Sorting through the changes in Windows licensing

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	TOP STORY Sorting through the changes in Windows licensing
	By Susan Bradley With consumer versions of Windows 10 offered free for the first year, many users have questions about licensing. Windows users have never “owned” the OS they paid for, but Win10 has significantly changed the rules.

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The full text of this column is posted at http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/sorting-through-the-changes-in-windows-licensing/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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I have a windows 7 PC that has a faulty hard drive. What I want to do is replace the hard drive with a SSD and upgrade to Windows 10, but am unsure about what steps to take and in what order.

The machine is still bootable and appears to work although there are loads of errors in the Event logs indicating the faulty hard drive.

I have downloaded the Window 10 Pro ISO and what I’d like to do ideally is…
1) Replace the hard drive
2) Clean install Windows 10
However, I suspect that it wouldn’t let me do that as it wouldn’t appear to be an upgrade. So as I see it the options are probably…
1) Upgrade the current hardware to Windows 10 (I think this would still work, judging on current performance of the PC)
2) Replace the hard drive
3) Clean install Windows 10
Or
1) Replace the hard drive
2) Clean install Windows 7
3) Upgrade to Windows 10

I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Many thanks,

Gary

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I have a windows 7 PC that has a faulty hard drive. What I want to do is replace the hard drive with a SSD and upgrade to Windows 10, but am unsure about what steps to take and in what order.

This is just my personal opinion, mind you…

There are a number of good options for a SSD that come with the software (and sometimes cable) needed to transfer your existing Win7 to the SSD and get it booting. Do that first!

Once you have the computer running from the SSD, then decide if you want to upgrade to Win10. If you really want to go to Win10, then I would think twice about keeping an old computer – if the hard drive is failing because other components may be ready for replacement.

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I’ve got a purchased 32-bit Win7 that I VM-ed (from a Win7 laptop onto a Mac). I know that I can do an in-place upgrade, and appreciate that it will have to be 32-bit if I do.

I can (presumably) also create a new VM using the 64-bit Win 7 disks. I can port across the software that I have to have Windows for – but not, if I recall correctly, my Office 2013 click-to-run. I think that that is tied to specific (now virtualised) hardware. Is that right?

I still need Office 2013, for the VBA, so what would be my best solution? Am I allowed to have two VMs, both upgraded to Win 10 from the same Win7, but with different bittedness so long as I don’t run them both at the same time? Or will activating it in 64 bit on the new VM kill the licence for the old 32-bit VM? Or can I, actually, move Office 2013? Or do I have to do a 64-bit fresh install in the original VM because that’s where the virtual hardware for Office resides?

All too complicated!
Thanks for any advice
Stuart

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I was in the same situation with my old ASUS G73JW notebook. I chose:

1) replace the hard drive – delete all partitions in case it has been used – use the Windows 10 ISO to create new partitions (you’ll find that the System Reserved partition is slightly larger – 500 MB – but this is obviously what Windows 10 requires and you can’t change the size of the System Reserved partition afterwards).

2) clean install Windows 7 – install all official Win 7 drivers (this may be of advantage to the Win 10 upgrade … it might check the installed drivers and upgrade intelligently) – install all Windows Update hotfixes – upgrade to Win 7 SP1 – install all Windows/Microsoft Update hotfixes – activate Windows – optionally install Office – activate Office – use a tool, like AOMEI Backup, to backup the entire system to an external drive.

3) upgrade to Windows 10 – install all hotfixes – use a tool, like AOMEI Backup, to backup the entire system to an external drive

It takes ages, but in my opinion it’s worthwhile.

I think I also tried the route to perform a new installation direct from the Windows 10 Build 10240 ISO that was available at the end of the Windows Insider Preview test period that came with a valid license key. I suspect there’s no difference to the official Windows 10 Pro (also Build 10240) ISO, except being an upgrade there’s no key. I can’t say now what issues, if any, I had going this path – I stumbled on something and chose to go back to a Windows 7 clean install. Good luck! 😮

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My Win 8.1 laptop was not working well. Too many uninstalls, test programs and other misc junk which I did not want to carry over to the new operating system. A fresh install of Windows 10 was done so that I had a clean system to begin with.

