How to see upgrade path?

Dirk Diggler · 7 Feb 2016 at 16:22

I got 2 systems running Win10. I've had to change mobo on one of them, and have got the activate windows watermark.

I phoned Microsoft and they are asking for my product key... But I can't remember which is which. One was an towage from Win8 and the other from Win 8.1.

How can I tell which key to give them?

El_Watcher · 8 Feb 2016 at 12:44

If you still have the Windows.old folder, apparently you can see the version in there.
Open the "\Windows.old\system32\license.rtf" file in a text editor and the version should be in there.

Alternatively, if the old "\Windows.old\system32\ntoskrnl.exe" file is still available, the file version will tell you which (6.3 = 8.1 and 6.2 = 8.0).

Dirk Diggler · 8 Feb 2016 at 14:06

Just went through the activation process with Microsoft. What a horrendous experience, but I got there in the end.

Dirk Diggler · 14 Feb 2016 at 22:00

I've got another PC to suffer this with this coming week. Would it be easier to install my original Windows 8 and then upgrade to 10 or is it less hassle just to fresh install 10 and go through the rigmarole with them over the phone again?

ic1male · 15 Feb 2016 at 11:05

So wait? You can't put a Windows 7/8/8.1 key into Windows 10 setup when you're doing a fresh install? What a PIA. It seems like installing Windows 8.1 is the way to go and then 10 on top.

Dirk Diggler · 15 Feb 2016 at 11:07

ic1male said:
So wait? You can't put a Windows 7/8/8.1 key into Windows 10 setup when you're doing a fresh install? What a PIA. It seems like installing Windows 8.1 is the way to go and then 10 on top.

I never thought of putting the Win 8 key in at the point of installing win 10 fresh.

Will give that a bash.

ic1male · 15 Feb 2016 at 11:25

I had a look on MS website -

"If you formatted or replaced your hard drive, you won't be able to use a product key to update to Windows 10. You'll need to install your previous version of Windows, then reinstall Windows 10."

So you can't enter any other key than a Windows 10 one.

Dirk Diggler · 15 Feb 2016 at 11:31

Ah, so it's original disc and then upgrade. Cumbersome, but probably less pain than phoning Microsoft.

El_Watcher · 15 Feb 2016 at 20:00

I don't know where on the MS site you found that, but if you use the latest 10 image from MS, it will install with the 7/8 key and work without installing the old version.