• Windows 10 Free Upgrade Asking For Product Key

You Can Still Use an Old Key with the Anniversary UpdateRELATED:As part of, Microsoft changed the Windows 10 installer disc to also accept Windows 7 or 8.1 keys. This allowed users to perform a clean install Windows 10 and enter a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key during installation. Windows 10 would then report that key to Microsoft’s servers, and Windows 10’s activation servers would give your PC a “digital entitlement” (now a “digital license”) to continue using Windows 10 for free, just as if you had upgraded.This also works from within Windows 10.

Windows 10 is the latest (and last) version of Windows. In this comprehensive guide, you will find genuine product keys you can use to activate your Windows 10.You will also find simple steps on how to activate the operating system using a Windows 10 product key, SLUI, and windows activator.

Even if you don’t provide a key during the installation process, you can head to Settings Update & Security  Activation and enter a Windows 7 or 8.1 key here instead of a Windows 10 key. Your PC will receive a digital entitlement.Now, even though the free upgrade offer is technically over, this method still works in the, either when installing Windows 10 with Anniversary Update media or by entering the key after installing Windows 10. Enter any Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key that hasn’t previously been used to upgrade to 10, and Microsoft’s servers will give your PC’s hardware a new digital license that will allow you to continue using Windows 10 indefinitely on that PC.Microsoft hasn’t released any sort of statement about this upgrade method at all. It’s possible that Microsoft will disable it soon, but it’s also possible Microsoft will look the other way and keep this trick around to encourage more Windows 10 upgrades for a long time to come. How to Use a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Key to Get Windows 10RELATED:This process is easy.

First, you’ll need a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key. If you have one of those lying around, great. If you don’t, you can to find the key currently in use on your Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 PC.

Write it down.Be sure you have backups of your important files before continuing. Even if you plan on performing an upgrade install, something could go wrong. It’s always a good idea to have backups, especially when installing a new operating system. Create Windows 10 installation media if you don’t already have it lying around. You can do this with.

Select “Create installation media for another PC” and the tool will offer to create a bootable USB flash drive or burn a bootable DVD.Insert the installation media into the computer you want to upgrade, reboot, and. Install Windows 10 normally. You can perform an upgrade installation that keeps your existing files or a clean installation that wipes your system drive.When you’re asked to enter a key, enter the Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key.

Windows 10 Free Upgrade Asking For Product Key

Windows 10 was offered as a free upgrade. That made it very tempting to upgrade your existing version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 before the offer ends. But for some people that upgrade didn’t work out so great.Maybe Windows 10 wasn’t working well on their PC, or they didn’t like Windows 10, or the applications that they were using were not working well (or at all) on the new operating system. And, eventually, they decided to downgrade or roll back to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.After doing so, though, the Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 license reported that it is not activated or not genuine.

If that happened to you, read on to resolve this issue.What to do if Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 came pre-installed on your computer before you upgradedAssuming you’ve reinstalled the same version of Windows 7 or 8.1 that you had before upgrading to 10, then your computer should recognize the OEM Marker in your BIOS (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means) – and you should not be prompted to reactivate. If you are getting an activation error, here is what you can do.

Scenario 1: You’re getting a Windows 7 activation error – 0x8007000DIf you are getting activation error 0x8007000D on your Windows 7 PC upon rollback from Windows 10, run the Fix-It program provided by Microsoft for this error and check if it helps. Scenario 2: Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 is asking for Product Key for installation or activation, and you have the sticker on your computerIn some cases after downgrading from Windows 10 you will be asked for a product key to install or activate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Usually a Product Key is located on the sticker (OEM Certificate of Authenticity) attached to your machine. This product key sticker can normally be found at the bottom of a laptop, or in the memory or battery compartments.

On a desktop computer, it is at the top or side of the machine tower or the inside of the removable panel of the system unit (yeah, you might have to open some screws).Below are example images of how this sticker could look like on your machine. Find the sticker and product key before you continue.Now, to check the activation status or to enter a key:. Click Start. Right click Computer.

Click Properties,and here you will see the deadline after which your will have to activate Windows or some of the features will stop working (’23 days to activate’). If you see the letters OEM inside the product ID on your screen then that means that your Windows is already activated. If you don’t see the OEM letters inside the product ID, keep reading.Click on Change product key.Type the product key located on the sticker.

The picture below is, again, an example of how it might look like.Enter the product key and click Next.You will see an activation screen, similar to this one:Wait for Windows to attempt to activate. (Should not take more than 5 minutes)If Windows is successfully activated, you will see the message shown in the screenshot above.You may confirm Windows 7 activation status by going to the system properties window again. Check the Windows Activation section:You will notice Windows 7 now displays OEM within the Product ID to indicate the product channel it is licensed from. Scenario 3: you’re running Windows 8.1 and you couldn’t find the sticker with the product keyAfter Windows 7, Microsoft stopped giving out product keys written on stickers, and instead opted to have them hard-wired into the computer’s BIOS. This was done to stop piracy, and make installation simpler: the computer identifies the product key without needing any action from the user.If you didn’t find a sticker, and Windows 8.1 setup did not retrieve your key automatically, here is how you retrieve the product key from the BIOS.

What to do if you have a boxed version of Windows 7 (and it wasn’t pre-installed on your computer)If so, try the phone activation option using the retail product key found in the Windows 7 product box. See instructions below.

How to do a phone activation. Press Windows Key + R on the keyboard and type slui.exe 4 in the run prompt. Next press the ENTER key.

Select your Country from the list. Choose the Phone Activation option. And call the number that you see on the screen. Be ready with the activation keys, and as soon as you hear a voice asking for the number, start typing the number block by block as you are suggested to do by the voice. When asked, “How many systems is the key working on?” reply with the existing number of systems running the same key.Note: A regular retail key can only activate Windows on one device. Make sure you only have installed and used the key on 1 system.

Hence the answer you give to the question must be 1What if you have a boxed copy but the product key is not available or it is damaged?Did you lose the box or you can’t see the whole number because the sticker is worn out?