Question Have unopened pro win 10 64 bit OEM Version 1703 DVD and existing Win 7 pro Intel I7 6700 desktop

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ASW28

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I understand Win 7 to 10 upgrade is now history.
Is there any way I can update the Win 7 desktop to Win 10 (thereby saving already installed programs on the Win 7) using the OEM win 10 that is designed for clean install and even now seems to require Microsoft registration as an installer?
 
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JohnBonhamsGhost

JohnBonhamsGhost

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no.
pretty much all software has been revised for later Windows editions so a direct upgrade path is not considered viable.

you can backup your user settings and any available individual software settings and files to a secondary location and try copying those back into place after the new OS & application re-installations are complete.
 
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ubuysa

ubuysa

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Unless that OEM Windows 10 was shipped with that PC you won't be able to activate it anyway. OEM licensed Windows is permanently tied to the PC on which it came.

Upgrading in-place from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is unlikely to either be simple or to even work. I would strongly advise that you not even attempt this.
 
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BFG-9000

BFG-9000

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You can use Windows 10 unactivated indefinitely with only some minor annoyances, so don't let that stop you. I mean at this point Windows 10 will only be supported October 14, 2025 anyway, exactly one year from now.

If your Windows 7 is 32-bit that might be a problem, as support for installation of 32-bit Windows 10 just ended September 30, 2024. And there is no possibility of upgrade install of any 32-bit Windows to 64-bit, only clean install. Upgrading from 64-bit Win 7 should not be an issue even now.

If you would like to try it, first make a clone of your Windows 7 disk and work on only the copy. That way you could always boot back to Windows 7 to use your software even if something goes terribly wrong.

With only the copied Win 7 disk installed and from the Win 7 desktop, run the setup.exe for the Win 10 install (you can't do a upgrade install from booted media). I'd first try with the latest 22H2 which should work fine, or at least it should automatically roll back to Win 7 if it fails (and of course if things get irretrievably borked, well that's why you are working on a copy--so you could always take a clone again). If you have to resort to your seven year old 1703 media, install it when NOT connected to the internet.

There is no automatic upgrade from 1703 to current Windows using WindowsUpdate anyway, so from the desktop of running Win 10 1703 manually run the setup.exe for the current 22H2 build. Once everything is running to your satisfaction, you can plug back in the original Win 7 disk and choose which drive to boot from in the BIOS.
 
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ASW28

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ubuysa said:
Unless that OEM Windows 10 was shipped with that PC you won't be able to activate it anyway. OEM licensed Windows is permanently tied to the PC on which it came.

Upgrading in-place from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is unlikely to either be simple or to even work. I would strongly advise that you not even attempt this.
Click to expand...
I build my own desktops so this Win 10 unopened DVD packet is not tied to anything yet. Like the WIn7 64 bit pro on the Intel I7-6700K it was just a back up for the main computer and with a 6TB drive it has itself become a storage backup. I will read the other replies but it sounds like I should unplug the I7-6700K from the internet and just use it as a standalone Win 7 back up system. Migrating the Microsoft Office (installed by me) on it to another PC is likely problematic as I earlier had to delete the email associated with it. Perhaps I can frame the Win 10 packet and place it on the wall above my PC?

Thanks though for your suggestions everyone!
 
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ASW28

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BFG-9000 said:
You can use Windows 10 unactivated indefinitely with only some minor annoyances, so don't let that stop you. I mean at this point Windows 10 will only be supported October 14, 2025 anyway, exactly one year from now.

If your Windows 7 is 32-bit that might be a problem, as support for installation of 32-bit Windows 10 just ended September 30, 2024. And there is no possibility of upgrade install of any 32-bit Windows to 64-bit, only clean install. Upgrading from 64-bit Win 7 should not be an issue even now.

If you would like to try it, first make a clone of your Windows 7 disk and work on only the copy. That way you could always boot back to Windows 7 to use your software even if something goes terribly wrong.

