How to upgrade from W7/8.1 without going through the complete upgrade process

I have a quick and silly question. Back in the day, I bought two keys for Windows 8 Pro for 30 bucks, but I think I lost one of them (and the emails, because I regularly wipe those). I've already upgraded my desktop to Windows 10 and wanted to upgrade my laptop today. I can't check whether this machine is using the same licence for Windows 8.1 Pro as my desktop did, however. So... Is that a problem? I could only find out that Windows 10 is linked to your hardware after upgrading from a 'genuine' Windows 7/8/8.1, but is there trouble ahead if I maybe upgrade twice from the same product key? That regular upgrade procedure tool can't seem to download the damn installation files, so I may have to switch to this install procedure. Just want to make sure it will work (if I use the same key by accident).

 

Yeah. I installed 8.1 on my laptop with a generic key, and added my real 8 key after installing. I had to validate it via phone again, but my PC is already on Windows 10 (and thus no longer using that Windows 8 key, right?).

But I'm wondering... Via this method, I could potentially reuse that Windows 8 key again and again to upgrade various computers to Windows 10. That doesn't seem right.

 

Ah. Awesome. Downloaded W10 Pro at work. I'm running that tool on the ISO when I get home, and then I'm good to go. I was afraid upgrading to Windows 10 from this same Windows 8 key might do something with my existing Windows 10 PC, or just not activate on this laptop, since the hardware does not match the hardware info of my PC. (If you're still following. )

At least I now know I lost my other Windows 8 key, if activation via phone is only required when reusing the same key. I should save some emails...

Edit: so what I was saying was correct, by the way? You can reuse the same W8 key to upgrade to new W10 licences until that one is probably flagged for overuse or something.

 

Yep, the only interesting thing about the xml is the SessionID.
Decoded it has these values for Win 7 HB VM w/ loader slic

O S M a j o r V e r s i o n = 6 ;
O S M i n o r V e r s i o n = 1 ;
O S P l a t f o r m I d = 2 ;
P P = 0 ;
H w i d = X w A A A B M A N A A A A A E A B A A A A A E A A g A B A A A A A g A B A A E A l i u U 2 Q 8 W D F z Z g u a 3 3 + D 8 F O c h t x t j q X c A M 3 / + Y Q w A A g A B A Q A C B Q A D A Q A E A g A G A Q A I B w A J A w A K A Q A M B w A A A A A A A A A = ;
P f n = M i c r o s o f t . W i n d o w s . 1 0 1 . X 1 9 - 9 8 8 6 8 _ 8 w e k y b 3 d 8 bb w e ;
D o w n l e v e l G e n u i n e S t a t e = 1

No specific key reference apart from part number (X 1 9 - 9 8 8 6 8 = Win 10 RTM Core Retail)

Code:

HwID is encrypted.

Single byte flag for genuiness.

Haven't tested yet but I think the base 64 (client lock) key is used to decrypt the HwID.

 

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how to see parameters from GenuineTicket.xml

 

[QUOTE = petok; 1136626] làm thế nào để xem các thông số từ GenuineTicket.xml [/ QUOTE]Using winrar, select "view files"

 

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How did you decode the genuineticket.xml to see these?

 

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I forgot to validate the OS first, but all went fine. So I think it's unnecessary.

 

Win 10 RTM Pro Retail ???
Pfn=Microsoft.Windows.48.X19-98841_8wekyb3d8bbwe;
DownlevelGenuineState=1

 

Save as a .ps1 in same folder as xml

Code:

$Path = $PSScriptRoot + "\GenuineTicket.xml"

[xml]$GT = Get-Content ($Path)

$node = $GT.genuineAuthorization.genuineProperties.properties

$Split = $node -split (";") 

if ($Split[1].StartsWith("OA3")) {

$SessionID = $Split[2] -replace ("SessionId=")
}
else {
$SessionID = $Split[0] -replace ("SessionId=")
}

$Decoded = [System.Text.Encoding]::utf8.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String($SessionID))
Write-Host "Decoded SessionID: "  $Decoded

Pause

Yep, The pfn is how it ID's the store upgrade licence (aka "Digital entitlement")

 

I've seen you guys talking about 'installing all drivers on Windows 7 prior upgrading to 10'... this is NOT necessary. I've upgraded more than 10 diff. machines already installing 7 from scratch, no drivers at all (even video was using default resolution, that trashy ms video driver dated 2006), just installed the lan driver so it could have internet access, and windows 10 always ended activated, even after a install from scratch.
So the only driver which is required is ETH or WIFI to grant internet access during the upgrade process.

 

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I think personally, the windows activation is preserved in tokens.dat files because you can see tokens.dat iN two times. (C:\Windows\System32\Spp\Store\2.0 and the other in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSvc).