Tech

Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. This is the way


hello-windows-10-small.jpg

Screenshots by Ed Bott / ZDNET

Microsoft’s free upgrade offer for 10 . window ended more than six years ago, but no one told the server operators to activate Windows. Therefore, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and claim a free digital license for the latest version of Windows 10 without being forced through any hoops.

That upgrade is more important than ever to Support for previous versions of Windows officially ends in January 2023. And it turned out to be a big relief for household budgets when the pandemic hit work from home (or going to school via remote sessions) is suddenly popular. Over the past three years, millions have taken their old PC out of storage and sped it up quickly with these free upgrades.

You can also still upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro using the product key from an earlier Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 (Pro/Ultimate) business version. That could save you up to $100 in OEM upgrade fees if you buy a new PC with Windows 10 Home pre-installed. (For details, see “How to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro without any hassle.”)

Every technique I describe in this article should work similarly for Windows 11, although most older PCs will be blocked from upgrading to Microsoft’s latest operating system under strict regulations. Windows 11 hardware compatibility requirements. For those PCs, Windows 10 remains a viable option until at least October 2025.

In this post, I will cover the basics of how to install Windows 10 as an upgrade on older hardware. I’ll also talk about licensing related issues, which are (as always) confusing.

Also: Windows 11 FAQ: Here’s everything you need to know

I wrote and published the first version of this post in early 2017, shortly after Microsoft’s original free upgrade offer ended. When I downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade tool and ran it on my old Windows 7 PC, I fully expected that the upgrade would fail and I would be asked to enter the product key.

Imagine my surprise when, instead, I was greeted with this screen.

activation-digital-license-2017.jpg

A digital license, no product key required.

Screenshots by Ed Bott/ZDNET

Over the past 5+ years, I’ve repeated those steps on test PCs at regular intervals and confirmed that the free upgrade tool still works. I continue to receive regular emails from readers who provide direct reports that their free upgrade was successful with no purchase or product key.

A small number of readers have reported that the upgrade failed due to a Setup error or a compatibility block. For details on how to fix these errors, see “This free Windows 10 upgrade offer still works. Here’s why – and how to get it.” For help deciphering setup errors, see “Windows 10: Use setup log files to troubleshoot installation.”

Want your own digital license for the latest version of Windows 10? Follow these instructions.

How to upgrade an old PC to Windows 10

If you have a PC running a “genuine” copy of Windows 7/8/8.1 (Windows 7 Home, Pro or Ultimate edition or Windows 8.x Home or Business, properly licensed and activated), you can do following the same steps I installed Windows 10 as an upgrade.

Before I get started, I suggest a few preliminary tasks that can solve potential problems:

  • confirm that Your copy of Windows has been activated. This is especially important if you recently reinstalled Windows.
  • Check for any recent driver updates, especially networking and storage hardware.
  • Download and install any available BIOS updates for your hardware; This step is especially important for systems originally designed in 2017 or earlier, when hardware manufacturers are still working on issues with Windows 10.
  • Back up your data files to an external hard drive or cloud storage (or both). Consider performing a full system backup to an external hard drive using the Windows 7 backup program, which is also available in Windows 8.x and Windows 10. Just run the Sdclt.exe command, then select the option. Create a system image.
  • Temporarily uninstall third-party security software and low-level system utilities that may affect the upgrade process. You can reinstall those programs once the upgrade is complete.
  • Finally, disconnect any unnecessary external devices, especially USB flash drives and external hard drives. (Some common installation errors can result from the Setup program being confused by these additional drives.)

With those preliminary steps in place, let’s move on to Download Windows 10 website and click Download now button. Once the download is complete, double-click the executable to run the Media Creation Tool.

media-creation-tool.png

You can upgrade directly with this tool or create separate media.

Screenshots by Ed Bott/ZDNET

Note: This article was originally published in January 2017. It has been updated several times since then to reflect the latest information. Last updated on December 20, 2022.

If you have already downloaded the Media Creation Tool on the machine you intend to upgrade and you plan to upgrade that PC and only that PC, you can choose Upgrade this PC now Option. That option will install the latest version of Windows 10. This process usually takes about an hour, depending on your hardware. (Having an SSD as your system drive is the best way to speed up the process.)

