You can still upgrade Windows 7 and 8.1 systems to Windows 10 for free
When Microsoft launched its Windows 10 operating system, it knew that it had to convince customers to give it a try. The bad adoption of Windows 8 still haunted the company and it had to ensure that Windows 10 would not be a disappointment in regards to the adoption rate as well.
One of Microsoft's strategies to get customers to upgrade systems to Windows 10 was to offer it for free. Limited to the first year of release, Microsoft said, customers could upgrade systems running genuine versions of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. The original license was upgraded to a digital license in the process.
Microsoft was confident enough to project that 1 billion devices with Windows 10 would be in use after two or three years starting from the date of official availability. The company missed the goal, despite pushing upgrades vehemently, but it also never stopped the free upgrade option.
Two years ago, I ran tests to see if it was still possible to upgrade from earlier versions of Windows to Windows 10 for free. Back then, this worked without any issues.
Today, I decided to re-run these tests to see if upgrades are still free. It should not come as a surprise that it is still possible to upgrade Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 devices to Windows 10 provided that these devices have a genuine license.
Upgrade to Windows 10 for free
In case you are wondering how you'd be able to make use of the still existing offer, here are the instructions:
- You need to make sure that the license of the older version is genuine and activated. You may check this in the Control Panel > System and Security > System. Scroll down and you should see the activation status on the page.
- We strongly suggest that you create a backup of the system before you run the upgrade. You need an option to restore the system if things go wrong, and you don't want to put all your trust into Windows' own recovery options. You can use a program like Paragon Backup & Recovery Free for that, or any alternative such as Macrium Reflect, or any of the other system backup tools for Windows.
- Once completed, download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from the official download page on Microsoft's website.
- Run the tool on the device that you want to upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions. The process takes a while as the entire system needs to be downloaded and then installed on the device.
- You boot into Windows 10 if the upgrade worked. First thing you need to do then is to select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Activation to check the activation status.
- If you see an Activate button, press it to start the activation process; this should work and you should see "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account" under Activation on the page.
- If automatic activation is not successful, you get a chance to enter the product ID manually. Use that option to activate the system.
- Use our guide on checking out if Windows 10 is activated
to verify that everything worked out as planned.
Especially users of Windows 7 devices may use the free upgrade option to extend official support of the system. Support for Windows 7 has ended for Home users, while Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system continues to be supported.
Now You: Which operating system do you run on your devices?
Does not work with OEM versions.
I’m wondering whether Microsoft is again violating the antitrust laws with its OneDrive assault on Google Drive. I recently bought a low-end Dell laptop which came loaded with Windows 10. Unknown to me it had OneDrive installed. I had no interest in using it and eventually noticed that it was mirroring all of my files in the cloud and attempting regular synching and backups. Still just an annoyance. Then I started receiving messages that my OneDrive storage limit had been reached and I would have to buy additional storage space. After receiving many of these messages I decided to uninstall it, only to find I was receiving warning messages that uninstalling OneDrive would delete necessary systems files such as Downloads, Documents, and Desktop, and all the files within them, which are now stored in the cloud. I don’t know whether that is true or not but I’m certainly unwilling to risk it.
This sounds very similar to Microsoft’s attempt to steal away Netscape Navigator’s dominance in the browser market by integrating Internet Explorer into Windows and telling people it would be impossible to remove. If I recall, that was the basis of the Justice Department antitrust case against Microsoft.
Bunch of nerds….stop playing D&D and upgrade your computer. See you on EvE Online…JK
Thank you so much for this article. Had no idea you could still do this for free. I’m having fun upgrading my old laptops while in quarantine.
Any old Windows 7 license OEM does seem to work on Windows 10 but when I tried a proper retail boxed version the other day, it refused. I then fired up the computer it had been installed onit that will get Linux and successfully deactivated the license on it while online. It still was deemed not a usable key on the computer I was intending to give it away with.
However, the experience did alert me to the fact that Windows 10 which I thought from the beginning was unusably bad, had become much more buggy and annoying with 20H2. I can now only call it unimaginably bad. On the upside, Linux migration is now the simpler choice, in fact, I suspect that Fortran is probably less painful than W10.
