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

That is what I remember. I think I was in front of the computer and it took some minutes. I installed W7 Pro and I immediately upgraded to W10, without adding software, apart from the Internet Browser and things like that. But maybe I am completely wrong, I apologize if this is the case.

So basically, if I activate W7 with the Daz Loader and I upgrade to W10 from the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, I will keep the activation (only that it is better and faster with the clean install)

Thanks Enthousiast and whitestar99!

 

@whitestar_999 (or anyone)

So the ISO setup lets me choose between Upgrade and Custom. I choose Custom and then it tells me that the previous files and folder will be moved to a Windows.old folder



I could format myself the partition before, so there won't be Windows.old folder, which is desirable in terms of disk space. But... is this possible, to keep the activation and all? If this is the case, the Daz activation is in the BIOS or something?? (this was my doubt)

 

This is neither an upgrade nor a clean install.....

 

Which one, the option with the .old folder?

What would be a clean install, formatting the disk first? Is this what is indicated in the original post?

 

Clean/fresh install means formatting the C drive & install windows from scratch.
Upgrade means extract the contents of win 10 iso to a folder inside win 7 & then run setup.exe from within win 7 which will then upgrade win 7 to win 10.
This thread purpose is to generate genuineticket.xml within win 7 & then use that after fresh install of win 10 to activate it.

There is one important thing.Make sure there are no missing device drivers in win 7 when you try gatherosstate.exe & genuineticket.xml method.To check it just open device manager in win 7 & confirm there are no exclamation marks.This is no issue for upgrade method though(I think so).

 

Drivers should be installed in both cases (the genuineticket is used in both scenarios).

 

I see.I thought that upgrade process takes care of installing missing drivers first(assuming online system) before generating a unique hardware id for the system.

 

Upgrade only installs the Win 10 drivers but doesn't care to update the Win 7 ones. That needs to be done manually before the upgrade in both cases. Else the process might fail to identify the system correctly.

 

I followed the instructions. I am in Windows 10 now.

When I connected online (after the required disconnection) the Activation menu said "Unable to reach Windows activation servers"

But I rebooted again and now it says "Windows is activated with a digital licence"

So... I think that is all! (isn't it...?)

Thanks to the posters who helped me, Daz for the loader and Yen for this thread.

Two more questions:

1- Can I update Windows normally? Is there an update to avoid? (I used the Daz Loader) And I suppose I can add hardware normally...?

2- Can I export the C: drive as an image to a SDD and keep the activation? Is it preferable to install Windows again from scratch, with the same method?

 

There were never updates to avoid since the loader was released, not on vista and 7, not for KMS on 8.1 and a HWID for 10 being 100% legit, there is also no need to avoid any updates.

The HWID/Digital License is linked to the hardware it's established on and stored on MSFT servers, valid for the lifetime of the hardware.

You can link the HWID to your MSA and use it for re-activation in the case you change the hardware (mobo/lan).

 

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What is the MSA?

So I can’t just copy the system as an image to a SDD, I have do something else…?

 

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You create a microsoft account & then in win 10 control panel--user accounts settings you can choose option "login using microsoft account".Once you do that the Microsoft account will add your system as device running win 10 pro in your ms account settings--devices.You can then switch back to your usual local win 10 account for login.In future if you change your motherboard then win 10 activation will be invalid as it is tied to hardware at the time of activation.At that time use your ms account to login & it will reactivate your system with now different hardware(new mobo) by creating a new device in your ms account settings & transferring the win 10 license from older device to this newer device.

You can use any imaging software,as long as motherboard remains same there should not be any issues in most cases.If simply switching hdd/ssd then no issues at all.

 

I'm planning to add another stick of ram. Will this affect activation at all?

 

It shouldn't.

 

Adding(or replacing) ram/hdd/gfx card should not have any effect on activation.

 

HDD?* I do not think.

 

This whole sticky thread of "getting free upgrade to win 10 from win 7/8.1 without doing full upgrade procedure" is based on this.Hard disk & ram are the two components in a system that have the least chances of affecting win 10 activation.

 

The thread is based on the use of gatherosstate.exe, sadly it's a bit outdated and cluttered.