Is there any way to register this copy of Windows 10?

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My Win 8.1 laptop was not working well. Too many uninstalls, test programs and other misc junk which I did not want to carry over to the new operating system. A fresh install of Windows 10 was done so that I had a clean system to begin with.

Is there any way to register this copy of Windows 10?

No, you’ll need to reinstall 8.1 and upgrade (by running setup on ISO/USB/DVD from within 8.1).

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Is it possible to do a clean install of Win10 to a newly formatted SSD? I have a valid version of Win7 but don’t want to upgrade this old installation.

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Is it possible to do a clean install of Win10 to a newly formatted SSD? I have a valid version of Win7 but don’t want to upgrade this old installation.

Not without buying a key. But you can upgrade from 7 and “keep nothing”.

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That might work; but on older systems, you’ll probably need to enter a Win10 license key. You can find it on your new Win10 installation by using a key viewer such as the NirSoft Produkey (site) utility.

That’s pointless, as all Windows 10 upgrades have the same generic license key, per edition (e.g. the one in your Produkey screen shot for all Windows 10 Pro upgrades).

And a license key is not needed to reinstall Windows 10 anyway:
“Just don’t enter a product key—Microsoft won’t give you one and you won’t need it either—and Windows 10 will simply activate automatically when the [re-]install is done.”
Windows 10 Tip: Associate Your PC with Your Free Windows 10 License

(Oddly, a Google search of Win10 license keys will turn up lots of sites selling keys — for a currently free product.)

Windows 10 is not a free product, only upgrades from 7/8 are free. All the Win 10 license keys for sale I found via a Google search were for new installations, not upgrades.

In either case, your system must first have had a successful upgrade to Win10. It will then be whitelisted in Microsoft’s product-key system as genuine. Currently, if you’re asked for a key during a reinstall of Win10, you can use a generic key (Figure 1), as noted on a Reddit page.

As noted on that same page, you can skip product key entry because all Win10 upgrade license keys are generic and hardware ID validation is automatic.

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Susan’s article correctly indicates that there is no free upgrade from (say) the home version to the pro version. However, I am under the impression that there is indeed a way to make the upgrade from (say) the home version to the pro version but there at a $ cost. Unfortunately, I haven’t see the procedure to make such an upgrade.

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Susan’s article correctly indicates that there is no free upgrade from (say) the home version to the pro version. However, I am under the impression that there is indeed a way to make the upgrade from (say) the home version to the pro version but there at a $ cost. Unfortunately, I haven’t see the procedure to make such an upgrade.

You can upgrade from Home to Pro within Windows 10 from the Activation screen for $99.99 (after upgrade to 10): Windows 10 Tip: Upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro

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As an old TechNet user, I have 3 Win 7 Pro platforms in different physical locations where I demo products for customers, e.g., a lot of Microsoft Office products. TechNet allowed me to use the same Win 7 product key for this purpose. The question becomes whether the upgrading of one of those platforms to Win 10 would invalidate the multi-platform allowance on the remaining machines when the time came to upgrade those as well?

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	TOP STORY Sorting through the changes in Windows licensing
	By Susan Bradley With consumer versions of Windows 10 offered free for the first year, many users have questions about licensing. Windows users have never “owned” the OS they paid for, but Win10 has significantly changed the rules.

---

The full text of this column is posted at http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/sorting-through-the-changes-in-windows-licensing/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

[/tr][/tbl]

What is the point of posting an article that except for a questionnaire, the rest is redacted ?

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What is the point of posting an article that except for a questionnaire, the rest is redacted ?

This entire article is in the free section of the newsletter. Did you sign in?

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This entire article is in the free section of the newsletter. Did you sign in?

I would have had to have been signed in to post my reply and while the full version is in my free newsletter, it’s still showing as redacted when I click on the link in the opening post.

I haven’t gotten around to reading the newsletter yet but will do later.

