Free Windows 10 Upgrade Still On for Windows 7/8 keys
Reports are coming in that Windows users may still upgrade their devices to Windows 10 provided that they have a Windows 7 or 8 key.
Microsoft's official offer to upgrade to Windows 10 for free from a device running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 ended on July 29, 2016.
While the official offer ended, reports suggest that users may still grab a free Windows 10 key if they have a product key.
All that needs to be done is provide the Windows 7 or 8.1 product key during installation of Windows 10 on the computer to have the new OS activated on the machine.
The main difference to before is that the Get Windows 10 (GWX) tool is not available anymore to upgrade the operating system to Windows 10.
Mary Jo Foley asked Microsoft why the free upgrade offer to Windows 10 has seemingly not ended.
Microsoft's answer to the question was that users who would install Windows 10 on a PC for the first time had to enter a Windows 10 product key, and that users who had previously installed Windows 10 on a machine would not.
Users upgrading their PC for the first time will need to enter a Windows 10 product key. Users who've previously installed Windows 10 on their PC should activate successfully with a digital entitlement when reinstalling Windows 10 on that PC.
Microsoft does not acknowledge that free upgrades are still possible on machines where Windows 10 was not installed on previously. It is a rather puzzling answer that does not really address the issue at hand at all.
While Microsoft does not confirm the issue at all, it means that users of Windows 7 or 8.1 who have product keys may still upgrade machines for free to Windows 10 despite Microsoft's claim that this is not the case.
Microsoft may decide to close the loophole at any point in time though but since it does not even acknowledge the issue, there is a chance that the loophole remains an option for the foreseeable future.
Mary Jo's guess is that it simply takes a while to get things sorted out on the backend. This would mean that the option is only a temporary one, and that it will cease to be an option at all in the near future.
It would also explain Microsoft's answer to Mary Jo Foley's question. It is unclear why Microsoft does not acknowledge the issue. One explanation is that it feared public backlash after stating over and over again that the free upgrade period ended on July 29, 2016.
We don't know when the loophole ends and free Windows 10 upgrade offer expire for good for Windows 7 and 8.1 users. Anyone who missed the deadline may still take Microsoft up on the free upgrade offer provided that they have a product key for a previous version of Windows.
While Mary Jo mentions only retail product keys, the method seems to work with all kinds of product keys including OEM keys.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277