Windows 10 FREE upgrade, but LATER?

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Image backup windows 7, then upgrade to windows 10, activate it, then image backup windows 10, then restore windows 7 from image backup.

This method is more reliable than praying microsoft still keeps your activation data when you decide to upgrade

 

If you have a legal copy of windows ultimate (which is amazing according to the retail price it had ) than windows 10 will always be free for you, since 10586 is released it will accept retail 7 and 8.x keys.

 

That is probably not true. 10586 recognizes that your Windows 7 key is properly formatted and will continue with the installation but that does not mean that the Microsoft activation server will accept it after the install checks to see if it is legal. If MS turns off free upgrades next year then anyone that waited is screwed.

 

thats why nobody should wait. get an activated copy of 10 before July 2016 on the hardware you will be using then. Once the upgrade offer expires all the HWID's collected during the free win10 upgrade WILL be honored.

@ Enthousiast yeah Windows 7 Ultimate $320 in 2009 makes me

 

It's one of the benefits 10586 brought, it accepts win 7 retail keys, abbodi has posted somewhere wich sort of keys are accepted and which are not. If i remember correctly, oem (systembuilder not slic2.x) keys and retail keys (storebought) will be accepted, slic2.1 bioskeys will not be accepted.

 

i did a fresh install of w10 on a customer laptop and put the w7 key in from underneath at the start of install, activated ok.

 

Please can you clear up what you mean?

 

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My suggested method will work too (it has been documented by Microsoft). On the plus side you also will not be dependent on 3rd party imaging software.

But to each their own (your way can work too).

 

Still don't really understand why people are unwilling to upgrade to 10. Seems like insisting that your black and white TV is good enough when someone is offering you a 55 inch flat screen for free.

 

because some see that 55 inch tv and it has a big hole in the center of it

 

I too am wary of anything for free!!!

 

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The gatherosstate.exe... "process" has it's benefits but won't help the OP after mid next year as it works in conjunction with the same microsoft server activation that will be turned off.
It may be of benefit to them now if they were to create the GenuineTicket.xml on their current Win7 install & then on a different HDD do a fresh Win10 install & use the GenuineTicket.xml to make it genuine & activate it. They would then have a Win10 activation tied to their machine & their Win7 install would remain untouched.
This assumes they have a spare HDD lying arround

 

A similar "hole" exists in your old tv. you just never knew or cared

 

Stability and compatibility comes to mind.

Nvidia hasn't worked out all their bugs in Windows 10 or Microsoft hasn't (one or the other). I get random blue screens when streaming video in my browser (has happen in media player too, but mostly within the browser). I've Google search and the results suggest either driver issue or hardware. As the hardware works perfectly in both Windows 8.1 and Linux, I know the issue is driver related to Windows 10.

 

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