So... I have OEM Windows 7 Home Premium x64. I just updated it to Windows 10 Home x64. Now what about my OEM key? It is now Win 10 not Win 7? Should i activate my key from win7 on my fresh win 10?
It does not if you're updating. It reads your key from the version of Windows your upgrading from and activates..
Even if you do a clean install you can skip entering a key and the OS will activate based on your hardware ID.
I was under the impression that the key would still work if you wanted to revert to your earlier windows version, didn't realize you only have a month.
I was just wondering which recovery tab you are talking about which says that you have one month to revert back. I am on Win 10 right now and can't seem to find it anywhere.
I didn't think that the key is invalidated for your previous version of windows, I thought that it meant the Windows 10 installation you upgraded too keeps the backup for your previous OS for one month... at least that's what I thought it meant. Can someone clarify this please with fact and not guesses.
The way I understand it, is this: Your 7 or 8.1 key gets consumed / converted to your 10 license when you upgrade, but so long as you don't remove your windows.old folder, you have 30 days to roll back to your previous version of windows, and your key will remain valid for 7 or 8.1 If you remove the windows.old folder, or leave it longer than 30 days, your old 7 or 8.1 license is no longer valid for 7 or 8.1 I believe the roll back is needed, rather than clean installing 7 or 8.1, so that MS Win 10 activation servers are informed of the choice to roll back, otherwise you could upgrade to 10, then reinstall 7 or 8.1 with that key and it still work
So... say I've upgraded my PC to Windows 10, used it for longer than a month and in that time I cleaned up the old OS backup... Then decided for whatever reason I don't want to use Windows 10 anymore and go to re-install Windows 7,8,8.1 from recovery partition, or retail disc.. then when we go to activate it online, it wont activate because the key has become invalidated by Windows 10? I'm a bit confused.
Yep, exactly Think of it as trading in your old car for a new one, with a 30 day return policy on it, so long as you don't tear up the receipt (windows.old)
Why what did you expect it's a free upgrade not a free o/s done only so they can increase adoption rates not so you can get a free option they are a business after all.
About six hours ago i decided to go back to win 8.1 pro did a clean install straight away, input my serial and upon installation it got activated. I had already deleted my windows old folder but have not been using Win 10 more than a month. Seems weird...
Bought it online when windows 8 pro upgrade first released and was on offer for 30 euros. Just a note i got a copy of Win 8.1 pro with update retail from a friend to not go through all the trouble of clean installing and upgrading all the time. The setup ran just fine and accepted my win 8 key ever since then,activated normally online and offline through phone activation.
All sorts of crazy going on with Win 10 activation Suppose it's to be expected with a new activation method, I'd be cautious though, once they get all the quirks worked out, you could end up with it deactivated Or maybe they have a system in place to see that it is the same hardware running 8.1 within that 30 days, so the roll back isn't necessary No idea, we'll find out more after the 30 days is up I guess