Windows 10 Free Update Offer

[pharmacist]

Fortunately my computers are quite recent models: all quad-core Intel Core i7 machines with 16 to 24 GB RAM with SSD's and 1 to 2 GB nVidia/Radeon 3D graphics cards. For the time being they will do and even many years after the Windows 10 upgrade .

 

[CakeHole]

One of the draw backs that I have noticed with this new Freebie offer is, if you avail of it and upgrade from Win 7, then if or when you change your motherboard you’ll have to purchase the darn thing again and this time it’s not going to be free because your Win7 key will be lost..

The work around for that PROVIDING YOUR WINDOWS 7 IS RETAIL AND NOT OEM although annoying is...
1 Download the ISO of windows 10 from the earlier mentioned link
2 BEFORE YOU UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 10 (probably too late for some) download, http://sourceforge.net/projects/ekeyfinder/ and make a note of your win 7 key
3 When you change to a new computer or make significant upgrades (IE new motherboard), back up email etc from current system BEFORE YOU FIT THE UPGRADES
4 Fit new motherboard etc THEN install windows 7 on new system (or the upgraded system IE as you say replacing motherboard) if it is a retail version of windows 7 it will allow you to use the old key when installing no matter the hardware changes, you can be doubly sure by disconnecting internet when you install it.
5 install/upgrade to windows 10 (again it will not know any different it will just see windows 7 as a retail edition and upgrade no issues)
8 Restore backed up email other files etc

PITA but done That will activate windows 10, each time you do the "Upgrade" of win 10 it applies a new PID key (thats different to a cd key) that in turn looks at the earlier win 7 key to check if its OEM or Retail, if its OEM it checks if its been used, if its Retail it just assumes you own the old version of windows already and upgrades.

There are other ways around this limitation also though a couple of them may not be 100% legit. One other legit but long winded way is follow the above but at step 5 install windows 8 upgrade, then windows 10. That will even then bypass the OEM limitation as Win 8 upgrade can be ran as many times as you want on win 7 retail or OEM edition (windows 8 installs a complete brand new key all it does first is check the win 7 key is legit, then basically just scraps that and installs with its own keys), you can then go from win 8 to win 10. Yes a PITA but doable

 

[stratman]

One of the draw backs that I have noticed with this new Freebie offer is, if you avail of it and upgrade from Win 7, then if or when you change your motherboard you’ll have to purchase the darn thing again and this time it’s not going to be free because your Win7 key will be lost..

Yes, you can follow Cakehole's instructions, or, as long as you have the RETAIL version of Windows 7/8, you call Microsoft, explain the situation, and they give you a new code to register. I have done this in the past like thousands before and after me and chances are MS will do his in the future because we are imperfect beings. But you cannot do this with the OEM version of WIndows. Only the retail version.


The following info from Microsoft. Read to the bottom for your answer:

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?

If you upgrade from a OEM or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to the free Windows 10 upgrade this summer, the license is consumed into it. Because the free upgrade is derived from the base qualifying license, Windows 10 will carry that licensing too.



If you upgrade from a retail version, it carries the rights of a retail version.

If you upgrade from a OEM version, it carries the rights of a OEM version.



Full version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- Doesn't require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive



Upgrade version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive, but cheaper than full version



OEM :


OEM versions of Windows are identical to Full License Retail versions except for the following:

- OEM versions do not offer any free Microsoft direct support from Microsoft support personnel

- OEM licenses are tied to the very first computer you install and activate it on

- OEM versions allow all hardware upgrades except for an upgrade to a different model motherboard

- OEM versions cannot be used to directly upgrade from an older Windows operating system



What happens if I change my motherboard?

As it pertains to the OEM license this will invalidate the Windows 10 upgrade license because it will no longer have a previous base qualifying license which is required for the free upgrade. You will then have to purchase a full retail Windows 10 license. If the base qualifying license (Windows 7 or Windows 8.1) was a full retail version, then yes, you can transfer it.

 

[CakeHole]

Yes, you can follow Cakehole's instructions, or, as long as you have the RETAIL version of Windows 7/8, you call Microsoft, explain the situation, and they give you a new code to register. I have done this in the past like thousands before and after me and chances are MS will do his in the future because we are imperfect beings. But you cannot do this with the OEM version of WIndows. Only the retail version.


The following info from Microsoft. Read to the bottom for your answer:

Mentioning that MS info also reminds me...
You can actually convert a OEM license win 7 install into a retail edition (without having to reinstall) by changing the key, again entirely legal to do as long as you have purchased a retail license key obviously.

Morally right to do IMO the MS way or non-legit way legal or not IMO you paid extra for a computer with windows installed on it in the first place (AKA the windows tax) and the extra equated to what a Retail license/edition would have cost (IE they have had your money/pound of flesh).

