Windows 10

[gamepimp]

Hi all. I just put together a new PC for gaming. I have an old copy of Windows 8 that I threw on there and subsequently upgraded to 8.1 after that. I then downloaded Win 10 and upgraded once again. So far it seems to be running fine without any notices to "activate" it, although I'm wondering if that will happen at some point down the line. The copy of Win 8 I used had initially been installed on an older computer which was upgraded to 10 when M$ was letting users do that for free. Is it possible that the serial key from that is being recognized and that's why I'm able to install 10 again on this new build?

Assuming that I may get a notice that I need to pay for a new key when the time comes, I remember there was a thread recently where some suggestions were made on the cheapest way to get one. I tried using the search function, but it seems like it might be broken right now. The site returns a message "Unable to access the search daemon". I also tried a manual search with no luck. If someone remembers that thread and can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. 

[Phreakwars]

You shouldn't get any activation prompts at all. Upgrading from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 is free. In fact, you can take an old Windows 7 activation key, completely wipe out the drive and do a fresh install of Windows 10, use the old Windows 7 key, and it will activate for you. You should only run into issues if you are using Windows Vista or older. Microsoft offers this upgrade for free with Windows 7/8 activation serials as part of an initiative to get as many people as possible on the Windows 10 platform.

[gamepimp]

You shouldn't get any activation prompts at all. Upgrading from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 is free. In fact, you can take an old Windows 7 activation key, completely wipe out the drive and do a fresh install of Windows 10, use the old Windows 7 key, and it will activate for you. You should only run into issues if you are using Windows Vista or older. Microsoft offers this upgrade for free with Windows 7/8 activation serials as part of an initiative to get as many people as possible on the Windows 10 platform.

I didn't realize they were still offering that as a "free" option. When they first rolled out Win 10 I thought they were letting users upgrade for free up to a certain point in time. Maybe that was for all Windows users and now they just let computers running 7 and 8 do it? At any rate, glad to know that I won't have to worry about trying to pay for a key down the road. 

[Osirus23]

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[gamepimp]

Officially you could upgrade to 10 at no cost for the first year. Unofficially they never stopped it from working.

I see. Finally something that's actually "consumer friendly" from M$. LOL!

[Phreakwars]

You'll notice there has not been any new versions of Windows in quite some time, just updates. I think the idea is, get as many people as possible on the platform and that's less overall hotfixes and updating that need to be done. I mean think about it. Supporting XP, then Vista, then 7, then 8, now 10, that's alot of work rolling out fixes for each one. Granted XP, Vista, and I believe 7 (if I'm remembering correctly) are now at end of life and no longer supported except on the enterprise platform. This leaves them open to do more cross platforming for other devices like phones and tablets and what have you. It's all about making money, and just selling you an OS isn't where the money is at any more. It's in all the other BS they wanna ram down your throat. But, I guess that's the way of the world.