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Windows 10 Activation with a Windows 7 OEM Key

Hello everyone,

I am trying to upgrade a PC from windows 7 Pro (OEM_DM) to windows 10 Pro.

I did so by unpacking the ISO and running the Setup.exe

it ran the upgrade and everything looked good, then i saw there was no license added.

I did copy my Windows 7 Pro key and tries to use that but it gave me an error:

0x803fa067 or 0xC004F050

I the only thing it suggests is to buy a new key or try again.

but Windows Upgrades are normal things I've done before,

after searching the internet i found many contredicting explainations, even within the same forum.

Some said OEM's cant upgrade, while others siad they can:

Others noted an Expired upgrade period:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-7-product-key-to-activate-windows-10/4d738d3a-805a-4c96-b330-4ae32e85e645

while yet more said that isn't true, i myself upgraded a PC earlier this year without problems.

Can someone please clear this up for me?

i also did try microsoft (home) support,

however that was just a copy/paste version of the windows warning

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Answer
Answer
Hello John, this is Emily.

Microsoft did indeed end the free upgrade from Windows 7 to 10 back in 2016. However, the upgrade path was never removed until last month. This is why many claimed that they could continue to upgrade without problem. Here is the official public release: https://devicepartner.microsoft.com/en-us/commu...

To clarify, you cannot use the original Windows 7 OEM key to activate Windows 10. If you have claimed the free upgrade in the past from Windows 7 to 10, that process assigned you a digital license instead for Windows 10. This article explains it here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/act... And I quote in the screenshot.

So if you did claim the free upgrade before the permanent removal of upgrade path, your Microsoft account at that time is your new license now. So if you are at a step where it asks for product key, select "I don't have any product key", continue your installation. Once installation is done, go ahead and sign into your computer using that same Microsoft account to activate it.

If you have never claimed your free upgrade in the path, then I am afraid you are a bit too late to do so now that Microsoft has permanently removed the upgrade path.
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Last updated May 18, 2024 Views 25,038 Applies to: