Reuse of win7 key after upgrade to 10

psionic98 · Jan 10, 2017

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it. I also know that it's possibly more an ethical than technological as well..

I got a new system that I'm in the process of building. Current system is a win7 upgraded to win10, which by MS license I believe says it just transfers existing over. It does not technically say its disabled win7 key in order to upgrade it to a win10 key (which I know is not really a key anymore). What I was hoping to do is install a fresh copy of win10 on the new machine, sign in to my MS account so it transfers the key from old pc to new pc (which should disable old pc?). Then from there downgrade old pc back to win7 using the existing key I have.

I have read that people have been able to do it multiple times before the key is disabled.. reminiscent of the old XP keys that you could use multiple times b4 blacklisting.

If this post is inappropriate then it's ok to close it out.. I've been here long enough to not get flamed/torn up over something like this lol.

Just looking for info since I can't afford another copy of windows atm and I don't want to downgrade to XP or any earlier (have em all the way back to 3.1). I am basically reverting the system in my sig over to something my kids can use for games/internet/school etc. I'd rather keep it win10 as well, but I'll take what I can get right now.

wingman99 · Jan 10, 2017

I don't think folks can get the free upgrade to windows 10 now. Also you can't transfer windows OEM from one PC to another.

psionic98 · Jan 10, 2017

I know you can't get the free upgrade anymore, but if you link your win10 up to your MS account it should alleviate the hassles of having to call MS if you get new hardware (MB) etc with your existing windows.. I was hoping it worked that way with a fresh install too, but I haven't looked in to that honestly. I guess i can do a copy from my current main drive over to my ssd, but I really wanted the fresh copy.

wingman99 · Jan 10, 2017

When I just did a clean install Windows 10 it Activated with my existing hardware I did not need my key.

knoober · Jan 10, 2017

The prevailing wisdom is that the Win10 license is tied to the hardware with unbreakable magic or something (that is how it validates automatically without a key: because it is keyed to the hardware). With that fact in mind I am not certain you would be able to move it in the way you suggested and then downgrade. You will probably have to fresh install Win7 and move they key the old fashioned way (and purchase Win10 separately at a later time).

Good luck and post back with your results though

psionic98 · Jan 10, 2017

Hmmm.. so if I did a clone of my current spinner on to my SSD, threw it in the new machine and booted it.. worst case "should" be that i need to call MS to say..yo..reactivate i changed hardware.. since the original win7 was purchased from MS so the key is not preinstalled etc (i think thats retail vs OEM right?)..

I really dont want to repurchase, but ugh.. if i have to it'll suck..its really the old (current sig rig) that i wanted to keep around.. if I have to throw 2k or something on there I will

Mpegger · Jan 10, 2017

Was the older system a prebuilt system, for example a complete system purchased from Dell? Not much you can do in that case as the Windows 7 key is a OEM key built into the bios.

Was the older system something you put together yourself and installed Windows 7 on? Then the W7 key isn't a OEM key, so you can just re-install W7 on the new system, use the original Windows 7 key, then call up MS and give them some story how you had to change out some hardware because of lightning strike, PSU caught on fire, video card exploded, whatever. However, I do not know what would happen to the W10 install on the old system if you reuse the W7 key on the new system.

psionic98 · Jan 10, 2017

Thanks all.. I'll see what I do or do not accomplish! And my version is retail..built the last pc and now the one in parts in my basement. I was thinking to maybe just close my raptor (<200gb used) to the ssd and see how it fairs. Only thing i am unsure about is the clone.. i read somewhere that the backup settings could get messy, but it didn't specify much about it. I really just need to buck up the 90 bux or so and just get a 2nd copy of win10 lol.

