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How to Activate Windows 10 with Windows 7 or 8 Key [Answered]
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Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Update–And as we promised you, Microsoft delivered the ability to activateWindows 10with a key from older versions of Windows with theNovember update.
This addition will make activation a lot easier for users who have yet to upgrade their systems toWindows 10.
Namely, you don’t have to upgrade from previous versions of Windows first to get aproduct key, as Microsoft will now recognize your system license, and provide you with a “digital entitlement,” which will make your installation ofWindows 10fully legitimate.
How can I activate Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 key?
Activate Windows 10 from the Settings app
The new build forWindows 10has been released recently, and it brought some changes, both visual and system related.
Besides other additions like Skype Messaging and Video apps, the new build also brought a highly-requested ability to activate yourWindows 10with aproduct keyfrom your previousWindows 7,Windows 8or Windows 8.1.
“We have received a lot of feedback from Insiders on making it easier to activateWindows 10on devices that take advantage of the free upgrade offer to genuine Windows by using existing Windows 7,Windows 8or Windows 8.1product keys,” wrote Gabriel Aul, engineering general manager for Microsoft’s OS group, in ablog post.
And Microsoft indeed received ‘a ton of feedback’ on its support pages dedicated toWindows 10activation errors. There were a lot of threads and more than a thousand messages about it.
People were wondering why they’re not able to manually activateWindows 10, if the automatic activation fails, like they could in previous version of Windows.
Besides using your validWindows 7or Windows 8.1product keyfor activatingWindows 10, if you installWindows 10on a computer that has integratedproduct keyas a part of its firmware,Windows 10installer will locate it, and it will install fully-activated version ofWindows 10on your computer.
“If you install this build of theWindows 10Insider Preview on a PC and it doesn’t automatically activate, you can enter theproduct keyfromWindows 7,Windows 8or Windows 8.1 used to activate the prior Windows version on the same device to activateWindows 10,” said Aul.
Activating your version ofWindows 10with a prior-Windows 10product keyisn’t different than activation with a regularproduct key.
In order to activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7 or Windows 8 key, you just need to do the following:
After doing that, your Windows 10 should be activated and ready to use.
This is a great addition, but it still remains just a promise, as Microsoft still didn’t release theISO filefor build 10565, so we’re unable to check if activation withproduct keyof prior-Windows 10 version of Windows works.
Microsoft will deliver this update update to non-Insider users onWindows 10‘s Current Branch (CD) by the end of the year.
Microsoft already told us that it will release CB updates on every four months, which means that it will arrive sometime in November (four months after July 29th).
But for those of you who are in the Insider Program, you can download the latest build 10565 with this feature from Windows Update now, but only if you’re on the Fast Ring.
More about the topics:Activation Errors,windows 10
Ivan Jenic
Windows Hardware Expert
Passionate about all elements related to Windows and combined with his innate curiosity, Ivan has delved deep into understanding this operating system, with a specialization in drivers and driver troubleshooting.
When he’s not tackling diverse driver-related problems, Ivan enjoys watching good movies and spending time hiking with his family and friends.
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Ivan Jenic
Windows Hardware Expert
Ivan has delved deep into understanding the Windows OS, with a specialization in drivers and driver troubleshooting.
