Be aware: This text was initially revealed in January 2017. It has been up to date a number of instances since then to mirror essentially the most present data. The newest replace was on January 18, 2025.
When Microsoft launched Home windows 10 in 2015, it provided the brand new working system as a free, no-strings-attached improve for anybody nonetheless working a supported, absolutely activated earlier model of Home windows. That provide was solely imagined to final for one yr, however Microsoft quietly saved its activation servers working for greater than eight years, granting free digital licenses to Home windows 10 on {hardware} initially licensed to be used with Home windows 7 and Home windows 8.1.
That loophole formally closed on September 20, 2023, when Microsoft posted an not easily seen announcement on an internet site for its {hardware} companions. (For particulars, see “It’s official: No more free Windows 10 upgrades”.)
Additionally: Is Windows 10 too popular for its own good?
Since that announcement, I’ve heard from a number of readers who tried to improve their Home windows 7 and Home windows 8.x techniques and found they weren’t correctly activated after the Home windows 10 installer accomplished its work. (Programs that had been beforehand activated nonetheless proceed to work correctly, although.) Surprisingly, I’ve additionally heard from a handful of correspondents who’ve been profitable in activating their PCs after upgrading an outdated Home windows model to Home windows 10.
I am not stunned by these sporadic reviews of success. Microsoft’s activation servers work in mysterious methods, they usually’re usually beneficiant when it comes to granting digital licenses even when an set up does not comply with the letter of the licensing guidelines. On condition that uncertainty, there’s in all probability no hurt in making an attempt to improve an outdated PC to Home windows 10, so long as you are ready to cope with activation points.
However does it make sense to even attempt?
These upgrades made excellent sense in 2020, when individuals had been pulling outdated PCs off the shelf to regulate to the brand new pandemic-era work-at-home mandates. These outdated computer systems might need been extra mature than a shiny new gadget, however they had been completely able to performing frequent enterprise duties and had at the least 5 years of help forward of them.
Additionally: Can your old PC handle the Windows 11 upgrade? How to find out – before you try
At the moment, the state of affairs is totally completely different. Any pc that was initially licensed to run Home windows 8.x is at the least 9 years outdated, and a PC that was constructed for Home windows 7 might be 12 years outdated or extra. In technological phrases, these units are dinosaurs, and even a dirt-cheap trendy PC will run rings round them.
Extra importantly, even when you’ll be able to full that improve, you might have months, not years, of help forward of you. Home windows 10 reaches its end-of-life date on October 14, 2025. You may pay $30 to receive updates for an extra year, however that is absolutely the finish of the road, until you’ll be able to override Microsoft’s strict compatibility necessities and upgrade that PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11. However that opens up an entire new can of worms.
Alternatively, in the event you actually love that outdated PC and might’t bear to say goodbye, effectively, learn on.
Upgrades nonetheless work, however activation in all probability will not
Most {hardware} that initially shipped with Home windows 7 or Home windows 8.x is completely able to working Home windows 10. Underneath most circumstances, the improve succeeds, even when the system fails the activation examine on the finish. You may nonetheless set up apps, play video games, run productiveness software program, and set up safety updates on a PC working an unactivated copy of Home windows 10; you will not have the ability to personalize the Home windows interface, although, and a few non-obligatory updates will not be out there.
You will additionally see a message in Settings and on the desktop warning that the system will not be correctly activated.
Additionally: How to downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10 (there’s a catch)
You may full activation and take away these restrictions by getting into a sound Home windows 10 product key to your version (Residence or Professional). Your outdated Home windows 7/8.x product keys now not work, sadly.
On this submit, I cowl the fundamentals of how one can set up Home windows 10 as an improve on older {hardware}. I am going to additionally speak concerning the licensing points concerned, that are (as all the time) complicated. And, after all, there’s the looming end-of-support deadline for Home windows 10. As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft will now not supply updates to Home windows 10 PCs until you’ve got paid for Prolonged Safety Updates. (For particulars, see “If your Windows 10 PC can’t be upgraded, you have 5 options before time runs out”)
Each method I describe on this article works the identical for Home windows 11 as effectively, though most older PCs can be blocked from upgrading to Microsoft’s latest working system by the stringent Windows 11 hardware compatibility requirements. (It is potential to work around some of those restrictions, for {hardware} that is not too outdated.)
Learn how to improve an outdated PC to Home windows 10
You probably have a PC working Home windows 7/8/8.1 (Home windows 7 Residence, Professional, or Final version, or Home windows 8.x Residence or Enterprise, correctly licensed and activated), you’ll be able to set up Home windows 10 as an improve.
Earlier than getting began, I like to recommend just a few preliminary duties that may head off potential issues:
- Verify that your copy of Windows is activated. That is particularly essential in the event you just lately reinstalled the unique model of Home windows in preparation for the improve.
- Test for any latest driver updates, particularly for community and storage {hardware}.
- Obtain and set up any out there BIOS updates to your {hardware}; this step is particularly essential for techniques that had been initially designed in 2017 or earlier, when {hardware} makers had been nonetheless shaking out points with Home windows 10.