To the people using it happily every day “with no problems” who will tell me I’m incompetent, deluded or stuck in the past, I’m glad and you’re satisfied. Really. This is being sent using Insider Build 21286 from the Dev channel. These builds are buggy but at least usable for simple tasks. I don’t know why 20H2 seems far worse. It sure has more ads.
Although you can likely run Windows 10 on your Windows 7 or 8.1 machine, chances are the hardware is old enough that you’ll notice a considerable drop in performance. If your machine came with Windows 7, that hardware was meant for Windows 7.
That said, if you want or need to upgrade to stay up-to-date with security patches, etc. then you’ll have to just deal with the performance issues. Although I’ve run across a few driver compatibility problems most of the time they can be worked out and the software will run just fine.
This constant US-American claim and clamoring about “freedom” and the almost total lack of privacy protection from predatorial companies is one of the most hypocritical things in the world.
And how exactly is this somewhat strange statement related to “upgrade Windows 7 for free” ?
I hate to divert the discussion from the wisdom of upgrading in this manner, but I have an actual issue with the upgrade. I did as directed. Downloaded the win10 installation file, but when I clicked to install, it said it could not find the rcpcore.msi file. I couldn’t find it either, but after some research I learned that this is a longstanding problem. The file is used by Roxio. However, I couldn’t find it on their site or any remedy. I learned too that it came installed by Dell on my laptop when I bought it, thus no original disc So I searched the Dell site for the file or a remedy but found neither. Can anyone think of a solution or do I settle for another long winter with Vista?
Hi, Al!…
Are you using Vista?… or were you kidding?
That last sentence answered your question. You can’t upgrade Windows Vista this way. You need a valid Windows SEVEN license to upgrade.. Get yourself one of those and download a Windows 10 .iso and do a clean install. You must be joking.. thought everyone knew this by now =)
When Purism’s Librem has NAILED DOWN Intel’s “Management Engine” problem (making the Librem 100% FOSH and 100% FOSS!), it links to a Global Human ICT Rights Coalition (with globally networked ICT lawyers at the legal ready… via an icon on its taskbar… operating in real time and 24/7… and able and willing to NAIL DOWN whatever cyber masochist would dare venture to violate Human ICT Rights on any and all levels!), its hardware and software are approved by the Free Soft Foundation (and, e.g., its GNU/ Linux OS Distro!) and it’s phys(icly) available from a bricks-and-mortar retail store in my neck of the woods, then I am willing to hand over $5000.
If you’ve been an avid follower of Human ICT Rights… and yea, and indeed have set up folders and files on the subject on your PC!… you have– no doubt!– deduced, that the whole of ICT (digital and analog[l]… and the Net, being but one component of ICT!) must be made FREE AND OPEN SOURCE (and FREE, as in Freedom… though ICT gifts are to be encouraged!), and declared ESSENTIAL products and services wherever and whenever it’s pract(ic) to do so!
And to the degree that ICT isn’t deemed FREE AND OPEN SOURCE and ESSENTIAL (wherever and whenever it is pract[ic] to do so!), is the degree to which we must focus our attention and efforts!… and then once across, we must NUKE THE BRIDGES!… leaving selfish myopic behaviour forever behind! For simply, the State-Of-The-Art in Info Science tells us… YEA, COMPELS US!… to AMEND BEHAVIOUR, in order to COMPLY WITH THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE IN QUANTUM MECHANICS! There is no other solution!… and I suggest that our UNBRANDED alien friends have figured this out– long ago!
They’re really trying to push this hard huh… They’re quick to push people to upgrade but say nothing about driver support for older hardware that doesn’t have windows 10 support.
Very true. Dealing with that as we speak.
My primary desktop came with Windows 10 but I got tired of fighting the system to make it work my way instead of Microsoft’s. So wiped it and installed Windows 8.1 and have never looked back.You couldn’t pay me to run that potato OS on my hardware!
Otherwise I still have an old laptop on Windows 7. It would actually still be on Windows XP if not for the need of HDMI audio support that is only available in 7.
In either case both systems are locked down via numerous security layers so the age of the operating system is not an issue. I’ve been running my systems this way for over 20 years and never had a single malware infection or compromise.
You’ve been running Windows 7 for over 20 years? WOW. I also recall that day in 1981 when I connected my new Windows XP to the internet for the first time. It was a low end laptop from 1967, but YouTube videos in HD played just fine on it. I still use it as my main machine, and there will be a cold day in Hell before I install Windows 10 on it!!
