Comic: We're happy if you're happy, Windows X user

Having done the Windows 10 upgrade mess this week I kept cursing so much and thanking my stars I'm a Mac user. Life is so much easier. Microsoft's Windows 10 free upgrade is only a half promise in a way since you get no new key. So you are always tied to the upgrade. If I wanted to reinstall Windows 10 again I would have to install Windows 7 and go through the whole upgrade mess again. Even the USB stick I created with its tool would not let a new Windows 10 install be activated. I thought if it created it from the activated version, it would activate the install, but I know Microsoft does this probably to prevent losing money. Seems in the end we will all have to buy Windows 10 though and the price is too high I think. If they just lowered the price to around $30, then I think more people could of properly upgraded and would also own their copy and have a key. Its why I was grateful being a Mac user since I never have to worry about all this key and activation stuff. Upgrades are truly free and so much easier to manage. Less updates to fiddle with and restarts all the time also. I'm glad I rarely have to use Windows and don't need to rely on it for day to day use. It seems better now but personally I feel more at ease on a Mac.

I agree, the upgrade process for Windows 10 is disgusting, convoluted, and only something Microsoft could design and deliver. However, there is some misinformation in your post. Once you have upgraded an existing device to Windows 10, the device will now be registered with Microsoft's activation servers. You are then free to perform a fresh installation of Windows 10 without first installing a previous version of Windows. Just click "Skip" when prompted for a serial number and the device will activate when it has an Internet connection. Unfortunately I was not aware of this until it was too late. I downloaded and performed a fresh installation of Windows 10, replacing my only Windows 8.1 installation media with it. I then discovered I could not activate, and had to re-download Windows 8.1, install it, upgrade to Windows 10, and perform another fresh installation of Windows 10. This time it activated. Microsoft should have thought to register devices with their activation servers when they are enrolled for the free upgrade, but I guess it would have been too logical.

I did the same thing you did, only to have to reinstall also through upgrading my Windows 7 DVD/install. After registering with Microsoft's servers though that my copy was genuine and activated I wiped the hard drive to do a fresh install with the USB stick created by Windows 10 Install Tool. So I could install on another computer, same computer but that is the option in the tool. When done, no activation though since I found I have to keep using my Windows 7 DVD any time I want to install Windows 10 and do it through a upgrade again. I just installed a VM of W10 though in Parallels 10 using the W10 on Bootcamp partition, and found other new problems. Before I could create a VM of the Bootcamp partition in Parallels so I could save space on the Mac and run both OS X and W7. Now though I just found out Microsoft changed how they do activation. Before I could call a phone number and activate the VM install. That is no longer an option. I'm glad you had some success but I've never dealt with a upgrade before. I always bought the retail box of Windows. Since I want to be in control. Now it seems like I'm going to have to buy not only one copy for my Bootcamp, but also another just to active the VM. I forget what I paid for my Windows 7 box DVD but the price of $150 CDN for Windows 10 seems high to me. If they want people to switch then lower the price Microsoft!

Some more info here I just found: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_in... Seems like how Microsoft does activation has changed to crack down on things and force people to buy even more now. I've never been a upgrade customer/user before. Always had the retail or OEM DVD. So I always could just install and not have to go through upgrade every time. That is a pain I can't live with so will just buy the W10 retail/download whatever and be done with this madness. Just wish it was cheaper.

Here's how you can do a clean install of Windows 10 with a Windows 10 upgrade key http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-wind...

I followed that earlier this week but didn't work. Maybe since I'm on a Mac. It didn't carry over the key. I was told there is no upgrade key unlike it says in that story but he's on a PC. Activation is tied to hardware, so works better I guess on a PC. Big problem for people running Parallels now from a Bootcamp install also. Before when you tried to do a second activation on the Parallels install, you could just use the phone microsoft to activate, but they removed that now. Activation is done differently. So I deleted my bootcamp partition and going to use it for Time Machine instead and just run Windows 10 from now on in Parallels 10. Its working well. I bought Windows 10 full version also since I didn't want to have to go through the upgrade and install of Windows 7 every time I needed to install. All is well now.

Seems like you have a good understanding of the issue and tried everything out. This thread (specifically the wiki) may have more info you haven't tried http://slickdeals.net/f/8010191-windows-10-official-download-tool-upgrad...