To be honest i do not know why MS do not make things easier when it comes to upgrading, i can understand its to try to stop illegal use of their OS but seeing as every windows version has been cracked before it even hits the retail shelves it seems a bit stupid and pointless. All it does is frustrate ordinary users like @The Hat who want to remain legitimate but due to the messing around may not bother. Why you could not upgrade to win 8 from XP is an example of stupidity. They alienated what must be 40+% of the windows user base just by that decision (win 7 use has only just over took XP, yes theres still millions of PCs sat on company desks with XP), in fact upgrading from XP to 7 was far from a smooth process.

They really do need to improve it, I normally hate anything Apple but at least their OS upgrade process makes more sense and can be obtained much of the time for free or a very reasonable price, without you having to jump through hoops to get it on your machine. My god even upgrading versions of linux is less hassle than going from an old version of windows to a new one.


PS.........
You are right you can ring them if you have all legit software and they will guide you through or put things right if its having issues activating HOWEVER that experience even varies depending on who you get on the other end as to if its going to be a 5 minute process with basically no questions asked or an individual that wants to know your life story and shoe size before they will re-activate your OS.

The "upgrade" process really is something they need to improve.

 

[Emulator]

Windows 10 Pro tells me it wants to update my system and requires me to read an endless stream of conditions, mainly exclusions of responsibility, I see it even tries to block class actions in the US, surprised that is permitted.

Anyway, I accepted the conditions and responded that it could proceed with updating Win 7 Pro. It now tells me "We couldn't update the system reserved partition", "Update cancelled". No other help, tried running "Fix it", no help and that's it. I'm running a Samsung 500GB SSD.

 

[3dogs]

Windows 10 Pro tells me it wants to update my system and requires me to read an endless stream of conditions, mainly exclusions of responsibility, I see it even tries to block class actions in the US, surprised that is permitted.

Anyway, I accepted the conditions and responded that it could proceed with updating Win 7 Pro. It now tells me "We couldn't update the system reserved partition", "Update cancelled". No other help, tried running "Fix it", no help and that's it. I'm running an Samsung 500GB SSD.

From memory the SSD's software creates a self protecting partition as a buffer against overload, what is W10 going to do with OEM installed SSD's one is prompted to ask?

 

[stratman]

"We couldn't update the system reserved partition", "Update cancelled". No other help, tried running "Fix it", no help and that's it. I'm running an Samsung 500GB SSD.

A Google search on your error message ("We couldn't update the system reserved partition") shows others have had this same issue going back to upgrading to Windows 8.x. Also, others with Samsung SSD's have had this issue. I do not know if this is unique to Samsung SSD's.

The issue seems to be related to not enough space on the reserved partition of the SSD, seemingly due to an enormous NTFS log file.

Go into Disk Management and you will see the partitions on your SSD, the first being the System Reserved partition. I have a Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SSD and this partition is 350 MB and is NTFS file system (instead of the older FAT32 file system). Right clicking on this partition and selecting Properties shows that I have 42.6 MB free space left in this partition. I have not updated to Windows 10 yet so I don't know if this amount of free space will present a problem.

The following link has instructions on how to fix this issue by a poster names Mister Kurtz. I have read other topics from this person and he seems to be genuine. the fix was developed for updating to Windows 8.x but appears to work for updating to Windows 10.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3a6znd/we_couldnt_update_the_system_reserved_partition/

Another post I found suggested the same fix BUT he ended up using a partitioning tool to resize the partition: http://www.daringcoders.com/2015/01/windows-10-9926-technical-preview-issue/

The point is there may be more than one way to resolve the issue. I would follow Mister Kurtz's instructions but you may choose otherwise.

 

[Emulator]

Thanks @stratman, my over provisioning is set to 46.58GB (automatically during installation and to be seen on Samsung Magician) and 419.08GB NTFS, I am inclined to wait and let someone more expert than I am sort it out. It's as though Samsung and Microsoft live on different planets. There are endless queries on the web and no official answers.

 

[The Hat]

I've had to stop myself thinking that its STD’s your talking about instead of SSD’s…

 

[CakeHole]

Thanks @stratman, my over provisioning is set to 46.58GB (automatically during installation and to be seen on Samsung Magician) and 419.08GB NTFS, I am inclined to wait and let someone more expert than I am sort it out. It's as though Samsung and Microsoft live on different planets. There are endless queries on the web and no official answers.

Follow that reddit guide but if you want to be doubly safe download Macrium Reflect http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx and make a backup/CLONE of your HDD before you go any further. If things still go bottom up then you can recover the image/clone of your drive as it currently stands.