Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Be aware: This text was initially revealed in January 2017. It has been up to date a number of instances since then to replicate essentially the most present info. The newest replace was on August 7, 2023.
Microsoft’s free improve provide for Home windows 10 ended almost seven years in the past, however nobody advised the individuals who run the Home windows activation servers. Consequently, you’ll be able to nonetheless improve to Home windows 10 from Home windows 7 or Home windows 8.1 and declare a free digital license for the newest Home windows 10 model, with out being pressured to leap via any hoops.
Additionally: Home windows 11 FAQ: Here is all the things it is advisable to know
That improve is extra vital than ever with help for earlier Home windows variations having formally resulted in January 2023. And it turned out to be an incredible aid to family budgets when the pandemic made working from house (or going to highschool by way of distant classes) all of a sudden fashionable. In the course of the previous three years, thousands and thousands of individuals have taken previous PCs out of storage and gotten up to the mark rapidly, thanks to those free upgrades.
It’s also possible to nonetheless improve Home windows 10 House to Home windows 10 Professional by utilizing a product key from a earlier enterprise version of Home windows 7, 8, or 8.1 (Professional/Final). That improve can prevent as a lot as $100 in OEM improve costs in case you purchase a brand new PC with Home windows 10 House preinstalled. (For particulars, see “How one can improve from Home windows 10 House to Professional with out hassles”.)
Additionally: One of the best Home windows laptop computer fashions: Evaluating Dell, Samsung, Lenovo, and extra
Each method I describe on this article works the identical for Home windows 11 as nicely, though most older PCs might be blocked from upgrading to Microsoft’s latest working system by the stringent Home windows 11 {hardware} compatibility necessities. For these PCs, Home windows 10 stays a viable choice till at the very least October 2025.
On this publish, I am going to cowl the fundamentals of how you can set up Home windows 10 as an improve on older {hardware}. I am going to additionally discuss in regards to the licensing points concerned, that are (as all the time) complicated.
I wrote and revealed the primary model of this publish in early 2017, shortly after Microsoft’s preliminary free improve provide ended. After I downloaded the Home windows 10 improve software and ran it on an previous Home windows 7 PC, I totally anticipated that the improve would fail activation and I might be requested for a product key.
Think about my shock when, as a substitute, I used to be greeted with this display screen:
One digital license, no product key required.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
For the previous five-plus years, I’ve repeated these steps on take a look at PCs at common intervals and confirmed that the free improve software nonetheless works. All through my six-month sabbatical initially of 2023, I continued to obtain e-mail messages from readers providing first-hand studies that their free upgrades had been profitable, with no buy or product key required.
Additionally: How one can downgrade from Home windows 11 to Home windows 10 (there is a catch)
Through the years, a small variety of readers have reported that the improve fails due to a setup error or a compatibility block. For particulars on how you can troubleshoot these errors, see “This free Home windows 10 improve provide nonetheless works. Here is why – and how you can get it”. For assist decoding setup errors, see “Home windows 10: Use setup log recordsdata to troubleshoot set up issues”.
Need your individual digital license to the newest Home windows 10 model? Observe these directions.
How one can improve an previous PC to Home windows 10
If in case you have a PC operating a “real” copy of Home windows 7/8/8.1 (Home windows 7 House, Professional, or Final version, or Home windows 8.x House or Enterprise, correctly licensed and activated), you’ll be able to comply with the identical steps I did to put in Home windows 10 as an improve.
Earlier than getting began, I like to recommend a couple of preliminary duties that may head off potential issues:
Affirm that your copy of Home windows is activated. That is particularly vital in case you lately reinstalled the unique model of Home windows in preparation for the improve.Test for any latest driver updates, particularly for community and storage {hardware}.Obtain and set up any obtainable BIOS updates to your {hardware}; this step is very vital for techniques that had been initially designed in 2017 or earlier, when {hardware} makers had been nonetheless shaking out points with Home windows 10.Again up your knowledge recordsdata to an exterior onerous drive or cloud storage (or each). Think about doing a full system backup to an exterior onerous drive utilizing the Home windows 7 backup program, which can also be obtainable in Home windows 8.x and Home windows 10. Simply run the command Sdclt.exe, after which select the Create A System Picture choice.Briefly uninstall third-party safety software program and low-level system utilities that may intervene with the improve. You may reinstall these applications after the improve is full.Lastly, disconnect any pointless exterior units, particularly USB flash drives and exterior onerous drives. (A number of frequent set up errors might be traced to the Setup program being confused by these further drives.)
With these preliminaries out of the way in which, go to the Obtain Home windows 10 webpage and click on the Obtain now button. After the obtain completes, double-click the executable file to run the Media Creation Device.
You may improve immediately utilizing this software, or create separate media.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Should you’ve downloaded the Media Creation Device on the machine you intend to improve, and you intend to improve that PC and solely that PC, you’ll be able to select the Improve This PC Now choice. That choice installs the newest model of Home windows 10. It sometimes takes about an hour, relying in your {hardware}. (Having an SSD as your system drive is one of the simplest ways to hurry up the method.)
