Windows Extra dreamspark win8/7 keys, can they be upgraded to Win 10

A

Arjun

Skilled
I have a few win 8/7 keys which i had got from dreamspark few years back , i do not have device to install and upgrade them , i was thinking make a VM and upgrade to win 10 , but willl i be able to use them later ?
 
Probably not - because I believe MS ties the "digital entitlement" to the hardware along with your MS account.
 
Also, if I remember correctly (read it somewhere) the newer version "1511" official (freely available) ISO of Win10 you can enter the Win8/7 key directly during first install and it will activate - so maybe you can save the step of installing older OS and upgrading.
 
vishalrao said:
Also, if I remember correctly (read it somewhere) the newer version "1511" official (freely available) ISO of Win10 you can enter the Win8/7 key directly during first install and it will activate - so maybe you can save the step of installing older OS and upgrading.
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This is not for a new system or any motherboard change.
Again for a new system 1 has to install 8.1 then upgrade to 10. But the free upgrade is available until 29th of July,2016.
 
You can only upgrade the pc with the os to win10 till 29/7 and you can also directly install win 10 using 7/8 key however you can't activate over vm because your key is tied to your mobo and you will end up activating all your licenses on same mobo
 
manishbharech said:
You can only upgrade the pc with the os to win10 till 29/7 and you can also directly install win 10 using 7/8 key however you can't activate over vm because your key is tied to your mobo and you will end up activating all your licenses on same mobo
Click to expand...
On msdn they provide keys for vm use.
 
I have the following keys left with me -

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional 32/64-bit (Chinese Traditional Taiwan)
Microsoft Windows 8 N Debug/Checked Build (multiple editions) 32/64-bit (English)
Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32/64-bit (Chinese Traditional)
Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 Debug/Checked Build 32-bit (English)
Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 Debug/Checked Build 64-bit (English)

Are any of the above versions suited for a normal user or only meant for advanced users?
Not that the upgrade offer is still running but would the above keys have got a free pass to Windows 10 as well?
 
eternoMind said:
I want to install an OS on a new laptop. As @ReVo_007 said, choice is between Win 8.1 and Win 8 from that list above. Question is, how do I go about doing this. Do I need to download a Chinese Traditional Taiwan version of Win 8.1 Pro (or a Chinese Traditional version of Win 8) to be able to use those keys?

Please guide.
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A single language version of the Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 should do fine with those keys AFAIK.
 
ReVo_007 said:
A single language version of the Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 should do fine with those keys AFAIK.
Click to expand...

So I can download a Windows 10 single language ISO and install it using the said Win 8.1 or 8 keys?

Am a total newb to this so can we revert to an English interface after installing a Single Language (in this case Chinese Traditional or Chinese Traditional Taiwan) Windows ISO?

I searched in vain for some link that helps explain this. Using a non-Eng Win OS key to activate the OS and then using Eng on it the way we normally do for Eng Win OS.[DOUBLEPOST=1477461456][/DOUBLEPOST]Downloaded the single language version of Win 8.1 and before installing, it asked for the activation key. Tried inputting both the Win 8.1 and Win 8 keys but it didn't work. The process quit by itself after the second attempt.

Can someone please shine some light on this?
What do I need to do to get this working?
 
Last edited:
eternoMind said:
So I can download a Windows 10 single language ISO and install it using the said Win 8.1 or 8 keys?

Am a total newb to this so can we revert to an English interface after installing a Single Language (in this case Chinese Traditional or Chinese Traditional Taiwan) Windows ISO?

I searched in vain for some link that helps explain this. Using a non-Eng Win OS key to activate the OS and then using Eng on it the way we normally do for Eng Win OS.[DOUBLEPOST=1477461456][/DOUBLEPOST]Downloaded the single language version of Win 8.1 and before installing, it asked for the activation key. Tried inputting both the Win 8.1 and Win 8 keys but it didn't work. The process quit by itself after the second attempt.

Can someone please shine some light on this?
What do I need to do to get this working?
Click to expand...
Well I don't have experience with this situation so I would wait for others to comment on it.
If I get time I might try a dreamspark key on a vm
 
ReVo_007 said:
Well I don't have experience with this situation so I would wait for others to comment on it.
If I get time I might try a dreamspark key on a vm
Click to expand...

The ones I have are from Dreamspark as well. I just don't know where I am going wrong.
I hope those keys haven't expired since I didn't renew ACM/Dreamspark subs when it ended around a couple of years back. Had used only one key since then apart from giving off two to a friend. Had backed up these keys for later use just before the subscription was to expire.
 
Ok, so tried a few things over the past week but no success.

I tried installing the below keys,
Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional 32/64-bit (Chinese Traditional Taiwan)
Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32/64-bit (Chinese Traditional)

on these ISOs,

Windows 8.1 x64 Single Language Edition
Windows 8.1 Chinese Traditional Taiwan x64
Windows 10 Single Language Edition x64 (Eng International)
Windows 10 Pro x64

On the last one, i.e. Windows 10, tried activating via Command Prompt. It returned as 'invalid key' for the 8.1 key above while for the 8 key, it returned this text "error 0xc004e016 on a computer running microsoft windows non-core edition". The Win 7 keys from a couple of above posts were also returned as 'invalid key'.

Any pointers :(?

Btw, Happy Diwali guys :)
 
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