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What happens to my free Windows 10 upgrade after 29 July 2016 if I need to change hardware?

Discussion in 'Windows 10 Information and Alerts' started by allheart55 (Cindy E), Sep 28, 2015.

  1. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Messages:
    10,526
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Operating System:
    Windows 10
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD
    CPU:
    AMD Phenom II X6 1090T-Thuban 3.2GHz
    Memory:
    Crucial-DDR3 SDRAM 1333-8GB
    Hard Drive:
    WD Caviar Black SE HDD 640 GB - WD Caviar Black SE HDD 500 GB
    Graphics Card:
    Sapphire Radeon HD-7870 2GB
    Power Supply:
    CORSAIR CMPSU-750W
    keyboard-621830640.jpg


    If you upgraded an OEM device to Windows 10 for free then you can still reinstall Windows 10 on it for the lifetime of the device since that license can not be legally transferred to other hardware anyway. If you upgraded a retail version of Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 then after 29 July 2016 you will be unable to fully move that Windows 10 upgrade to a new device using the Windows 7 or 8.1 retail license.

    In both of these situations Windows 10 will need to be purchased for new systems.

    This question comes about because earlier today I provided some commentary on a new support article Microsoft published over the weekend that relates to activating Windows 10.

    That article from Microsoft, which was long overdue, still left one question unanswered about retail copies of Windows 7 and 8.1 systems - what about after 29 July 2016?

    The OEM side is straight forward because of licenses being tied to hardware. For retail licensed version of Windows it becomes a little more challenging.

    Here is the scenario for this question:

    • User has a retail license for Windows 7 or 8.1 (full or upgrade version). This would have been purchased in a physical store or online. User will either have a digital download or a physical DVD along with a product key.
    • This license was used to upgrade a previous version of Windows on OEM hardware or was installed on a home built system as a clean install or through an upgrade to a previous retail copy of Windows.
    • This genuine Windows 7 or 8.1 system was then upgraded anytime between 29 July 2015 and 29 July 2016 to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer from Microsoft.
    This system, once it is activated through the upgrade process from Windows 7/8.1 to Windows 10, will have a Digital Entitlement for Windows 10. That means Windows 10 can be clean installed on that device in the future and remain activated.

    Since the underlying license for the Windows 10 upgrade, a retail license for Windows 7 or 8.1, is retail that means the license can be moved to another system. The key is that the old system, which was upgraded to Windows 10 at no cost based on that underlying retail OS license, would no longer be a genuine system if that license is moved to another device.

    The user in turn would have to reinstall the genuine licensed version of Windows 7/8.1 and then perform the Windows 10 upgrade in order to gain a Digital Entitlement on the new system.

    All legal and straight forward unless it is after 29 July 2016 because that is the date the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 expires. After that date you can still move your underlying retail license for Windows 7/8.1 because that is permitted as mentioned above but there will not be a free upgrade to Windows 10 at this point since it has expired.

    This takes us back to the phrase Microsoft often used leading up to the release of Windows 10 that did crate some confusion:

    For the supported lifetime of the device.

    I asked Microsoft about this scenario after the info about Windows 10 activations from over the weekend failed to provide any info on it and this is the reply I received from a Microsoft spokesperson (emphasis is mine):

    “We are excited to offer a free upgrade to Windows 10 for qualified new or existing Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices that upgrade in the first year. Once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current via Windows Update for the supported lifetime of the device – at no cost.”

    The statement goes on to confirm that this upgrade is not related to your Microsoft account.

    Bottom line is that if this scenario applies to you clean installs will be possible on the same hardware until that hardware is dead. This includes using the system reset option or clean installing Windows 10.

    Any new system you may want to move your retail Windows 7 or 8.1 license over to after 29 July 2016 will not be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 and you will have to purchase a Windows 10 retail license to get that system updated to the new operating system.

    Of course, you should still be able to purchase an upgrade license for Windows 10, which will cost less than a full version of the OS, and then use it to upgrade your retail Windows 7 or 8.1 system at that point.

    Source : winsupersite
     
  2. IceMan37

    IceMan37 Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2014
    Messages:
    1,079
    Operating System:
    Windows 10
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    MSI Z87M-G43
    CPU:
    I5 4690k @ 4.6
    Memory:
    16GB Hyper X 1866
    Hard Drive:
    1TB WD_Blue | 240Gb Sandosk SSD
    Graphics Card:
    eVGA GTX 970 FTW
    Power Supply:
    750W Tt
    What I noticed is this. If you have previously made several changes before in the original OS before the upgrade to Windows 10 causing an alert to call MS or enter numbers, then you will also get the same thing when you upgrade a major part in the PC for me it was a GPU. If you hadn't had a "trigger" before you will likely be fine. Worst case scenario is that you would need to reinstall your original OS (EG W7 or W8) and add the hardware there and then it should be smooth sailing with a clean install of 10 (no trigger). This is easiest done if you have several windows images from your previous operating system installation. Just go back to one of those, add the hardware there and handle the MS trigger (calling or entering the numbers for a new code). Then clean install Windows 10 again. Good to go.
     

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