fresh installation (free) upgraded Win 10 or old Win 7

[fvw53]

Since a few months I did a free Win 10 upgrade of my Windows 7 Home to Windows 10

I was happy with this until...a lightening hit my house.

My electrical equipment was all fully protected but my HP Desktop as well as the 3BB router were out of order.

As I was still enjoying guarantee from HP their technician came and replaced the motherboard.

Now Windows 10 suffers from frequent unwanted reboots and it seems with the new motherboard many drivers had to be re-downloaded and did it with professional Driver software on my PC.

I also have Re-Imagine a great tool to fix Windows but it does not provide a solution for my case which is due to hardware (motherboard)

Now I want to do a fresh installation of the upgraded Windows 10

I downloaded from the Microsoft website an ISO file with Win 10 and burned it on a DVD

Luckily I noticed on time that Microsoft would not activate a Win 10 fresh installation if a new motherboard was installed (I guess they consider it as a "new" PC)

QUOTE

Q: What happens if I change the hardware configuration of my Windows 10 device?

A: If the hardware configuration of your Windows 10 device changes significantly (e.g. motherboard change) Windows may require re-activation on the device. This is the same experience as prior versions of Windows (e.g. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1). The free upgrade offer will not apply to activation of Windows 10 in such scenarios where hardware changes reset Activation.

UNQUOTE

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_upgrade/reinstalling-windows-10-after-upgrade/578d0b7f-57e4-4893-b9d1-6cfac0d6290a?auth=1

QUESTION : has any TVF member any experience with this (getting assistance from the Thai Microsoft office 02-263-6888 is hopeless)

I can format the C drive to erase all Windows traces and do a fresh installation with my old Windows 7 DVD : but will Microsoft activate this again?

[Rob13]

Did you try the re-install function on your Window 10 ? You may not need to do a complete new install.

[fvw53]

I do not know where to locate the re-install function on Win 10

[Chicog]

Can you restore the original Windows 7 and re-run the upgrade?

Tiresome I know but probably the safest bet.

[fvw53]

I do not know where to locate the re-install function on Win 10

I tried to use the Win 10 dvd I created after downloading the ISO file from Microsoft website but the when filling in the product key nr of my Win 7 it was rejected

I have of course no product key for the Win 10 upgrade

[Rob13]

Try this: Go to 'Start' then click on 'Settings' , then 'Update and Security" then click on the 'Recovery' button. That'll take you to a screen that lets you reset or do a reinstall. The 'reset' is suppose to save all your files, you may want to start with that onne first.

[MJCM]

Can you restore the original Windows 7 and re-run the upgrade?

Tiresome I know but probably the safest bet.

But will Win 7 reactivate as he has changed the MB which I sincerely doubt.

Question, does It also depends on which Win 7 he has, OEM or Retail.if it re-activates or not ?

Edited July 1, 2016 by MJCM

[Chicog]

Can you restore the original Windows 7 and re-run the upgrade?

Tiresome I know but probably the safest bet.

But will Win 7 reactivate as he has changed the MB which I sincerely doubt.

Question, does It also depends on which Win 7 he has, OEM or Retail.if it re-activates or not ?

I think you're correct, but he he might be able to get a new Win 7 key if he calls them and explains the situation.

Then he can reinstall 7 and do the upgrade.

[fvw53]

Can you restore the original Windows 7 and re-run the upgrade?

Tiresome I know but probably the safest bet.

But will Win 7 reactivate as he has changed the MB which I sincerely doubt.

Question, does It also depends on which Win 7 he has, OEM or Retail.if it re-activates or not ?

I think you're correct, but he he might be able to get a new Win 7 key if he calls them and explains the situation.

Then he can reinstall 7 and do the upgrade.

I did not succeed to call Microsoft Service at 02 236 6888 because they send you from one click to other : I have retail Win 7 but I am afraid with new motherboard it may be considered as a new PC

However I followed recommendation by Rob13 and this seems to work ...but I need to have my PC several hours online to find out

[Nomad97]

I did something similar last August. I installed Win 8 earlier in the year, received the MS upgrade to Win 10 in August and then decided to change out my motherboard, CPU and RAM. At first it seemed like I was lucky and the HDD did run and opened up Win 10. However, I was quickly told by MS that I did not have an authenticated copy of Win 10. There are a few telephone numbers you can call and explain the situation. In my case they quickly accepted my story and provided the code to authenticate my copy of Win 10. I have since executed a fresh install of Win 8 and, as soon as I had competed the install, I was offered the upgrade to Win 10.One hour later and I was back up and running on Win 10. No problems, authenticated and works perfectly.

Freephone: 001 800 2468 1668, 001 800 4410560 Payphone 010-65-6324-8098 and 66-2-263-6888

I remember I used the pay phone, more responsive!