Installing/removing WIndows advice

[gaymer77]

I'm having issues with the computer store I ended up going to for a custom built PC for my boyfriend. We ordered a nice PC for the price which included a copy of Windows 10 Pro. We had them put his old hard drive in the PC because he didn't want to lose all his games he's downloaded or any pictures, videos, or other files he has saved on it. Problem is when they put the PC together they forgot to install Windows on the new hard drive so his PC is running the copy of Windows from his old hard drive. That's not a problem to us. When they called to inform us of this mix up he didn't want to take his PC in again and lose time being on it so I asked if they could give me the product key to install the Windows 10 Pro on my PC since mine has a cracked copy & keeps telling me I need to activate Windows. They ended up saying yes & emailed me an invoice with the product key on it. I went to activate the key & it wouldn't take it. I called Microsoft and the rep on the phone said that it was actually a Windows 8.1 Pro key not a Windows 10 Pro key. He checked 3 times and came up with the same result all 3 times. I called the store and they said that it is a 10 Pro key but an OEM fresh install key which some times shows up wrong in Microsoft's system when you try to upgrade to 10 Pro. He told me that he could offer to have me bring in a flash drive to put Windows 10 Pro on it for me to boot from & install it on my PC. I did that. I got the same error that I got when I tried to just input the product key. It said it was not a valid license of Win 10 Pro. I called the store back. He offered to have me bring my PC in and just do an install of Windows 10 Pro on my PC at no cost. I got the PC back and noticed that it asked if I wanted to boot from volume 1 or volume 6 when I booted up. I didn't know what the difference was so I just said volume 1. Volume 1 was a fresh version of Windows 10 Pro but it had my OLD product key attached to it. I noticed that in addition to the C drive having Windows on it my SSD E drive now had my old Windows 10 Pro cracked version on it when it previously didn't have anything on it but 2 games. I called the store to let them know about this and they said that since THEY didn't build my PC they couldn't offer support to me about it. They said that the product key is tied to the motherboard and since I have a previous copy of Windows 10 Pro on my PC that their product key won't work on MY PC.

So this brings me here for advice. First of all, is that correct that using their product key it wouldn't work on my PC since I have a previous copy of Windows on my PC or are they just full of shit? Secondly if it will work on my PC, how do I go about reformatting my C & E drives to remove copies of Windows on it while still being able to put Windows 10 Pro back on my PC? I still have the flash drive with the bootable install of Windows 10 Pro to use or I could burn a copy of it on a DVD if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[Saphyron]

Save your important stuff on google cloud. It can handle up to 15gb. Don't save your games since they can easily be downloaded again.

Start windows installation. clean all and delete all partitions. Remake all partitions afterwards, then install windows 10 over again.
When it comes to the key, log into your main e-mail, if you have a win10 product key assigned to that e-mail it, you will skip the key input. And now you have a fully functional Windows 10. If you do not have a win 10 product key assigned to that e-mail contact the store and ask them for a key so you can add it to your e-mail on Microsoft homepage.

EDIT: download the media tool from Microsoft's homepage at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

EDIT2: I haven't had to input my key since win10 came out even though I changed computer 3 times and reinstalled windows at least 12 times, due to the above reason.

[gaymer77]

Save your important stuff on google cloud. It can handle up to 15gb. Don't save your games since they can easily be downloaded again.

Start windows installation. clean all and delete all partitions. Remake all partitions afterwards, then install windows 10 over again.
When it comes to the key, log into your main e-mail, if you have a win10 product key assigned to that e-mail it, you will skip the key input. And now you have a fully functional Windows 10. If you do not have a win 10 product key assigned to that e-mail contact the store and ask them for a key so you can add it to your e-mail on Microsoft homepage.

EDIT: download the media tool from Microsoft's homepage at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

EDIT2: I haven't had to input my key since win10 came out even though I changed computer 3 times and reinstalled windows at least 12 times, due to the above reason.

Does the link you provided also create a Windows 10 PRO or just Windows 10 bootable disk? They have supposedly given me a Windows 10 PRO key which is what I already had on my PC but it was a cracked copy that is invalid now.

[Saphyron]

Does the link you provided also create a Windows 10 PRO or just Windows 10 bootable disk? They have supposedly given me a Windows 10 PRO key which is what I already had on my PC but it was a cracked copy that is invalid now.

It will make whatever you want.

You start the installation. it then asks you what kind of windows and what language you will make a bootable flash disk into.

You then reboot pc and launch from flash disk thus starting the windows installation.

In regards to the key. You need to apply that key to your e-mail on Microsoft's homepage.

Found a perfect guide for you.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ardware-change

[Tommi]

The ISO contains all Windows 10 versions. When you install Windows 10, they product key determines what parts it installs, unless you tell it you don't have a product key, then it allows you to choose a version for later key activation.

Also, check you PM's.....

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SNIPS

THENCHURSSSS

[callipygoustp]

I recently, meaning three weeks ago this Saturday, upgraded my secondary machine from Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro. I did the following:
1. Unregistered the Windows 7 Pro key.
2. Downloaded the Windows 10 installer from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10.
3. Installed Windows 10 using the Win 7 Pro key
End Result: A fresh clean FREE install of Windows 10 Pro.

I expect your Win 8 Pro key will work the same way.

Check out this page for reference:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-...ws-10-upgrade/

[chazus]

If you want to send me in PM the current key you have, and the one they gave you, I can verify what each of them is. I understand the mistake they might have made, but it might also not be a mistake.

That said, you can only activate 10 Pro with 7/8 Pro, and 10 Home with 7/8 Home.

[js3915]

It can be this:

https://www.windowslatest.com/2018/1...fix-is-coming/

I would wait for a fix if this applies to you.

Good grief... If Linux was anything remotely decent for gaming..... It would be bye bye windows. So many issues as of late I better check mine tonight or well kind of afraid to now.

As to the OP that sounds pretty horrible. I know there is a reset my pc, I've done it once. You should be able to basically reinstall the OS and when i did it, select which partition to install on and essentially wipe the rest of the drives empty.. Do ensure to BACKUP important stuff first. You can get 1 tb external drives fairly cheap now.

When I ran it. It did not ask me for a key or anything, but I don't know if you will run into the same activation issue or not that you were experiencing with your IT shop so I suppose it is advisable to run at your own risk as well. When I upgraded from 8 to 10 maybe it was 7 to 10 i never tied windows 10 to my email address.

[gaymer77]

Do ensure to BACKUP important stuff first. You can get 1 tb external drives fairly cheap now.

I have my C drive, a SSD, and another hard drive that is 1TB that houses all my games on it. I've already took back up of files from the C drive and put them on the other hard drive for when everything on the C gets wiped from the install.