Move my Windows 7 to 10 free upgrade to a new machine

kinger8938 · 8 Nov 2019 at 09:05

Thinking of reworking my build or doing a fresh build altogether.

My current copy of windows I think was the free upgrade they offered from 7 to 10. So I dont have a disc and not a clue what my key is.

So can I somehow install this copy on a new build PC, or will I need to buy another key? Best way to install on a new build without a CD I guess would be USB some how?

Any advice will be appreciated

Matt

Confused Stu · 8 Nov 2019 at 11:38

Easiest place to get a Windows 10 installer is using the Media Creation Tool:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO
Run it and it'll ask if you want to make a bootable USB, or create an ISO to burn to disc.

As for the licence, easiest way is to log into a Microsoft account on your current, activated PC. Then on your new one, log into your Microsoft account, tell the activation problem solving tool you've changed hardware, it'll show you all the activated PCs connected to your account, select your old PC and it'll move the activation from one to another. Never done it myself, but looks pretty seamless when others have done it.

kinger8938 · 8 Nov 2019 at 12:29

Confused Stu said:
Easiest place to get a Windows 10 installer is using the Media Creation Tool:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO
Run it and it'll ask if you want to make a bootable USB, or create an ISO to burn to disc.

As for the licence, easiest way is to log into a Microsoft account on your current, activated PC. Then on your new one, log into your Microsoft account, tell the activation problem solving tool you've changed hardware, it'll show you all the activated PCs connected to your account, select your old PC and it'll move the activation from one to another. Never done it myself, but looks pretty seamless when others have done it.

Ahh ok this should work then. Will it not ask me for an activation key during the installation like the olden days?

Confused Stu · 8 Nov 2019 at 13:13

kinger8938 said:
Ahh ok this should work then. Will it not ask me for an activation key during the installation like the olden days?

There's an option under the entry box for 'I don't have a key' - just select this and it'll happily carry on and sort out the activation later on.

kinger8938 · 8 Nov 2019 at 13:17

Confused Stu said:
There's an option under the entry box for 'I don't have a key' - just select this and it'll happily carry on and sort out the activation later on.

Oh excellent! For now I may just do a fresh install on my current machine before doing my new build, so I imagine I can just use the tool to do this too in a similar way, maybe not even needing a bootable device/iso?