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So says this article, based on recent Microsoft term revisions:

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/10/30/micro ... ade-offer/

Last day is December 31.

One could speculate that any unconverted Win7/8.x keys might be dropped out of Win10 activation at the same time, although nothing is indicated.

Good to know, thanks for the heads-up.

I wonder if that means just activating Windows 7/8/8.1 keys against it will still work or if it will be shut down as well. If so that will suck

Omniman wrote:

I wonder if that means just activating Windows 7/8/8.1 keys against it will still work or if it will be shut down as well. If so that will suck

Once you've already had a system activated on 10, you shouldn't need to put in a key in anymore. You can just skip that step during the install process, and it'll automatically activate later. At least that's been my experience.

Yeah, if the key has been converted to Windows 10 in Microsoft's system, it will auto-reactivate on the same system, although it may break if you change motherboards. I still do wonder if they'll stop permitting unconverted 7/8.x keys to activate Win10 at the end of the year, though.

ludi wrote:

I still do wonder if they'll stop permitting unconverted 7/8.x keys to activate Win10 at the end of the year, though.

Blegh... I hope not.

Cheap (nearly free) activation of Windows 10 without any hoops to jump through has really spoiled me over the past year. I have a feeling that if this does actually get shut down we'll see an end to the $4 "Windows 10" licenses on eBay and other places. Lets be honest, there aren't THAT many unused 10 keys out there. These are just all the 7, 8, and 8.1 keys being used from old computers, sold as 10 keys because they work exactly the same... for now.

So you can still activate Win10 with a Win7 key directly, with no repercussions?

just brew it! wrote:

So you can still activate Win10 with a Win7 key directly, with no repercussions?

Yeah. Well......physically typing in a Win7 key I’m not sure, but I know that you can still take an activated Win7 install and do an in-place upgrade to Win10 via the assistive tech download tool. Once the process is complete and Win10 has been activated, from that point you can wipe it and do clean installs to your hearts content without typing in any keys (simply skip that step during the install process, and it’ll automatically activate again upon phoning-home on the first boot).

Semantics of how it’s done aside, though, the answer to your question is yes.

I've been doing the method below for Windows 7/8/8.1 keys on machines that haven't had an install of 10 on them yet.

-Install Windows 10 to the correct version that you have a key for saying "I don't have a key"
-Once you get to the desktop after the setup open "About" and it will mention that Windows isn't activated.
-Click on "Change Key" and enter the Windows 7/8/8.1 key and Microsoft will activate the copy of Windows 10 as long as you selected the right version to the key you have.

The above is what I'm worried will stop working soon

Omniman wrote:

I've been doing the method below for Windows 7/8/8.1 keys on machines that haven't had an install of 10 on them yet.

-Install Windows 10 to the correct version that you have a key for saying "I don't have a key"
-Once you get to the desktop after the setup open "About" and it will mention that Windows isn't activated.
-Click on "Change Key" and enter the Windows 7/8/8.1 key and Microsoft will activate the copy of Windows 10 as long as you selected the right version to the key you have.

The above is what I'm worried will stop working soon

I'm not sure what you mean in the first step when you say "to the correct version that you have a key for". Do you mean install over an already activated copy of Windows 7/8.x?

"One could speculate that any unconverted Win7/8.x keys might be dropped out of Win10 activation at the same time, although nothing is indicated."


This is a concern, this is a pretty handy little feature.

just brew it! wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean in the first step when you say "to the correct version that you have a key for". Do you mean install over an already activated copy of Windows 7/8.x?

A Win7/8.x Home key will activate a Win10 Home install, and Pro activates Pro, but not Home for Pro or vice versa.

ludi wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean in the first step when you say "to the correct version that you have a key for". Do you mean install over an already activated copy of Windows 7/8.x?

A Win7/8.x Home key will activate a Win10 Home install, and Pro activates Pro, but not Home for Pro or vice versa.

Ahh, OK. That makes sense.

Omniman wrote:

I've been doing the method below for Windows 7/8/8.1 keys on machines that haven't had an install of 10 on them yet.

-Install Windows 10 to the correct version that you have a key for saying "I don't have a key"
-Once you get to the desktop after the setup open "About" and it will mention that Windows isn't activated.
-Click on "Change Key" and enter the Windows 7/8/8.1 key and Microsoft will activate the copy of Windows 10 as long as you selected the right version to the key you have.

The above is what I'm worried will stop working soon

I haven't even had to do all of that. I've just entered Windows 7\8 keys during the install process and they work fine. Though if that method didn't work, I would try your method next.

What ozzuneoj said. Anyone that wants a free upgrade just has to use the Win 7 or Win 8 key during a clean Windows 10 installation and it will "upgrade" that key or whatever it is MS does for tracking it. No ToS questionable or tricks are needed.