Win 10 reinstall question

[callofDEEP]

Hi all..
I have lenovo t430 laptop.. I bought it with win 7 pro and later upgraded it to win 10 through their free upgrade programme.. now i want to do a fresh install of win 10..
if i do a fresh install of win 10 , will the win 7 key activate the win 10?
.. if not .. is there anyway to do a fresh install without losing the license.. and i dont want to go back to windows 7.. i need to stay on win 10...

Thanx in advance..

 

[Paul NZ]

Yes it will once you install 10 and get online it'll activate

 

[RARRAF]

there is a separate partition that holds your key on the hard drive so you are fine to format it and re-install windows 10

 

[USAFRet]

Hi all..
I have lenovo t430 laptop.. I bought it with win 7 pro and later upgraded it to win 10 through their free upgrade programme.. now i want to do a fresh install of win 10..
if i do a fresh install of win 10 , will the win 7 key activate the win 10?
.. if not .. is there anyway to do a fresh install without losing the license.. and i dont want to go back to windows 7.. i need to stay on win 10...

Thanx in advance..

Reinstalling the OS on that same system will work.
No need for a license key, restore partition, or going back to Win 7 first.
Just reinstall. When it prompts you for a license key, select "I don't have one" at the bottom of that screen.

Once it goes online, it will activate itself. The activation server farm at MS knows this system, and it will activate itself.

 

[callofDEEP]

So based on your answers .. what i have to do is download official win 10 pro from Microsoft and boot from it using usb and continue installation as if im installing a trial version.. when the installation completes win 10 will get activated on its own..
Right?

 

[Paul NZ]

Yup

 

[USAFRet]

So based on your answers .. what i have to do is download official win 10 pro from Microsoft and boot from it using usb and continue installation as if im installing a trial version.. when the installation completes win 10 will get activated on its own..
Right?

Exactly.
Media Creation tool here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[USAFRet]

I did exactly this on my Asus Transformer 2 in 1 laptop.
Came with 8.1 installed, upgraded to Win 10.

I did a full wipe and reinstall in prep for giving to my granddaughter for xmas.
Reinstall.
Done.
"Windows is activated".

 

[photonboy]

*Just FYI but when I reinstalled a recent W10 version it automatically input my user name and password.

I was trying to put in my information like before but it kept giving me an error (because it was already done).

So even though I had WIPED the drive completely, it then reinstalled W10 and put in my info from the Microsoft server. Weird, and not saying it will happen but be aware.

**It even had my PASSWORD setup so I forget now, but not sure if I could have even logged in if I forgot it. WTF?**

 

[USAFRet]

*Just FYI but when I reinstalled a recent W10 version it automatically input my user name and password.

I was trying to put in my information like before but it kept giving me an error (because it was already done).

So even though I had WIPED the drive completely, it then reinstalled W10 and put in my info from the Microsoft server. Weird, and not saying it will happen but be aware.

**It even had my PASSWORD setup so I forget now, but not sure if I could have even logged in if I forgot it. WTF?**

If you had initially logged in with your MS account, then yes. All your info, and that particular system details, is stored at the MS cloud.
Same way your desktop background and other settings can be shared across systems.

Me, I just use a local account unless absolutely required.

 

[callofDEEP]

Now i dont have the password.. if i do a fresh install, do i need to login with the same account?

 

[Colif]

If you remember your email address you used to sign in with, you can reset the password here: https://account.live.com/password/reset

otherwise, if you fresh install win 10 ona PC its already been on, it should auto activate once you complete the install anyway. When asked for licence, click "I don't have a key" and win 10 should check servers at the end, and auto activate.

 

[callofDEEP]

Now what if i want to login with another account?

 

[Colif]

Have you done anything yet? Can you go to settings/update & security/activation on the old PC. On that page, does it say how windows 10 is currently activated, if it says "windows is activated with a digital licence" then it hasn't been linked to an account yet

you can add an email address there and it may link your current install to it if you haven't already.