Still on Win 8.1 here. What concerns me about upgrading (or should that be downgrading?) to Windows 10 is my hardware being too old. I seem to recall an article on Ghacks about security updates being blocked because the CPU was considered too old and no longer supported. I don’t know if my Haswell CPU would fall into that category or not.
As for the OS itself most telemetry junk can be blocked with O&O ShutUp10: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 so that’s no big deal.
In any event Win 8.1 still has a couple of years of extended support left so I’m in no hurry to make the change.
I’d say it’s more common that there are no graphics drivers for older computers or some more obscure models. It’s a bit of a hit and miss situation, I had a friend with an old AMD powered laptop that Windows 10 refused to play along with a year or two ago, but today there is a basic graphics driver for it so he was lucky enough to get things working on that machine, eventually.. I have installed Windows 10 succesfully on computers that shipped with XP and Vista, really old garbage hardware and have also failed miserably on some low end cheap laptops that came with Windows 7.. But since your computer runs 8.1 I’d be BRAVE enough to say Windows 10 will work just fine =) Just do it.
Here’s the ultimate solution to end all Windows 10 spying and all matters personal privacy related: Use a false name as your account! I KNOW!!!! It’s that simple!!!! Let’s say you are Burt Mudderfudd, it says so on your passport, but the account on your computer is Mark E. Luuvbug. THERE, I FIXED IT!!!! Microsoft has NOTHING on BURT!!!!! They know all about this MARK dude!!!!! This is revolutionary. Imagine how well you will sleep at night from now on! Heck, you’ll probably live 10 years longer now that the stress is gone.
Yes correct .Recently i have upgraded my laptop with Windows 10 from my legal windows 7 licence without any difficulty.hardly it takes 90 minutes time.Thank you.
I UPGRADED from Windows 7 to MX Linux (Debian-based) six months ago and don’t miss a thing about Windows. IF there is something that absolutely requires MS, I’ve got a Virtualbox machine for that.
Bye-bye, MS!
I down loaded windows 10 onto my Dell laptop computer, now it is in the garbage. The system was not compatible.
Very disappointed.
Also I loaded it on my Acer it works perfectly.
I want know how I can get my money back from Microsoft for my key to Windows 10 Pro.
I don’t expect them to fix an eight year old computer.
My desktop is a dual-boot setup with Windows 7 + 0patch on one drive, Windows 8.1 Pro on a second drive, and a separate, shared data disk. My laptop came with Windows 10 Home, which I upgraded to Pro. I also use a fairly recent HP Chromebook 14 and an older Dell Chromebook 11 which I converted to a GalliumOS Linux machine.
By this time next year, I hope to be using Linux as my primary desktop OS, most likely Mint. I’ll keep my Windows 8.1 and 10 installations mostly to support my daughter and son-in-law who aren’t really computer-savvy, and for a couple of programs that don’t yet have Linux versions or substitutes available.
I upgraded from 8.1 to 10 and successfully used the media creation tool to install Windows 10 on my new PC. Now both show a digital license key, both created by MS. But I bought anyway a Windows license for the new computer since I’m always willing to pay for SW that is usefull and fun to work with …
No, thank you. I will stick with Windows 7 & ESU. Whenever I have to use Windows 10 it feels like i’m being scammed by a call center in India.
Microsoft using their customers as guinea pigs to test their pre-alpha quality features and updates on Windows 10. Cutting corners and being cheap with QA. More troubling, using server side switches to disable and enable features as they please without consent. This is malware from Microsoft and it’s only going to get worst.
Numerous users concerned if they got a virus because of Microsoft’s intrusive behavior. Continuous pushing of ads for Edge chromium and Office 365 anywhere they can within the OS level. At boot users are forced to make an online account. I have seen user file associations for legit software get reset to Microsoft’s own software. Reinstalling OneDrive and other unwanted crap from the store. Adjusting privacy settings to where it benefits Microsoft only. Moving around registry keys so it’s harder to disable all the meddling features no one wants. It’s getting out of hand. Its time Microsoft gets another antitrust.
Everyone working on this garbage OS needs to be fired. Starting from the top management.