Your key is linked on MS's end to Windows 10 once you upgrade. Just use the ISO download tool from Microsoft's site and use your old key after you upgrade from Windows 10 once to use it again if you want to fresh install.

The old key didn't work, it was blocked by microsoft when I did a fresh install. First upgrade from my DVD of Windows 7 was in a VM. Then I used the tool to make a install USB stick from Microsoft. Did a fresh install on a new partition but that's when it would not activate and kept saying the key was blocked. Seems once you make a hardware change, as they have said, the activation is no longer valid. I moved from a VM to a new partition so I guess that was enough to kill the activation. So as I said above, I just bought the OS instead so I own a key now and can install it wherever I want, when I want.

Google magic jelly bean key finder. Run that little app on your updated Windows 10. Save the new win10 key as a text file and save it SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN THE HARD DRIVE. Like email it to yourself or something. It will be a different key than your win7 or 8.
Boot from the USB drive you made, delete all of the partitions you don't want. DO NOT FORMAT THE UNALLOCATED SPACE. Just select it (one click) then click Continue. Not formatting at this step will auto-format MTP and enable UEFI = MUCH faster boot times. At some point during the install, you'll be asked for that key you pulled.
This worked for me late Tuesday night with the official release. Sent from the iMore App

MS have made it clear that if you upgrade from 7 or 8.1, you can always wipe your machine and reinstall Windows 10. I'm not sure where you got stuck.

You can Reset it which wipes the original Windows 7/8 after the upgrade. I did the upgrade in a VM in parallels then just wanted to do a fresh install on a bootcamp partition, but when I did that kept saying my original key was blocked. Probably since it was tied to that hardware of the VM. There's so many strings attached and changes, so that's why I just bought the full Windows 10 instead so I have control once again and don't have to deal with this annoying issue.

"So you are always tied to the upgrade. If I wanted to reinstall Windows 10 again I would have to install Windows 7 and go through the whole upgrade mess again." This is actually untrue. Upon upgrading to 10: Your license is deactivated for your old copy of Windows, and becomes a Windows 10 license. So actually, trying to reinstall Windows 7 WON'T work, and your license will be considered invalid as it's for Windows 10 now. Likewise, your license also gets tied to your Microsoft Account assuming you sign in with one. While I haven't personally done this, dozens of people are reporting over at Windows Central that if your perform a fresh install of Windows 10 after you already upgraded your license to 10 (Using the "Get Windows 10" app Microsoft automatically pushed out starting a few months ago and then upgrading via Windows Update), when Windows asks for a license: Simply skip it and log-in with your Microsoft Account when prompted to do so. Windows 10 will become activated again. I was actually surprised with how quick and easy the upgrade was, everything went buttery smooth. And based on the reception down at the Microsoft Store: Things were going pretty smooth for everyone else, too. Some people's applications didn't migrate properly (I heard several cases of 32bit Officer 365 not properly migrating to 64bit Windows 10, but this was easily fixed by the people installing the proper 64bit version), and some OEM-made biometric software occasionally conflicted with Windows Hello, but that was easily fixed by disabling one or the other. I'm sorry to hear your install didn't go quite as smoothly, but it seems to be the exception, not the rule, based solely on my first-hand experience and with what others are telling me.

WE ARE BORG Sent from the iMore App

Rich, someone needs to introduce you to Rev. Rene Ritchie.

"Apple is not a religion" Lol!

"We're all mac here." -the Cheshire Cat Sent from the iMore App

This is eerily similar to my own recent experience speaking with a "dudette with no obvious branding," and a self-described "Apple hater." She was assuming that because I use a Mac and an iPhone, that I'm somehow automatically out to "evangelize" to people about Apple. No, I've got no beef with Microsoft or Windows and I really couldn't care less what other kinds of computers or phones other people use. Live and let live, I say.

I've decided to solve all the problems of the computing world. I will use the mysterious magic of science, medicine, and the power of nature's ultimate weapon: Lightning! Using these amazing pursuits, I shall take the two, both Windows 10 and OS X and graft together the ultimate system software! BEHOLD: MAICINDOWS ECKS. Now you can have your Dock and Start Menu all at once. You no longer have to wince when n00bs call Maximize in windows "full screen." Never again will you have to feel left out of the latest Windows virus, but at the same time, the higher security of UNIX (and El Cap's Rootless feature) will make sure that the most that faddish virus can do is shrug like a moron. MACINDOWS ECKS: Coming to a Mad Science Software Center near you.