Windows 10 Activation/Upgrade/Clean Install FAQ

[jason2234]

I did an "in-place" upgrade on my laptop from a DVD I created from my desktop. Everything went swimmingly and W10 is activated. I have signed in and verified my MS account on this laptop. Am I safe to attempt a clean install? W10 is working ok, but the laptop was a bit "buggy" before the upgrade, and it still is with W10-- a fresh install is definitely in order. I just don't want to screw this up...

I did this on my tablet. Upgraded from 8.1 to 10. Took a copy of my windows 10 key just in case and did a fresh install. No issues activating after the fresh install

 

[WindowsX]

Before you do the clean install, I would recommend downloading and installing Belarc Advisor. This will provide you the Windows 10 product key. Once you have the product key in hand, go head and do a clean install. The install process did ask me for the key. And, although, you can skip that page, and more than likely the key will come across as soon as you sign in with your Microsoft account, I didn't want to take a chance. I entered the key, went through the clean install process and Windows 10 was activated as soon as it finished installing.

I did as suggested here for some extra peace of mind, but I do not see a W10 product key anywhere. While my 10 install is indeed activated, when I run this report, it gives me a W8.1 product key-- which is odd, because the machine was previously running W7.

I would very much like to do a clean install, but don't want to screw it up as I did on my desktop and have to start all over again at W7.

 

[WindowsX]

I did this on my tablet. Upgraded from 8.1 to 10. Took a copy of my windows 10 key just in case and did a fresh install. No issues activating after the fresh install

How did you obtain a copy of your W10 key? Under Activation in the Security settings, mine just says "Windows is activated". No key of any sorts anywhere on the page...

 

[Scorpio5x0]

How did you obtain a copy of your W10 key? Under Activation in the Security settings, mine just says "Windows is activated". No key of any sorts anywhere on the page...

If you do a search for a program called Belarc Advisor, it will pull system information for you to include product keys. There are other programs out there as well that provide similar information.

 

[Scorpio5x0]

I did as suggested here for some extra peace of mind, but I do not see a W10 product key anywhere. While my 10 install is indeed activated, when I run this report, it gives me a W8.1 product key-- which is odd, because the machine was previously running W7.

I would very much like to do a clean install, but don't want to screw it up as I did on my desktop and have to start all over again at W7.

Belarc Advisor hasn't been updated yet to include Windows 10, so it sees it as Windows 8.1. What it pulls is your Windows 10 key.

 

[Scorpio5x0]

As a5cent has stated on many occasions you should not need the product key once you have Windows 10 activated after the initial upgrade. I pulled it mainly as part of my troubleshooting as I wanted to make sure that the upgrade process was actually converting the old key to a new Windows 10 key. Once I knew that the key was converted, I could then focus on trying to figure out what was keeping the key from validating.

 

[Dadstar0410]

As a5cent has stated on many occasions you should not need the product key once you have Windows 10 activated after the initial upgrade. I pulled it mainly as part of my troubleshooting as I wanted to make sure that the upgrade process was actually converting the old key to a new Windows 10 key. Once I knew that the key was converted, I could then focus on trying to figure out what was keeping the key from validating.

How long should I have to wait to get Windows activated? So far it's been a day and nothing.

Also, what to I have to do to activate, I.e. Do I have to restart, be up-to-date, etc.?

 

[Scorpio5x0]

How did you update and what error are you receiving?

 

[Scorpio5x0]

How long should I have to wait to get Windows activated? So far it's been a day and nothing.

Also, what to I have to do to activate, I.e. Do I have to restart, be up-to-date, etc.?

This is going to depend on how you updated to Windows 10. If you updated via Media Creation Tool, what worked for me were the below steps. Give it a try and see if it helps.

1 Goto command prompt(Administrator) and at the prompt type:

2 sfc /scannow

3 Once the process starts, click activate license under the system menu.

 

[Dadstar0410]

How did you update and what error are you receiving?

Clean install after upgrade to Windows 10. Error: 0xC004C003

I did sfc /scannow, let it finish, clicked "Activate Windows" and it takes me to Settings.