Vishera · Jan 11, 2017

No need for the hassle. If it really is a legit copy, then go to the activation screen on Win7 and opt to use the automated phone system. A number will be displayed, broken into blocks, labeled A through H. The phone system, when you call it and tell it you wanna activate a windows copy, will ask you to input each block. Then it'll give you a new string of numbers to put in the empty boxes below the string you gave it. Then voila, it's activated.

trents · Jan 12, 2017

Vishera said:
No need for the hassle. If it really is a legit copy, then go to the activation screen on Win7 and opt to use the automated phone system. A number will be displayed, broken into blocks, labeled A through H. The phone system, when you call it and tell it you wanna activate a windows copy, will ask you to input each block. Then it'll give you a new string of numbers to put in the empty boxes below the string you gave it. Then voila, it's activated.

Yep, that's the way it works but there's still the ethical issue of having already used that Windows 7 product to upgrade to Windows 10 on another machine. So you are using, in effect, the same copy of Windows 7 on two machines.

Check ebay. You can get Windows 7 license keys for no much.

Vishera · Jan 12, 2017

trents said:
Yep, that's the way it works but there's still the ethical issue of having already used that Windows 7 product to upgrade to Windows 10 on another machine. So you are using, in effect, the same copy of Windows 7 on two machines.

Check ebay. You can get Windows 7 license keys for no much.

No different than reusing the product key. I've used my windows 7 product key a few times now, never given me any errors.

Alaric · Jan 12, 2017

Windows 10 inexorably locks on to the specific mobo. We have a member (Ivy) who recently had to RMA a motherboard and couldn't get the Win10 install to validate. Same rig, same mobo except for serial # and no go. I'm not sure how it turned out in the end, but the hoops described in the process were enough to convince me W10 is a pain to transfer, if it's even possible.

||Console|| · Jan 13, 2017

www.kingquin.net 20$ win 10

psionic98 · Jan 13, 2017

Well I found my win7 disk and since the new rig isnt fully completed (ram ready to RMA, but 1 stick worked).. its setup with a fresh win10 install and I tried my win7 key and it just activated as win10.. now the strange thing is.. I am not 100% sure this is my original win7 disk cause it was a DL back when i got it originally and i burned it to disk with a key.. and now that the keys are store in UEFI or some other extra special place I can't confirm I am using the key 2x on 2 win10 machines..

They were both running simultaneously without blacklisting either OR asking for credentials that hardware changed.. so I'm seriously confused lol. I don't trust the apps that supposedly pull your win key and now that you can't powershell the query to find it its hard to tell what I'm running. Either way.. until one of them or both of them deactivate and scream at me I have technically 2 machines up with win10 with POSSIBLY the same keys.. strange, unethical, but I work in IT for a hospital and we have a saying.. if you don't put the security in place to stop me from doing something then it's not my fault I did it!

Thanks for all the feedback guys.. and Console.. I never trusted that site.. I know it had youtube reviews and such, but something doesn't sit right with a $20 key for a $200 key from MS.. its either Retail/MSDN (which i think expire after a time) or possibly hacked/stolen.. and I don't wanna deal with that atm. I don't think I've seen anyone on here post that they've gotten anything from there with any validity.. though I didn't really check either.

||Console|| · Jan 13, 2017

Yea it's a OEM key

wingman99 · Jan 13, 2017

psionic98 said:
Well I found my win7 disk and since the new rig isnt fully completed (ram ready to RMA, but 1 stick worked).. its setup with a fresh win10 install and I tried my win7 key and it just activated as win10.. now the strange thing is.. I am not 100% sure this is my original win7 disk cause it was a DL back when i got it originally and i burned it to disk with a key.. and now that the keys are store in UEFI or some other extra special place I can't confirm I am using the key 2x on 2 win10 machines..

They were both running simultaneously without blacklisting either OR asking for credentials that hardware changed.. so I'm seriously confused lol. I don't trust the apps that supposedly pull your win key and now that you can't powershell the query to find it its hard to tell what I'm running. Either way.. until one of them or both of them deactivate and scream at me I have technically 2 machines up with win10 with POSSIBLY the same keys.. strange, unethical, but I work in IT for a hospital and we have a saying.. if you don't put the security in place to stop me from doing something then it's not my fault I did it!