Additionally: Home windows 11 setup: Which person account sort do you have to select?
If you understand you may need to improve to Home windows 10 on multiple PC, or in case you simply need extra flexibility within the occasion that the moment improve fails, select the second choice and save the set up recordsdata to a USB drive or as an ISO file. The obtain takes slightly time, however when it is full, you’ll be able to run the Home windows Setup program manually to put in Home windows 10 on any PC operating any supported Home windows model (sorry, this would possibly not work with PCs operating Home windows Vista or Home windows XP). The precise steps rely on which obtain choice you selected:
USB flash drive: Insert the USB flash drive you simply created right into a free USB slot on the PC you need to improve. Then open File Explorer (Home windows Explorer in Home windows 7) and double-click Setup to put in Home windows 10. Be aware that you simply can not boot from the newly created USB drive or DVD to carry out an improve to Home windows 10. You need to run the Home windows 10 setup program out of your at the moment put in and activated copy of Home windows.ISO file: After the obtain is full, you may have to mount the ISO file and open it in a Home windows Explorer/File Explorer window. On a PC operating Home windows 8.1 or Home windows 10, you’ll be able to double-click the ISO file to open it as a digital drive. On a PC operating Home windows 7, you may want to put in a third-party utility, such because the free, open-source WinCDEmu. After mounting the ISO file, double-click Setup to start out the set up course of.
Then simply comply with the prompts to finish the improve to Home windows 10. You’ll not be requested for a product key, and when the improve is full and you’ve got related to the web, you may have a digital license that’s legitimate for the newest Home windows 10 model, which you’ll affirm by going to Settings > Replace & Safety > Activation. All of your apps and knowledge recordsdata might be obtainable.
The digital license is related to that particular gadget, which suggests you’ll be able to reformat the disk and carry out a clear set up of the identical version of Home windows 10 anytime. (Should you’re pondering of upgrading your previous system drive to an SSD, carry out the improve to Home windows 10 on the previous {hardware}; after confirming that the brand new Home windows 10 model is correctly activated, set up the SSD after which both restore from a backup picture or boot from the USB flash drive to do a clear set up. You will not want a product key, and activation is computerized.)
Is your license legitimate?
And now the large query: in case you avail your self of this improve to Home windows 10, is the ensuing license legitimate?
Your complete “free improve” provide was all the time accompanied by language that was, to place it politely, a bit squishy. And the language across the finish of that supply was equally obscure. For instance, see the solutions I’ve highlighted right here on Microsoft’s Home windows 10 Improve FAQ:
The wording right here is remarkably obscure.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
That is very odd language. The free improve via the Get Home windows 10 app ended on July 29, 2016. Likewise, the dialogue of product keys says a key might be crucial “for this software to work” (not true), but it surely would not say a phrase about licensing.
And in contrast to the weaselly “Real Home windows” label on older upgrades, the activation screens for a Home windows 10 improve particularly affirm the existence of a “digital license.”
Anyway, the free improve provide was prolonged briefly, at the very least for individuals who use assistive applied sciences. The FAQ on a separate web page even referred to as it a “free improve provide extension” and pointedly famous that it was not restricted to particular assistive applied sciences. (I often use the Magnifier utility in Home windows, which is indisputably an assistive expertise.)
In fact, I am not a lawyer, and this column is not authorized recommendation. However I’ll say that I’m personally assured within the activation standing of any PC upgraded utilizing the software on that web page through the eligibility interval.
Additionally: The final word Home windows troubleshooting trick
This extension was, I feel, a really giant nod and a wink, designed to make it straightforward for many who wished a Home windows 10 improve to nonetheless get it whereas placating the OEM companions who had been none too blissful in regards to the year-long emphasis on upgrades moderately than new PC gross sales.
Alas, I say “was”, as a result of the extension (which was itself prolonged) formally ended on Jan. 16, 2018. The web page that previously ran an Improve Assistant now returns an error message.
The large query now could be whether or not Microsoft will ever flip off the code on its activation servers that dispenses digital licenses after an improve from an earlier Home windows model. I’ve continued to check that situation, and I can affirm, lengthy after the tip of help for Home windows 7 and Home windows 8.1, that it nonetheless works.
I am assured that each method I describe on this article will proceed to work. The large query now could be what occurs when Home windows 10 reaches its finish of help deadline in 2025. (And the reply is perhaps “Nothing. Nothing in any respect occurs.” However who is aware of?)
I proceed to listen to from readers sharing their experiences. Should you’ve used this method on a PC, ship a observe to edbott (at) realworldwindows (dot) com to let me know the way it went for you.
And a observe from the writer: Did you miss me whereas I used to be away on sabbatical? You may keep in contact by signing up for my e-newsletter, Ed Bott’s READ.ME. It is free (for now) and I will be doing numerous the identical issues I’ve performed right here at ZDNET and in my books. To enroll, go to https://edbott.substack.com/.