- Again up your knowledge information to an exterior exhausting drive or cloud storage (or each). Take into account doing a full system backup to an exterior exhausting drive utilizing the Home windows 7 backup program, which can be out there in Home windows 8.x, Home windows 10, and Home windows 11. Simply run the command Sdclt.exe, after which select the “Create a system picture” choice.
- Briefly uninstall third-party safety software program and low-level system software program such as exhausting disk utilities that may intrude with the improve. You may reinstall these packages after the improve is full.
- Lastly, disconnect any pointless exterior units, particularly USB flash drives and exterior exhausting drives. (A number of frequent set up errors might be traced to the Setup program being confused by these further drives.)
With these preliminaries out of the way in which, go to the Download Windows 10 webpage and click on the “Obtain Now” button. After the obtain completes, double-click the executable file to run the Media Creation Software.
In case you’ve downloaded the Media Creation Software on the machine you propose to improve, and you propose to improve that PC and solely that PC, you’ll be able to select “Improve this PC now.” That choice installs the newest model of Home windows 10. It sometimes takes about an hour, relying in your {hardware}. (Having an SSD as your system drive is one of the best ways to hurry up the method.)
Additionally: You can still upgrade old PCs to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no: Readers prove it
If you already know you may need to set up Home windows 10 (as an improve or as a clear set up) on multiple PC, or in the event you simply need extra flexibility within the occasion that the moment improve fails, select the second choice and save the set up information to a USB drive or as an ISO file. The obtain takes a bit time, however when it is full, you’ll be able to run the Home windows Setup program manually to put in Home windows 10 on any PC working any supported Home windows model. (Sorry, this would possibly not work with PCs working Home windows Vista or Home windows XP, however these PCs are in all probability so outdated that you’re going to encounter different points anyway and perhaps you must take into account retiring them.)
The precise steps rely upon which obtain choice you selected:
- USB flash drive: Insert the USB flash drive you simply created right into a free USB slot on the PC you need to improve. Then open File Explorer (Home windows Explorer in Home windows 7) and double-click Setup to put in Home windows 10. Be aware that you simply can not boot from the newly created USB drive or DVD to carry out an improve to Home windows 10. You need to run the Home windows 10 setup program out of your at the moment put in and activated copy of Home windows.
- ISO file: After the obtain is full, you may have to mount the ISO file and open it in a Home windows Explorer/File Explorer window. On a PC working Home windows 8.1 or Home windows 10, you’ll be able to double-click the ISO file to open it in File Explorer as a digital drive. On a PC working Home windows 7, you may want to put in a third-party utility, such because the free, open-source WinCDEmu. After mounting the ISO file, double-click Setup to begin the set up course of.
Then, simply comply with the prompts to finish the improve to Home windows 10. You’ll not be requested for a product key throughout the improve course of. When the improve is full and you have linked to the web, all of your apps and knowledge information can be out there. To examine the system’s activation standing, go to Settings > Replace & safety > Activation. In case you’re fortunate, you may have a digital license that’s legitimate for the newest Home windows 10 model. Extra probably, you may see a message telling you Home windows is not activated and asking you to enter a sound product key.
A Home windows 10 digital license is related to a particular gadget, which implies you’ll be able to reformat the disk and carry out a clear set up of the identical version of Home windows 10 anytime. (In case you’re considering of upgrading your outdated system drive to an SSD, I like to recommend you carry out the improve to Home windows 10 on the outdated {hardware}; after confirming that the brand new Home windows 10 model is correctly activated, set up the SSD after which both restore from a backup picture or boot from the USB flash drive to do a clear set up. You will not want a product key, and activation is automated.)
Is your license legitimate?
And now the large query: in the event you efficiently improve an outdated PC to Home windows 10, is the ensuing license legitimate?
Your complete “free improve” supply was all the time accompanied by language that was, to place it politely, a bit squishy. And the language across the finish of that provide was equally obscure. For instance, see the solutions I’ve highlighted right here on Microsoft’s Windows 10 Upgrade FAQ:
That is very odd language. The free improve by way of the Get Home windows 10 app ended on July 29, 2016. Likewise, the dialogue of product keys says a key can be essential “for this device to work” (not true), but it surely does not say a phrase about licensing.
And in contrast to the weaselly “Real Home windows” label on older upgrades, the activation screens for a Home windows 10 improve particularly verify the existence of a “digital license.”
After all, I am not a lawyer, and this column is not authorized recommendation. However I’ll say that I’m personally assured within the activation standing of any PC that upgraded to Home windows 10 and was granted a digital license utilizing the Media Creation Software.
Additionally: The ultimate Windows troubleshooting trick
So why did Microsoft maintain making these free upgrades out there even after the unique supply had formally expired? That was, I believe, a really apparent nod and a wink, designed to make it simple for many who needed a Home windows 10 improve to nonetheless get it whereas placating the OEM companions who had been none too pleased about Microsoft’s emphasis on upgrades somewhat than new PC gross sales throughout the authentic improve supply.
I proceed to listen to from readers sharing their experiences. In case you’ve used this system on a PC, ship a notice to edbott (at) realworldwindows (dot) com and let me know the way it went for you.