What generic keys might be used for a free Windows 10 upgrade?

SC2 2018-06-28

2021-08-10

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,Japan

2019/12/05
An MS employee leaked the secret that a free upgrade to Windows 10 is possible. For details, please read the related link (at the end of the sentence).

The Windows 10 Free Upgrade Campaign ended December 31, 2017 in Japan.

However,

At the time of writing this article, some people have had a successful free upgrade from Windows 7 /8.1 to Windows 10.

The face-to-face free upgrade campaign may have ended and may actually continue.

... ('ω')?

If you read the case of a free upgrade after the free upgrade campaign, you will find the following steps.

Get "Media creation Tool" from Microsoft official website
Run Mediacreation Tool
Enter your Windows 7 or 8.1 product key during the upgrade to Windows 10
Upgrade complete

That is,

Below are the minimum requirements for a free upgrade to Windows 10.

conditions:

Have a genuine Windows 7 /8.1 product key

Well, the main subject.

This article contains the following content:

About generic keys
What you need to upgrade
Upgrade or clean installation process

Generic key

The generic key is a product key assigned according to the pre-upgrade Windows edition.

It is called a "generic key" because the same product key is used for each edition.

[Windows edition]

Windows 10 /8.1 /7 Home
Windows 10 /8.1 /7 Professional
Windows 10 /8.1 /7 Enterprise
...

Enter the product key in the process of upgrading from Windows 7 /8.1 to Windows 10, but the PC after the upgrade will be replaced with the generic key.

The information on the generic key is available on the official Microsoft website. If you are interested, please read the related link at the end of the sentence.

Specific example of generic key

Reprinted from Microsoft Docs.

Generickey: Generic key

Source: Appendix A: KMS Client Setup Keys | Microsoft Docs

Windows 10 Home
TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99

WIndows 10 Pro
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Windows 10 Home Single Language
7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH

Windows 10 Enterprise
NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43

Confirm product key

There are two ways.

Use Registry Editor
Use ProduKey

1. Registry Editor

You can check the product key in the following hierarchy of Registry Editor.

* In some environments, BackupProductKeyDefault does not exist.

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\BackupProductKeyDefault

2. ProduKey

Free software ProduKey has the function to search and list the product keys of Microsoft products such as Windows.

How to use ProduKey that can display the product key of Windows, Office, Visual Studio, etc. ｜ Product key confirmation method and points of digital certification: Scrap 2nd.

What you need to upgrade

Source: Microsoft ｜ Software Download

* ISO file requires 8GB capacity

Media Creation Tool ( Direct link )
USB flash drive
Or ISO blanks and writable DVD blank media
Windows 7 /8.1 product key

Upgrade or clean installation process

Run the media creation tool to create Windows 10 installation media
Change the BIOS (UEFI) settings on your PC to boot from a USB or DVD drive
Shut down your PC
Boot PC from USB flash drive or DVD
Start upgrade or clean installation

You will be asked to enter the product key during the upgrade.

However,

In some cases, like me, the product key input screen does not appear.

Summary

About generic keys

Product key for exclusive use of upgrade assigned corresponding to editions such as Windows Pro /Home
The same generic key is used for each edition
Cannot be used for free upgrade
You can look it up with a registry editor, ProduKey, etc.

About upgrade

Use a genuine product key
You may not be prompted to enter the product key
Generic key will be used after upgrade

Clean installation

Generic keys are said to be unusable for a clean installation of Windows 10.

However,

Authenticity is unknown as multiple successful clean install hits.

External link

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