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Windows 10 Upgrade from W7
Hello, I have heard with Windows 10 1809 which is the current version of Windows 10 if I am not mistaken will accept all Dell OEM Windows 7 and 8.1 product keys and upgrade to Windows 10 through the proper edition. Is this correct? So now this means I have a second chance to upgrade my XPS laptop that I have never upgraded yet?
jphughan
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December 3rd, 2018 22:00
If you EVER upgraded to Windows 10 during the official free upgrade period, even if you rolled back to an older version later, then you would be able to reinstall Windows 10 at any point in the future and have it activate. If you never "claimed" your upgrade during that period, then Microsoft specifically says that free upgrades to Windows 10 are no longer available. They were officially only available for a year after Windows 10 originally launched, and then for an extended period for users who used "assistive technology devices". Some people have found that Windows 10 will still activate using keys from older Windows versions, but I tested that about a year ago on a batch of Dell systems that had OEM Windows 7 keys. I tried both an in-place upgrade and a clean install of Windows 10, and in both scenarios, the activation failed with an error that the key I was using was for an older version of Windows, plus a link to the Microsoft Store to purchase a license. So at best, your chances of a free upgrade at this stage are murky, which means that if you want to attempt this and would not be willing to pay for a Windows 10 license, I would strongly recommend capturing an image backup of your hard drive before upgrading so that you can easily roll back. Then again, Microsoft will stop providing security updates for Windows 7 in just over a year anyway, so if you plan to keep your system much longer than that, you may as well buy a license if you find the free upgrade isn't available.
Philip_Yip
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December 4th, 2018 07:00
Yes the activation mechanisms for Windows 7 OEM and Windows 8.x Product Keys still work with Windows 10 Version 1809. I tested it recently with the re-released Windows 10 Version 1809.
jphughan
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December 4th, 2018 08:00
Yes, it's entirely expected that the activation mechanism will still work on the latest Windows 10 release because there hasn't been a policy change around activation to coincide with the new release. Microsoft allowed Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 keys to activate clean installs of Windows 10 during the 1-year free upgrade so that people who wanted to do a clean install could "claim" their free upgrade by supplying that older key, rather than having to perform an in-place upgrade first to claim the upgrade and THEN do a clean install afterward. And any keys that claimed that the free Win10 upgrade during that period can be used to activate Windows 10 at any point in the future -- at least thus far.
But the fact that this mechanism is still available does not mean that all Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 keys will be accepted for Win10 activation. If you activated Win10 1809 using a Win7/8.1 OEM key that you had already successfully activated on Win10 in the past, that is not a useful test for the OP's purposes. Again, Microsoft specifically says that free upgrades are no longer available for keys that didn't claim it previously, and I just described personal experiences where OEM keys from those older Windows versions were not accepted by Win10. It's great that you've found that some OEM keys can be used to activate Win10, but that is not the case for all OEM keys, so it's important to call that out for others.
Philip_Yip
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December 4th, 2018 09:00
I tested one that has never been used for a Windows 10 Pro Activation Before. How do i know it was a valid test? Because I clean installed Windows 10 Pro without a Product Key and the system was not activated. I then input the Windows 7 Pro OEM Product Key and it activated.
jphughan
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December 4th, 2018 09:00
Then as I said, I'm glad it works for you, but that is not true of every case. I did this exact same thing on several OptiPlex 3020 systems that all had OEM Win7 Pro product keys, and my clean installs of Win10 Pro all failed activation with an error that the key was for an older version of Windows and a link to the Microsoft Store to purchase a license, as I described above. That's why in my original post I said that the OP's chances were uncertain at best. It's good to note that this might work based on your experience, but in the interest of informing and forewarning users, I feel it's also important to note that it might NOT work based on what others are finding, and also Microsoft's official stance on this. If a user attempted an in-place upgrade and activation failed, then if they didn't capture an image beforehand, their only choice would be to either pay for a license or attempt the rollback procedure that doesn't always work. If they tried to call Microsoft to complain about an activation issue, they'd be told that free upgardes aren't available. I feel it's worth warning users about that possibility.
Philip_Yip
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December 4th, 2018 09:00
They released an update to Windows 10 Version 1607 Installation Media that prompted people to buy a Windows 10 Product Key if you attempted to input a Windows 7 OEM or Windows 8.1 OEM one about 1 year and 1 month after Windows 10 was released.
You could get around this update by not checking for Updates during Installation... However this update was silently revoked and Windows 10 has worked with unused Windows 7 OEM and Windows 8.x OEM keys in Version 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803 and 1809 since.