Thanks for all the feedback guys.. and Console.. I never trusted that site.. I know it had youtube reviews and such, but something doesn't sit right with a $20 key for a $200 key from MS.. its either Retail/MSDN (which i think expire after a time) or possibly hacked/stolen.. and I don't wanna deal with that atm. I don't think I've seen anyone on here post that they've gotten anything from there with any validity.. though I didn't really check either.

I'm glade you have it activated with the windows 7 key.

Was the windows 7 key OEM or Full retail licence?

psionic98 · Jan 13, 2017

If it is the one I purchased back some 8 years ago its OEM, so it should transfer just fine. Just scares me that i have 2 win10 on 1 key.. waiting to get blacklsited or something and lose em

trents · Jan 14, 2017

Vishera said:
No different than reusing the product key. I've used my windows 7 product key a few times now, never given me any errors.

Not if the product key has not been used before. I'm talking about the ethical issue of reusing the product key on multiple computers. Not saying you can't get it to register by calling the microsoft automated phone number.

Vishera · Jan 14, 2017

We paid money for our licenses, and Microsoft seemingly had no issues with the keys being reusable on XP. I can't say if they were re-usable on Vista and 8, but even if they weren't, they're the problem children of the windows lineup. Who cares?

You have to figure that even with advancements in tablets and phones, many homes have at least two computers, maybe even three. One for each parent, and one for the kids to share, or the parents share one and the kids share. $200-$300 ON TOP of what you paid for the machines is absolutely insane! And you can justify that? It's not an ethical issue, we're not pirating the keys or anything like that. We paid money for these keys, whether they were on the envelope of a disc or we bought it digitally from microsoft. We should get this longevity from them. I can understand if someone managed to find a virus free torrent of windows and just call technical support at microsoft, that would definitely be wrong. But if they had an issue with it, auto registration via phone wouldn't be an option.

To quote OP, if you don't put the security measures in to stop me, it's your fault when I successfully do it.

EDIT: And Microsoft have intentionally put this system into place! They INTEND for this to happen!

trents · Jan 14, 2017

Vishera said:
We paid money for our licenses, and Microsoft seemingly had no issues with the keys being reusable on XP. I can't say if they were re-usable on Vista and 8, but even if they weren't, they're the problem children of the windows lineup. Who cares?

You have to figure that even with advancements in tablets and phones, many homes have at least two computers, maybe even three. One for each parent, and one for the kids to share, or the parents share one and the kids share. $200-$300 ON TOP of what you paid for the machines is absolutely insane! And you can justify that? It's not an ethical issue, we're not pirating the keys or anything like that. We paid money for these keys, whether they were on the envelope of a disc or we bought it digitally from microsoft. We should get this longevity from them. I can understand if someone managed to find a virus free torrent of windows and just call technical support at microsoft, that would definitely be wrong. But if they had an issue with it, auto registration via phone wouldn't be an option.

To quote OP, if you don't put the security measures in to stop me, it's your fault when I successfully do it.

EDIT: And Microsoft have intentionally put this system into place! They INTEND for this to happen!

A classic example of rationalization.

If you read the microsoft end user license statements for retail versions of Windows it clearly says that the license is to be used for one machine at a time. If the license is used to upgrade to a later OS then the license is still in use on that machine. To then take that license to install the original OS on another machine is using it twice. With OEM Windows licenses the license to use the OS is stated in the license agreement to be legal for use only on the machine it was originally shipped with and installed on.

Now, you and I may not agree with these microsoft license rules but obviously they have been scrutinized by attorneys and magistrates and found to be legal.

Technically, you do not own the license when you buy a copy of windows. You buy the right to use it according to the licensing rules stipulated by the author.

Sounds like you should change over to Apple where the OS is free. You can download it onto any Mac, put it on a thumb drive and then create as many hackintosh's for personal use as you want.

Reuse of win7 key after upgrade to 10

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