With only the copied Win 7 disk installed and from the Win 7 desktop, run the setup.exe for the Win 10 install (you can't do a upgrade install from booted media). I'd first try with the latest 22H2 which should work fine, or at least it should automatically roll back to Win 7 if it fails (and of course if things get irretrievably borked, well that's why you are working on a copy--so you could always take a clone again). If you have to resort to your seven year old 1703 media, install it when NOT connected to the internet.

There is no automatic upgrade from 1703 to current Windows using WindowsUpdate anyway, so from the desktop of running Win 10 1703 manually run the setup.exe for the current 22H2 build. Once everything is running to your satisfaction, you can plug back in the original Win 7 disk and choose which drive to boot from in the BIOS.
Click to expand...
It is a Win 7 pro 64 bit system but I thought the in-place upgrade to Win 10 was ended in 2023?
 
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lantis3

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If you have unused win10 oem cdkey, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Free Win7 to Win10 upgrades are for people who don't have/need cdkey at the time.

The only problem is you should have a SSD to handle Win10 or it's going to be slow.
 
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ASW28

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lantis3 said:
If you have unused win10 oem cdkey, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Free Win7 to Win10 upgrades are for people who don't have/need cdkey at the time.

The only problem is you should have a SSD to handle Win10 or it's going to be slow.
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The I7-6700K system already has an SSD. I am unclear what's in the packet other than than the DVD or how exactly I can use it on an upgrade.
 
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USAFRet

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ASW28 said:
The I7-6700K system already has an SSD. I am unclear what's in the packet other than than the DVD or how exactly I can use it on an upgrade.
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Boot from that DVD.
It will give you the option of either Upgrading your existing Win 7, or a fresh Win 10.

NOTE: Upgrading your Win 7 also carries along the years worth of built up crap.

In either case, you really really really need to have a known good copy of your personal data, saved elsewhere.
Just in case.
 
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ASW28

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USAFRet said:
OK.
You might be OK doing an inplace Upgrade.
But do be prepared for it to go wrong.

A clean install of that Win 10 is much preferred, and that WILL work.
Click to expand...
Assuming Microsoft allows a clean Win 10 install from the DVD, I understand there is no upgrade path from the 1703 version and I then lose the Microsoft Office that I installed much later on the Win 7. I forgot it was tied to a gmail account that I since deleted as it was getting carpet bombed and unsubscribing didn't work. So transfer of the Office software to another or the same PC is probably difficult to impossible.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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ASW28 said:
Assuming Microsoft allows a clean Win 10 install from the DVD, I understand here is no upgrade path from the 1703 version and I then lose the Microsoft Office that I installed much later on the Win 7. I forgot it was tied to a gmail account that I since deleted as it was getting carpet bombed and unsubscribing didn't work. So transfer of the Office software to another or the same PC is probably difficult to impossible.
Click to expand...
You can probably discover the license for your Office install with BelArc Advisor:
https://www.belarc.com/products/belarc-advisor

What version of Office is it?
Do you still have the install file?
 
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BFG-9000

BFG-9000

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ASW28 said:
It is a Win 7 pro 64 bit system but I thought the in-place upgrade to Win 10 was ended in 2023?
Click to expand...
The only thing that has changed is the existing Windows 7 activation no longer activates the Windows 10 install. The in-place upgrade should otherwise still work fine.

Your Win 10 OEM key may or may not work. But as I pointed out you can use Windows 10 indefinitely without activating it, and it hardly seems worth buying a key now when Windows 10 itself is only good for another year.
ASW28 said:
I understand there is no upgrade path from the 1703 version
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As I said before, there is no automatic upgrade, but you can manually upgrade install the latest build right from the desktop of 1703.

The best backup before you begin is a clone of the entire disk. And if you don't want to see the nag message about unactivated Windows, slmgr /rearm can be used up to six times to extend the trial period, which puts it well past the EOL of Windows 10.
 
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