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I would have had to have been signed in to post my reply and while the full version is in my free newsletter, it’s still showing as redacted when I click on the link in the opening post.

I haven’t gotten around to reading the newsletter yet but will do later.

No, because signing in to WindowsSecrets.com for newsletter access is totally separate to signing in to The Lounge to post in the forum (unfortunately):

Why do you have separate sign-ins for the newsletter and Lounge?

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So how do you sign in for the newsletter ?

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So how do you sign in for the newsletter ?

Home (top left), Sign in (top right).

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What is the point of posting an article that except for a questionnaire, the rest is redacted ?

You mean like you just did?

:rolleyes:

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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You mean like you just did?

I’ve posted about what I see.

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Your article raised a question in my mind. I use Windows 7 Pro on my desktop and have NO desire to upgrade to Win 10. However, I would like to explore Windows 10. Is it permissible to install 10 on a USB drive and boot from that? If so, could I also use the USB drive to run Win 10, which also uses Win7? What can or cannot be done in terms of loading Win10 on a USB drive?

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I keep praying for a miracle …. Microsoft would actually take a look at making things far less complex. This licensing thing is just another example of needless complex confusion.

I have used Firefox for a browser for a couple of years now and I don’t see any reason to ever go back to a Windows browser.

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Your article raised a question in my mind. I use Windows 7 Pro on my desktop and have NO desire to upgrade to Win 10. However, I would like to explore Windows 10. Is it permissible to install 10 on a USB drive and boot from that? If so, could I also use the USB drive to run Win 10, which also uses Win7? What can or cannot be done in terms of loading Win10 on a USB drive?

You can get a trial version of W10 enterprise and install it in a Virtual Machine.

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Your article raised a question in my mind. I use Windows 7 Pro on my desktop and have NO desire to upgrade to Win 10. However, I would like to explore Windows 10. Is it permissible to install 10 on a USB drive and boot from that? If so, could I also use the USB drive to run Win 10, which also uses Win7? What can or cannot be done in terms of loading Win10 on a USB drive?

You can not run Windows 10 from a USB drive unless you have Windows-to-go rights which are only with enterprise Win 8,8.1,10 SKUs. You ought to consider the 90 day evaluation of Win10 Enterprise. See Windows 10 Enterprise to register and download.

Joe

--Joe

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If the post: “What is the point of posting an article that except for a questionnaire, the rest is redacted ? ” is in reply to my post #12 then I don’t understand. Susan’s article describes many of the aspects relating to the licensing of Win 10 and my question was relevant to that. Namely as to how the new Win 10 licensing would relate to TechNet users where one Win 7 license was allowed to be used on up to 5 machines.

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As info only: I upgraded a Dell PC with Win7 Pro 32-bit to Win10 Pro 32-bit. After I confirmed Win10 activated successfully, I popped in the Win10 DVD and did a clean install of Win10 Pro 64-bit. On first sign in, 64-bit was activated successfully. I guess my point is, you can take the long road to moving from 32-bit to 64-bit.
Cary

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I had gone to the Home page before looking for it but missed the small Sign in link.

I’d have to open my e-mails to see my Reader No. so I’ll do that later and then check the opening post.

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You said that the upgrade license is tied to the hardware, and that you got that from Microsoft. Microsoft referred me to an article by an MVP with a different answer. That article said that upgrades to an OEM version were tied to the hardware, exactly as the OEM version had originally been. However it said that upgrades to a retail copy inherited the retail copy’s right to be moved to new hardware.

The article is here. The section is titled When I upgrade a preinstalled (OEM) or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 license to Windows 10, does that license remain OEM or become a retail license? and appears about 2/3 of the way down.

But that did not come directly from Microsoft.

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You said that the upgrade license is tied to the hardware, and that you got that from Microsoft. Microsoft referred me to an article by an MVP with a different answer. That article said that upgrades to an OEM version were tied to the hardware, exactly as the OEM version had originally been. However it said that upgrades to a retail copy inherited the retail copy’s right to be moved to new hardware.

