Is it actually now possible to install afresh without upgrading first

Vertigo · 4 Oct 2015 at 14:09

I've seen a few places mentioning that a method has been found to avail yourself of the free Windows 10 upgrade without actually upgrading your OS, i.e. so you can do a fresh install straight away.

The method appears to involve running an executable called gatherosstate.exe to generate a file called GenuineTicket.xml before re-installing afresh. This file is then moved into the Windows 10 installation.

Details seem sketchy so I was wondering if anyone has tried this or has any more info. I'm about to bite the bullet and try Windows 10 but I could really do without the hassle of upgrading first as I just want to install afresh to a new drive.

andy_mk3 · 4 Oct 2015 at 16:01

Upgrading isn't really a lot of hassle. I would rather just do it that way and know it'll work otherwise you'll end up re-installing W7/8 again if it doesn't work.

Vertigo · 4 Oct 2015 at 16:17

My Win7 install is a mess and needs re-installing anyway so the last thing I want to do is upgrade it to Win10.

My original plan was to upgrade it to Win10 and activate so it's registered with Microsoft, then immediately restore my boot SSD from a bare metal backup so it's back to Windows 7. I'd then put that to one side, hook up the new SSD and install Win10 afresh. That way I've got my old Win7 SSD available at a moment's notice if I need it for any reason. Once I'm happy with Win10 and sure all my apps & games are working then I'd format and repurpose the original SSD.

This new method makes life a lot easier as I don't need to do anything with the current SSD, just disconnect and put it to one side. I've generated the GenuineTicket.xml file already and will be trying this tomorrow.

pepp77 · 4 Oct 2015 at 16:19

You can already do a fresh install of windows 10 if you have already upgraded that machine from w7/8 to 10.

Craig321 · 4 Oct 2015 at 16:19

tbh, I would do it the official way, so upgrade. I never fully trust these dodgy workarounds or programs that can do it for you. It doesn't take long to go to 10, then wipe and reinstall 10. Just don't sit and watch it else it'll take forever

Vertigo · 4 Oct 2015 at 16:27

pepp77 said:
You can already do a fresh install of windows 10 if you have already upgraded that machine from w7/8 to 10.

Of course you can! I'm on about a fresh install WITHOUT first upgrading.

Craig321 said:
tbh, I would do it the official way, so upgrade. I never fully trust these dodgy workarounds or programs that can do it for you. It doesn't take long to go to 10, then wipe and reinstall 10. Just don't sit and watch it else it'll take forever

I kind of know what you mean but, from what I've read, this "trick" is basically just doing manually what the upgrade process does automatically so ought to work. Guess we'll find out - if it fails then I can always go back and upgrade Win7 after all

andy_mk3 · 4 Oct 2015 at 17:02

Just upgrade, activate, pull the key from it and fresh install. It's simple.

Vertigo · 4 Oct 2015 at 17:30

Whilst pulling the key is probably a good idea just to have it somewhere, it's not actually required.

Disco_P · 4 Oct 2015 at 23:46

It's really no hassle to install 8 then upgrade then fresh install. Probably takes about 5 minutes. If you want to go back to 7 or 8 then make a system image backup before the upgrade and then store it somewhere.

andy_mk3 said:
Just upgrade, activate, pull the key from it and fresh install. It's simple.

Vertigo1 said:
Whilst pulling the key is probably a good idea just to have it somewhere, it's not actually required.

The key you get from an upgrade is a generic key that can be found anywhere on the internet.

Here is mine: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

In all likelihood this is yours: TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99

Vertigo · 5 Oct 2015 at 20:17

In the end I chickened out and did the upgrade then binned it and started again

Yeah my key is the VK7JG one.

Glaucus · 5 Oct 2015 at 20:25

You've always been able to do a fresh install. Just go through the upgrade process and when it asks you, select the keep nothing option.

Vertigo · 5 Oct 2015 at 21:01

Glaucus said:
You've always been able to do a fresh install. Just go through the upgrade process and when it asks you, select the keep nothing option.

Frankly I don't trust that to be a totally clean install.

munge · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:45

Just went through the 03448002400 number and despite sounding like the support person had swallowed the microphone, shocking sound quality, activated Win 10 over the phone in about 10 minutes.

This on a HDD that did have Win 7 Home Prem on it that I had to format as my parents are incapable of not clicking on anything that says the computer needs scanning as there is a virus on it......

russell664 · 8 Oct 2015 at 14:01

Vertigo1 said:
Frankly I don't trust that to be a totally clean install.

Yeah. I tend to upgrade the PC, then nuke it after with a clean install to prevent any quirks going on.