I am a bit confused on the whole upgrade situation with windows 10 and product keys. I was hoping to get some clarification.
So I installed insider preview of Windows 10 from a genuine 8.1 pro on a laptop. I first installed 10074, then 10130, then 10158 now 10159. I noticed it was running very slow and laggy from all the upgrades and installations (+previous use). So I decided to do a clean install. I chose the option to wipe out all my files and then chose the "remove files and clean the drive" option that would take longer. Once the OS booted I could not change any of my settings and it said "Windows is not activated" I went to go activate windows and the product key wasn't valid. The last part of the key started with "78XXX" Which is weird since you don't need to activate Insider Previews because they already come pre-keyed. So I did a google search and found the product key that Microsoft is giving everyone for Insider Previews. This key didn't match the one that was listed on my computer nor did it match the 8.1 pro key I have. I have no idea where it came from. I punched in the correct key for MS Insider Previews and it works fine now.
But my problem is this. Now that I have a fresh copy of Insider Preview 10159 how will Windows know I was running a genuine version of Windows 8.1 when upgrade time comes? How will it be able to "see" my old version of windows 8.1 was genuine and I wasn't using a non-genuine or pirated version? I understand when you upgrade from a genuine 7 or 8.1 Microsoft will log that into the system and you will be given installation media (ISO) to do a clean install.
I guess the safe bet would be to do a clean install of windows 8.1 pro again a few days before July 29 (assuming my product key will still work) and then upgrade to 10 Pro and then I could clean install if needed.
Thanks for any help.
So I installed insider preview of Windows 10 from a genuine 8.1 pro on a laptop. I first installed 10074, then 10130, then 10158 now 10159. I noticed it was running very slow and laggy from all the upgrades and installations (+previous use). So I decided to do a clean install. I chose the option to wipe out all my files and then chose the "remove files and clean the drive" option that would take longer. Once the OS booted I could not change any of my settings and it said "Windows is not activated" I went to go activate windows and the product key wasn't valid. The last part of the key started with "78XXX" Which is weird since you don't need to activate Insider Previews because they already come pre-keyed. So I did a google search and found the product key that Microsoft is giving everyone for Insider Previews. This key didn't match the one that was listed on my computer nor did it match the 8.1 pro key I have. I have no idea where it came from. I punched in the correct key for MS Insider Previews and it works fine now.
But my problem is this. Now that I have a fresh copy of Insider Preview 10159 how will Windows know I was running a genuine version of Windows 8.1 when upgrade time comes? How will it be able to "see" my old version of windows 8.1 was genuine and I wasn't using a non-genuine or pirated version? I understand when you upgrade from a genuine 7 or 8.1 Microsoft will log that into the system and you will be given installation media (ISO) to do a clean install.
I guess the safe bet would be to do a clean install of windows 8.1 pro again a few days before July 29 (assuming my product key will still work) and then upgrade to 10 Pro and then I could clean install if needed.
Thanks for any help.