I’ve never seen one ad for anything since I installed 10 pro years ago on a machine at home. You can also make a local account instead of an online one, which I strongly suggest doing. It also has never changed my privacy settings and you can bet that I check, often.
Apparently. you think you’re posting up on one of your doily pattern web sites and not one devoted to geeks.
My two Windows 7 “SP2” systems are quite secure with products that run me about $100 a year. They are, in fact, every bit as “secure” as any Windows 10 system running all its resident security strategies. As well, some security fixes have come down in Windows Update. Both run flawlessly 24/7/365 without a hiccup.
Two other systems purchased last year and 2016 have 10 Pro and Home respectively; telemetry cannot be “removed” and keeping them turned off is a full-time job. Security and update services and scheduled tasks that are disabled re-enable themselves in the background. gpedit in Pro and registry teaks in Home provide good methods (manually or with an app) to keep things under control. But it takes spending some, well lots, of time with a sniffer to verify what everyone, but you, knows – telemetry cannot be “turned off.” FYI.
While I won’t be as upbraiding as your Windows7IsForIdiots contempt, you are woefully lacking the requisite expertise in this arena.
just fyi redownloaded today to be sure and cannot use a 4.7gb dvd if you go that route. have to use dual layer dvd.
I have some pc where boot usb SUPPOSED to work but….yeah
If I upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7, what version will I get? or do I get to choose? I’ve been reading about problems with 20H2.
As long as 7 still works, fine.
Win 10 works fine but you have to spend a huge amount of time learning how to make it shut up and keep up to date with the stability of updates.
If you do upgrade, go for Pro or Enterprise; the cost is worth it and cheap legitimate licenses are easy to find. Both can be made to behave well. Home cannot, it’s an ad server, avoid at all costs.
Really, don’t use Home.
I use Kubuntu 20.04, I don’t want to send my data to Micro$oft.
Not a f*ing chance in hell I’m going to do that. Windows 10 is nothing more than a surveillance tool. You can’t control how much of your data microsoft is grabbing and you can’t stop them from installing whatever crap (like games) they want on your PC. F * k microsoft.
Also you can still install Windows 10 with no license at all. In case you have that odd itch to try it that is. Better than compromising your old trusted Windows 7 license.
Win7 or no Windows at all. (My Win7 is air-gapped from the Internet to keep Microsoft from forcing an “upgrade” again, so I don’t use it on the Internet [obviously]. Just one or another Linux distro [or Android, which isn’t all that far from Linux when you get down to it]. I’m very interested in a possible Android Desktop future.)
Some have speculated that Microsoft might very well start positioning Windows on a Linux kernel as the “future of Windows.” Any thoughts on that?
The kernel itself doesn’t matter from a privacy standpoint; it’s what’s in it that does. MS actually has a long Linux history (maybe longer than I’m aware), they sold Linux OS computers for a year or so and there’s a Linux subsystem attached to Windows now which is becoming more complete. IMO, it’s bloatware, use a real distro.
An android desktop seems like jumping from the frying pan to the fire given what Google does now. It would be interesting, though.
With Windows market share, putting much effort into squashing Linux’s 2% or whatever market won’t have much payback. I think what you may be seeing is a gigantic corportation with enough money to fool around wherever they want. Being a public company with shareholder responsibilities, they probably won’t plant a flag anywhere there’s no significant immediate or possible future payoff.
Product development in big “tech” still is mostly aquire and kill. Every few years Google hires a PD Expert to “change the culture” by introducing techniques industries with real competition use. They get slaughtered. With no competition who needs skill?
@ULBoom
You are totally wrong here. Android AOSP is open source and all Google spying can be and is being stripped from it. This is why e.g. /e/ or GrapeneOS can exist. That’s not possible with closed source Windows 10 (even though blocking its connections might still be possible with various hacks, just nothing official).
Android can be de-googled just like Chromium can be de-googled. Not saying that Android will ever be a viable desktop OS, but from a privacy perspective, it is not problematic if you use a de-googled ROM.
*GrapheneOS
One thing to note is that although the upgrade will go through successfully and Windows will show as licensed, the Windows 10 EULA contains
“Successful activation does not confirm that the software is genuine or properly licensed”
I’m not sure how/if they’d check up initial activation dates en masse but I’d be wary of upgrading business machines now that the official “Get Windows 10 for free” campaign is over. Home machines, doesn’t really matter – go for it.
