Everyone knows that the free upgrade offer on Windows 10 expired on 29 July 2016. Microsoft then officially completed the Get Windows 10 program by relieving many as it stopped updating the GWX tool on computers unsuspecting users who were totally happy with the current version of Windows they were using.
From 30 July 2016, upgrade notifications stopped, and the GWX app started to disappear. In theory, this could mean that the only way to upgrade to Windows 10 is to pay a license.
The joke is that no one told the administrators of Microsoft activation servers. This means that 3 years after the supposed end of the free upgrade offer, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8,1 if you have a legal key in your oldest operating system.
You can also upgrade Window 10 Home to Window 10 Pro by using a product key from an earlier version of Window 7, 8 or 8.1 (Pro / Ultimate). This can save you 50 with 100 dollars on OEM upgrade charges if you buy a new PC that has Window 10 Home preinstalled.
Too many of our readers, who have tried the old way of upgrading, tell us that this process is still working.
Most of our readers' reports confirm that this upgrade is still working, although a small number report that the upgrade never works by displaying the following message: "Windows 10 installation failed to validate product key".
This is a known issue that happened even when the free upgrade offer was in place. It happens on very few computers with Windows 7 and no one is sure why. But everyone who reported it could fix it using one of the procedures detailed in this article by Microsoft's MVP, Kapil Arya :: [FIX] Windows 10 Setup Has Failed To Validate The Product Key.
So if you have a computer with a genuine copy of Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1, you can easily upgrade to Windows 10.
To get started, download a genuine copy of Windows 10 with the Microsoft's official tool.
You can upgrade directly with this tool or create a separate installation tool.
Follow the instructions to finish downloading and then upgrading.
You will not be prompted for a product key and when the upgrade is complete and you are connected to the Internet, you will have a digital license in Windows 10, which you can confirm by going to Settings> Update & Security> Activation.
Your digital license is attached to this device, which means you can re-delete the drive and perform a clean installation of the same version of Windows 10 at any time without having to use any other activation key.
If you do not have a key, read the following posts:
Windows 10 Professional OEM with 3 Euro
Office 365 Lifetime Subscription Account that does not expire with 11.41 €
