Once win 10 users, now on 8.1 can I upgrade to 10 now?

[TusharG]

Is it possible to upgrade to Windows 10 now? I used Windows 10 for almost 5 months but did fresh install of Windows 8.1 after that. I had sleep issues on laptop on Windows 10. I have Windows 10 installation USB. I tried fresh install now but it said Windows not activated and I could not active it. Since I do not have the serial no, it's in bios on new laptops. So I am back on Windows 8.1 at the moment. I am sure my copy for Win 10 when used was registered in ms servers

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[vezycash]

Technically, your stuff should get activated.

If you used a microsoft account earlier, install windows 10 again and then login your microsoft account. It should activate.

If it doesn't, here's an article on how to get the free upgrade: Assistive technology PC users will continue to get a free Windows 10 update | Windows Central

 

[BenIsCool]

I think you still can.

 

[TrueMetalGeek]

When I upgraded to windows 10 on each PC I then used a tool to read the newly generated key for each PC and wrote that down. Then I was able to do fresh installs.

 

[TusharG]

Thanks a lot everyone. My issue solved. This time, Instead of fresh Win10 install, I upgraded it from 8.1 to Win 0 and then tried tried to activate it. It failed but I noticed that for some reason my upgraded copy was Win10 single language instead of Win10 Home. I looked at Microsoft site that said if you are a Win 8.1 home user you should jump to Win10 Home and not Win 10 single language edition. I used a generic key from one of the youtube channel to change my copy to Win 10 Home. The activation failed again! I used ProduKey and extracted my Bios key and clicked on change my product from activation page. Inserted my Bios key and that worked!
I dont know why it failed to read key from my bios but finally i am back to Windows 10 and I immediately installed anniversary update. So far i do not see freezing issue that troubled me in past.
Thanks again for your help.