Windows 7 to Windows 10 and back to Windows 7

[Risingnapkin]

From Windows 7 to Windows 10 and back to Windows 7

I have some questions for anyone who has played around with the free upgrade of Windows 7 to Windows 10, but first some history on why I am asking these questions:

While reading up on the Windows 10 release, I read that Microsoft had planned to let users upgrade their Windows 7 license key (the 25 digit code) to Windows 10 license keys. It was also mentioned that they would still retain their activation for Windows 7. Essentially, you get a Windows 7 and Windows 10 key all in one.

First question: Has anyone been able to confirm this?

Second question: Is it possible that I could install Windows 7 on another machine, different than my personal machine (in this case, my test bench), upgrade it to Windows 10 so that Microsoft recognizes that the key is now active for Windows 10, then load the key back onto the original machine which is still running Windows 7.

In detail, I would like to take the license key for Windows 7 Ultimate (running on my personal machine) and transfer it to my test bench (which I can install another copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, activate the key on there, and have them upgrade to Windows 10). Then, put the key back on my personal machine once it's activated for Windows 10 on the test bench. My understanding of Windows keys is that only one can be active at any time connected to the internet, they are no longer attached to your motherboard. In theory this should work, but I'm curious if anyone else has tried or is thinking the same thing.

Basically, I don't want to go through upgrading to Windows 10 on my personal machine, then clean installing Windows 7 again, all for the sake of getting my free upgrade of Windows 10. I have no real desire to upgrade to Windows 10, but I am not going to miss out on a free OS, since at some point when Windows 7 support dies, I'll have to deal with Windows 10.

Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism and help.

 

[viveknayyar007]

Hello Risingnapkin

Since your product key is mapped with the motherboard of your PC to generate a Product ID that is unique to the computer, installing and activating Windows 7 on a different PC automatically un-maps the key from your previous computer, and the upgrade process would work on the new machine after that.

If you don't want to go for a clean install of Windows 7 after upgrading to Windows 10, what I would recommend is, get a system image using the method given in this link, upgrade to Windows 10, test the new operating system and its features as much as you want and when done, you can restore the system image using the method given in the shared link.

This is a small but smart trick.

Cheers!!

 

[Risingnapkin]

Hello Risingnapkin

Since your product key is mapped with the motherboard of your PC to generate a Product ID that is unique to the computer, installing and activating Windows 7 on a different PC automatically un-maps the key from your previous computer, and the upgrade process would work on the new machine after that.

If you don't want to go for a clean install of Windows 7 after upgrading to Windows 10, what I would recommend is, get a system image using the method given in this link, upgrade to Windows 10, test the new operating system and its features as much as you want and when done, you can restore the system image using the method given in the shared link.

This is a small but smart trick.

Cheers!!

Hi Viveknayyar007,

First, thanks for the response, it confirms some of what I want to do, but not entirely.

Let me try to reiterate:

Let's say I have two computers; 1) Computer Black and 2) Computer White. Both computers have Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit installed on them, but there is only one license key, which is currently on Computer Black. Let's say I move that license key to Computer White (which by what you've said, it should do). I proceed to upgrade Computer White with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (with the license key) to Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, which means the old Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit key is now a Windows 10 Pro 64-bit key. This is all copy/paste from your earlier statement.

From this point though, let's say I take the license from Computer White and put it back on Computer Black; will that key, which is now activated to be a Windows 10 Pro 64-bit license, work on Computer Black, which is running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit?

This all relates to the first part of my original post where I asked if the license works across both OS' (Windows 7 and 10).

Again, thanks for your help and time.

Best

 

[viometrix]

I have the same copy of windows 7 pro on 4 machines, I just had to call in the activation and say it was installed on one pc.... never had any deactivate, and 2 have been upgraded to win 10....hope this helps you

 

[Risingnapkin]

Thanks for the reply viometrix, on an off-topic, I'm interested how you have the same product key on 4 machines (unless you have enterprise? I'm not an expert on how Microsoft does its licensing etc.). In any case, the fact that you seem to have the same product key activated across both a machine with Windows 7 and Windows 10 gives me some hope that this will work. I have done some reading, and unfortunately for other readers I don't have absolute proof, but it appears that upgrading Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 retains all previous properties of the previous OS. By this I mean, it will retain its version (home or pro/ultimate), its ability to handle RAM (32-bit or 64-bit), and its licensing (retail or OEM). [strike] I've seen some articles about this, and it makes me think that if I'm upgrading from Windows 7 Professional OEM 64-bit, the license key I get after upgrading should be a Windows 10 Professional OEM 64-bit, which should mean I can freely move the license between computers (more specifically upgrading motherboards (and corresponding hardware) down the road) while keeping my product key.[/strike]

Again, this is still speculation, but the user experience and input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the response.

For those of you who are reading this, I will update this thread if I find anything else out.

Update 08/20/15:

So first, let me apologize, I COMPLETELY had the OEM vs Retail incorrect. Please disregard what I said before in my previous post. Again, I apologize for misleading anyone, and I had no intent to purposely troll anyone. TLDR: OEM = Locked to first motherboard installed on. Retail = Freely move across motherboards.