If you know you’ll want to upgrade to Windows 10 on multiple PCs, or if you just want more flexibility in the event the instant upgrade fails, choose the second option and save the installation files to a USB drive or below. as an iso file. The download takes some time, but when it’s done, you can manually run the Windows Setup program to install Windows 10 on any PC running any supported version of Windows (sorry. , this will not work with PCs running Windows Vista or Windows XP). The exact steps depend on the download option you selected:

  • USB flash drive Plug the USB flash drive you just created into a free USB slot on the PC you want to upgrade. Then open File Explorer (Windows Explorer in Windows 7) and double-click Setup to install Windows 10. Note that you can not boot from a newly created USB drive or DVD to perform the upgrade to Windows 10. You must run the Windows 10 setup program from a currently installed and activated copy of Windows.
  • ISO file Once the download is complete, you need to mount the ISO file and open it in a Windows Explorer/File Explorer window. On a PC running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, you can double-click the ISO file to open it as a virtual drive. On a Windows 7 PC, you’ll need to install a third-party utility, such as the free, open-source utility WinCDEmu. After mounting the ISO file, double-click Setup to start the installation process.

Then just follow the prompts to complete the upgrade to Windows 10. You won’t be asked to enter a product key, and when the upgrade is complete and you’re connected to the Internet, you’ll have a certificate. valid digital license for the latest version of Windows 10, which you can confirm by going to Settings > Update & Security > Activation. All your apps and data files will be available.

A digital license is associated with that particular device, which means you can reformat the disc and perform a clean install of the same version of Windows 10 at any time. (If you’re thinking of upgrading your old system drive to an SSD, perform the upgrade to Windows 10 on old hardware; after confirming that the new version of Windows 10 is properly activated, install it. install the SSD and then restore from a backup image or boot from a USB flash drive to perform a clean install. You won’t need a product key and activation happens automatically.)

Is your license valid?

And now the big question: If you take advantage of this upgrade to Windows 10, is the resulting license valid?

The whole “free upgrade” offer always comes with language that is, to put it politely, a bit obscene. And the language at the end of that offer is similarly vague. For example, see the answers I’ve bookmarked here on Microsoft’s Windows 10 Upgrade FAQ:

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The wording here is very vague.

Screenshots by Ed Bott/ZDNET

It is a very strange language. Free upgrade through the Get Windows 10 app ended on July 29, 2016. Likewise, the product key discussion said the key would be needed “for this to work” (untrue) but didn’t say a word about it. licensing.

And unlike the “genuine Windows” label on older upgrades, the activation screen for Windows 10 upgrade specifically confirms the existence of a “digital license”.

Either way, the free upgrade offer has been extended shortly, at least for those using assistive technology. The Frequently asked questions on a separate page even calls it a “free upgrade offer extension” and explicitly notes that it’s not limited to specific assistive technologies. (I regularly use the Magnifier utility in Windows, it’s certainly an assistive technology.)

Of course, I am not a lawyer and this column is not legal advice. But I will say that I personally trust the activation status of any PC upgraded using the tool on that site during the eligibility period.

I think this extension is a huge nod and wink, designed to make it easier for people looking to upgrade Windows 10 to get it while appeasing OEM partners who don’t. too happy about year-long upgrades than new PC sales.

Alas, I say “already” because the extension (which itself was extended) officially ends on January 16, 2018. The page that was previously running Upgrade Support now returns an error message.

The big question right now is whether Microsoft will ever turn off the code on servers that enable digital license distribution after upgrading from an older version of Windows. I’ve continued to test that scenario, and I can confirm that it still works long after the end of support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

I keep hearing from readers sharing their experiences. If you’ve used this technique on your PC, send a note to edbott (at) realworldwindows (dot) com to let me know how it has worked for you.

And a note from the author: After almost 17 years at ZDNET, I’m leaving at the end of 2022. You can stay in touch by subscribing to my newsletter, Ed Bott’s READ.ME. It’s free (for now) and I’ll be doing much the same thing I’ve done here at ZDNET and in my books. To register, go to https://edbott.substack.com/.

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