The article is here. The section is titled When I upgrade a preinstalled (OEM) or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 license to Windows 10, does that license remain OEM or become a retail license? and appears about 2/3 of the way down.

But that did not come directly from Microsoft.

Your “different answer” is confirmed in Microsoft Software Licensing Terms (“EULA”), quoted a few paragraphs down at your Microsoft link, and also readable at Settings, System, About of every Windows 10 installation:

4. Transfer b. Stand-alone software. If you acquired the software as stand-alone software (and also if you upgraded from software you acquired as stand-alone software), you may transfer the software to another device that belongs to you. (The section continues, but this is the important bit.)

Well, that’s only the fourth mistake in the Top Story of today’s newsletter (so far).

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I run a recording studio. I have 4 PCs running Windows 7 and 8 with, using your nomenclature, ‘portable’ licenses. We upgrade the machines at least once every two years… mobos, SSDs, etc.

From what I read, if I accept the ‘free’ upgrade, the next time I change the hardware I’m going to need to purchase a whole new Win 10 license at full retail price.

Is that correct?

If so, that’s no deal for me. In that case, I would simply do what I did with XP…. run it into the ground for the next 5 or more years until it is no longer supported by my app vendor.

It would seem better if they gave people a low-cost (not free) but -portable- upgrade path.

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From what I read, if I accept the ‘free’ upgrade, the next time I change the hardware I’m going to need to purchase a whole new Win 10 license at full retail price.

The underlined part of the Windows 10 license terms in the previous post (#30) says that your retail licenses will still be portable to new hardware after upgrade to Windows 10.

Also confirmed by Ed Bott at ZDNet:

Update: In the comments, several people have asked what happens if you make changes to hardware. As I noted earlier, Microsoft doesn’t provide details of how it calculates that hardware hash, but upgrades of system components such as a video card or a hard drive won’t normally trigger a reactivation. If that happens, a quick call to the activation line will resolve the issue, often without any human contact required, in minutes.

The one exception is a motherboard replacement, which will inevitably cause the Software Licensing Management utility to recognize the device as a new PC and require reactivation, typically over the phone. A motherboard upgrade, even if you reuse storage, video, memory, and a case, is considered a new PC. In that case, if the underlying Windows license is from a retail copy, that license can be transferred. If you are upgrading (and not replacing) a motherboard on an OEM PC that was sold with Windows preinstalled, the license agreement prevents the license from being transferred.

Microsoft quietly rewrites its activation rules for Windows 10

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Thanks. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, two concerns:
1. One of our licenses is from Technet. Will or will that not be portable? My guess would be -no-.

2. Although your reply makes sense, it seems so ‘lawyerly’ that I’m not sure I trust it. IOW: I can see replacing a mobo, then finding that Windows needs re-authorisation, then phoning MS and then trying to -convince- a rep in Bangalore (or wherever they are these days) of this logic. That would -not- be a good time to find out for sure.

In short, I’m looking for a LOT more certainty before the 1 year window closes.

Best,

—JC

The underlined part of the Windows 10 license terms in the previous post (#30) says that your retail licenses will still be portable to new hardware after upgrade to Windows 10.

Also confirmed by Ed Bott at ZDNet:

Update: In the comments, several people have asked what happens if you make changes to hardware. As I noted earlier, Microsoft doesn’t provide details of how it calculates that hardware hash, but upgrades of system components such as a video card or a hard drive won’t normally trigger a reactivation. If that happens, a quick call to the activation line will resolve the issue, often without any human contact required, in minutes.

The one exception is a motherboard replacement, which will inevitably cause the Software Licensing Management utility to recognize the device as a new PC and require reactivation, typically over the phone. A motherboard upgrade, even if you reuse storage, video, memory, and a case, is considered a new PC. In that case, if the underlying Windows license is from a retail copy, that license can be transferred. If you are upgrading (and not replacing) a motherboard on an OEM PC that was sold with Windows preinstalled, the license agreement prevents the license from being transferred.

Microsoft quietly rewrites its activation rules for Windows 10

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