As AMoose noted above, “Successful activation does not confirm that the software is genuine or properly licensed†Which you agreed with when you continued or OK’d – I forget what the wording is.
Not only that, the Microsoft free offer OFFICIALLY EXPIRED on July 29, 2016. Period.
The post-offer free license is easily and legally revocable. Worry not, if that happens, you can simply sue MS.
Meanwhile, Windows 7 & 8.1 systems are legal until catastrophic hardware failure.
move over to W10 and risk system stability as a beta tester?
Having too much fun with stability on Win7 /Win8.1, everything needed here just works without the frustration :)
i upgraded mine from 7 to 10 and everything was working perfectly fine for over an year. Then this morning 03/01/2021 all of a sudden it updated something and windows crashed with blue screen. I spent all day recovering files but in vain and now installing a fresh windows 10 system again.
Running Windows 8.1 on one and Ubuntu on the other computer. When I have to upgrade the Windows computer in a couple of years, it will be probably be Linux Mint that I get.
Try KDE neon, based on Ubuntu with one third the idle memory usage and Plasma desktop. I love it. Tried many, many distros, used Ubuntu for almost a year, can’t stand gnome or all the extensions you need to make gnome usable. Minimal Ubuntu is running our home server well; I rarely go to the desktop, so leave well enough alone.
Mint’s rather primitive, has a long way to go, I’d avoid it. Beyond an easy installer, it’s no more a beginner’s Linux than better distros that are just as easy to learn. KDE neon runs much more smoothly on my 8 GB RAM 10 year old laptop than Mint did; 700 MB RAM at idle.
People still willingly using Windows 7 obviously don’t care about security. You’re using out-of-date software because you’d rather your system be vulnerable to attacks from hackers vs. providing limited telemetry to Microsoft (which can be removed and turned off, FYI).
Will that be susseful.. I want to give a try🙄🙄
@Windows7IsForIdiots
The irony here is that people don’t really care too much about these things. Especially people who are too busy living their life. You wouldn’t know about it as you obviously don’t have a life. Nobody who’s remotely sane will get so outraged about who uses what version of whatever operating system.
Apparently you think you’re posting up on one of your doily pattern forums and not one devoted to geeks.
My two Windows 7 systems are quite secure with products that run me about $100 a year. They are, in fact, every bit as “secure” as any Windows 10 system running all its security strategies. As well, over the years some security updates have come down in Windows Update.
Two other systems purchased last year and 2016 have 10 Pro and Home respectively and telemetry cannot be “removed” and keeping them turned off is a full-time job. Security and update services and scheduled tasks that one disables re-enable themselves in the background. gpedit in Pro and registry teaks in Home provide good methods (manually or with an app) to keep things under control. But it takes spending some, well lots, of time with a sniffer to verify what everyone, but you, knows – telemetry cannot be “turned off.” At best, it can be reduced to a trickle. Otherwise, air-gap the system.
While I won’t be as upbraiding as your Windows7IsForIdiots contempt, you are nonetheless woefully without the requisite expertise in this arena.
Windows 10 is everything but secure.
Telemetry is not “limited” and can’t really be turned off without bricking the inOS.
Enjoy your Windows Spyware Edition and have a nice 1984.
This comment section:
> Using Windows
> Be worried about one’s privacy
What did I miss? The two contradict each other.
My good resolutions for 2021 (Best wishes to all) don’t include switching to Windows 10 but do consider anticipating on my computing’s tomorrows. Windows 7 here for now. Future is either Win10 reluctantly or Linux from the perspective of a new born child. She asked me “Where do you locate your future, Tom?” and I answered “In your eyes, sweetheart”. She replied, that’s BS, honey”. I mean, let’s start the new year with a smile :=)
I think from w7 to w10 its a downgrade.
No need. Windows 7 is good enough (better).
It’s good. But it’s better to upgrade you don’t want hackers in your computer
I’m placing bets on 0Patch coming to the rescue as they’ve done with Win 7 and out of date versions of Windows 10. https://blog.0patch.com/2021/05/0patch-security-adopts-windows-10-v1809.html
Nah, no way.
Why would they close it? The telemetry is valuable and they hope to monitize their users through their app store