EDIT: Found this link that literally answers all my questions: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...duct-key/33f31475-93b3-4d1c-812f-4b21fbd807a7

 

[N y c k y]

I attempted to use the Media Creation Tool (as administrator), and whenever I select the "Upgrade this PC now" option, no matter how many times I try, it always shows "Something happened". What seems to be the problem?

I am also wondering how can I use the Windows 10 Home ISO that I downloaded (which requires a key, as mentioned in the first post) to bypass all the other options. I really want to avoid downloading the upgrade, as I have done it and it failed, plus, I don't really have a fast connection and have a daily data limit.

I know that I should be patient, but I am having second thoughts on whether I should gamble my time on downloading the 5+GB update (which was only 2.7GB on my first attempt). Hope you guys have some workaround for this.

 

[shreyas24]

This is going to depend on how you updated to Windows 10. If you updated via Media Creation Tool, what worked for me were the below steps. Give it a try and see if it helps.

1 Goto command prompt(Administrator) and at the prompt type:

2 sfc /scannow

3 Once the process starts, click activate license under the system menu.

I did my update thru windows update by using wuauclt.exe... However even after finishing download the upgrade process did not start. And now the entire windows 10 download has started from 1%

 

[Scorpio5x0]

Sorry, the only issue that I came across was not being able to activate after using the Media Creation Tool. The sfc scan seemed to kick start the activation. Only machine I don't have updated is my Dell Venue Pro 8. But I believe the update is failing on there due to a lack of available drive space.

 

[dishantshah]

Can I upgrade through ISO file or do I have to upgrade through media creation tool only?

 

[anon(9257006)]

A new FAQ item I think ought to be there:

I get all kinds of different errors when I force the upgrade to start.
- This is because you cannot force it, not really. It fails because it is hardcoded to do so until the upgrade is ready for that device
(See link for details: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/windows-update-installation-failure-80240020/d695e827-9774-4e10-8972-df8d51a7bb51?auth=1")

 

[dvdhills]

I did a upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my desktop pc. The Local Accounts all made it through the transfer. I was able to log onto my local account and link it with my microsoft account. On the other two local accounts it will not connect with the Microsoft account. I log into the local account, go to the account settings under your account. I select "Sign in with microsoft account instead". I give the microsoft account user name and password and then answer the prompt for the local account password. I click next and it goes right back to the settings window with no change.
I have upgraded two other machines and do not have this problem with any of the accounts on those machines. After I linked my local and microsoft accounts I did add a work email that asked to change some of the security policies. This is the only explanation I can think of. Can anyone tell me how to get this to work. I do not want to delete the local accounts because they contain all of our data.

 

[xrko]

Can a clean ISO install be activated by paying $199 and getting product key that way?

 

[a5cent]

Can a clean ISO install be activated by paying $199 and getting product key that way?

Of course. Buying a Windows license always gets you a license key for that version of Windows.

 

[netmann]

Can a clean ISO install be activated by paying $199 and getting product key that way?

If you happen to have a legit copy (DVD or ISO) of Win7sp1 or Win8/8.1 laying around, you can use that for a clean install. I did not want to lose the Media Center in my 8.1 Pro on my main machine, so I found a two year old Win8pro ISO file which I used to upgrade to Win10pro on a separate partition. Now I am dual booting Win10 and Win8.1.....

 

[dvdhills]

I still cannot make 2 of the local accounts log in to the Microsoft account. I have now successfully done this on 5 computers and failed on only one. Same 3 local accounts and same 3 Microsoft accounts. On one machine, only 1 of the accounts were successful.

It did not work for me. I reset the Advanced settings in IE. I checked on and off the TLS boxes. With them unchecked, I cannot even enter the Microsoft account information. With them checked on I get through the process of entering my Microsoft account information, then entering my local account password. As soon as I click next it goes straight to the account settings page with no effect.

I even reset to the earliest restore point I had. It didn't work. I have tried to run secpol.msc, but it does not exist on my machine.



I am convinced that my work email made this happen when I let it change the security settings. I have deleted that account, but I do not know how to undo the changes.

Any insight on this would be appreciated.