and confirmation number to call when she is ready to spend some time on the phone.

I am waiting for her call back with the 800 number she called. I want to verify it. Anyone hear of MS doing this for free? I'll follow up with you guys.

Oh yeah. To get to the restore partition on an Acer Z3-105 you hit ALT + F10 concurrently. Also, win 8 failed to activate. I had to use the RW Everything utility to find the embedded COA and manually input it.

 

[14049752]

If it has windows 10 installed and activated, it will install and activate again with digital entitlement. Pretty standard for the course....

Actually, it will activate anyway, even if Windows 10 was never installed, so long as you have a COA for 8 (digital key on the motherboard) or a typed Windows 7 COA. Not officially advertised by Microsoft, as the "free upgrade" promo ended, but it still works anyway.

 

[mr m]

Could I have downloaded Win 10 from MS and installed that without installing 8 first?

 

[Porthos]

Could I have downloaded Win 10 from MS and installed that without installing 8 first?

Yes, But keep in mind that loophole is "supposed" to end Dec 31 2017.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Yes, But keep in mind that loophole is "supposed" to end Dec 31 2017.

I this case 10 was already installed and activated. It just needed a reinstall so no loophole on this one.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Could I have downloaded Win 10 from MS and installed that without installing 8 first?

Yes, since Windows 10 was already installed and activated, you could have just installed Windows 10 and it would have activated with a digital license.

 

[Porthos]

I this case 10 was already installed and activated. It just needed a reinstall so no loophole on this one

But if 10 was not already installed there will be a problem if MS follows thru at the end of the year.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

But if 10 was not already installed there will be a problem if MS follows thru at the end of the year.

But, how is that relevant to this thread when the first line states that the machine was upgrades during the free upgrade period?

 

[Porthos]

But, how is that relevant to this thread when the first line states that the machine was upgrades during the free upgrade period?

Just pointing it out so people reading this thread are aware of what is going to happen if MS follows thru if 10 has never been installed previously.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Loophole closed huh? Let's see if they actually follow through. They supposedly ended free upgrades in 2015, and they've still been working till now.

 

[Porthos]

Let's see if they actually follow through.

I really hope they dont.

 

[fencepost]

@mr m FYI, when a machine is activated with Windows 10, some signature information for the machine is uploaded to Microsoft to identify the "digital entitlement." That means that any time that machine gets Win10 installed it'll check with MS using that same hardware information and get back a response of "OK, you're good." That's the "digital entitlement."

I took advantage of this back during the original upgrade period - I had an SSD preinstalled with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit and was simply popping it into systems, reactivating, then continuing on to the next machine.

 

[Porthos]

But, how is that relevant to this thread when the first line states that the machine was upgrades during the free upgrade period?

And I also read this following post an that is why I posted.

Actually, it will activate anyway, even if Windows 10 was never installed, so long as you have a COA for 8 (digital key on the motherboard) or a typed Windows 7 COA. Not officially advertised by Microsoft, as the "free upgrade" promo ended, but it still works anyway.

So it is relevant in "this" thread.

 

[mikeroq]

Yea I've noticed you can still plug in a 7 key or install it on an 8 machine and it will activate. However I never advertised this to anyone as I didn't want to take the chance of MSFT reversing any of those entitlements.

If it has 10 on it already then there would be no issue reinstalling and obtaining the digital license.

 

[mr m]

Thanks for the helpful info guys. I really appreciate it.

BTW, the client just called me with the number...800 642 7676. Scammers. She also said that they called her back at 1 in the morning. Ding ding ding. She thanked me for being concerned and following up.

Since I did not fully understand digital entitlement it is my screw up so I am going to load 10 on her PC for no extra charge.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Yes, But keep in mind that loophole is "supposed" to end Dec 31 2017.

That loophole is only for assisted technology upgrades. I am betting that Jan 1 you will still be able to do the GWX upgrade just like you always had.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Yea I've noticed you can still plug in a 7 key or install it on an 8 machine and it will activate. However I never advertised this to anyone as I didn't want to take the chance of MSFT reversing any of those entitlements.

If it has 10 on it already then there would be no issue reinstalling and obtaining the digital license.

Seriously why would Microsoft risk the enormous bad publicity of taking away a free upgrade? Microsoft wants everyone on Windows 10 and they are perfectly willing to give away copies to get you on board. Case in point. Want a totally legal free copy of Windows 10. Join the insider program and download an insider build. Install on brand new hardware. Run it for a day. Wipe system and Install the FCU. Enjoy your free copy of Windows.

 

[pcpete]

I spent the last week activating about 30 windows 7 pro i5 refurbs to windows 10pro on the off chance they quit activating after the first. I think as closer 7 gets to its point of end of life they will quit giving the free upgrade

 

[pcpete]

@mr m

I took advantage of this back during the original upgrade period - I had an SSD preinstalled with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit and was simply popping it into systems, reactivating, then continuing on to the next machine.

I have been doing a fresh image without a key installed to do this. Does it work just as well to use the same harddrive and just change the key after popping the drive in a new computer?

 

[fencepost]

I didn't have any problem with it, though it's hard to tell whether there might be activation problems in the future.

My basic process (from memory, it's been a while) was

• disconnect the current drive and connect the SSD,
  
• boot,
  
• let Windows detect any hardware changes, etc. (most of the systems fit into a few common configurations from HP, Dell or Lenovo),
  
• run Neosoft's OEM Key tool to check for an embedded key,
  
• open Windows Explorer,
  
• right-click This PC,
  
• Properties,
  
• Change Product Key,
• Enter the key from either the sticker or the embedded key I'd extracted
• Complete activation,
• Shut down,
• Remove the SSD and restore the original drive,
• Slap a sticker I'd printed to the side or top of the system indicating that it had been activated to Windows 10 using either the embedded key or the sticker key.

I did not have any systems that had been upgraded from Home to Professional, so I'm not sure how those would have been handled. I also don't think there were any refurbs so no refurbisher keys.

I was doing this on systems with Windows 7 Pro or the occasional Windows 8/8.1 in small business/medical practice environments which were not going to be upgrading immediately. I didn't bother with systems running Home edition, because if I'm still dealing with them by the time they go EOL I'm going to be desperate for ways to force cheap people to upgrade. I also didn't bother with systems that I didn't think would still be viable by the time of Windows 7 EOL, with a little possible fudging if I thought a doctor was going to be on the verge of retirement around then. Basically, if it had a second-generation i3 or better it was probably done, though on the oldest I'd also look at RAM. Thinking about it without bothering to run a query in the RMM I think there were a lot of i5-3xxx systems, maybe some i5-2xxx. Not a huge number of i3 boxes.

The only caveat for low-standard systems was that I think I did a few where the doctor is pretty well up in age and would likely be retiring by or before EOL of Windows 7 - I didn't want to have someone looking to retire in a year and tell them "By the way, you have to spend a few thousand dollars to replace all your computers to be compliant for the next year."