Solved Windows 7 upgrade to Windows 10/11

Long time ago, my son built an MSI-Intel game computer, activated with Windows 7 Pro, from a Dell OEM COA (The Dell hardware failure, NOT in use since then). later he upgraded to Windows 10 (should be Pro but I don't know). Then he realized Windows 10 NOT good for his gaming. and downgraded to Win 7 pro again.

Recently the computer retired and was back to me. during my Windows 10/11 upgrade test (clean-install), its' found that its Windows 10 Pro unactivated. (to activate, or I need a new Win 7 Pro key)

I was thinking Windows 10/11 once activated. its digital license has been stored on MSFT server. or this Rule only applied to OEM computer?

I am NOT sure which step I did wrong in the procedure. or should I have to do upgrade install than clean install.

Thanks,

@siliconbeaver If he signed in with an MS account, you'll need it. Otherwise, (I've actually tried this) a Win7 key works for activating Win10 if you clean install. Seriously, try it.

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IF you are happy with performing a clean install, follow these instructions.

You'll need to flash a USB drive or external drive with an image from this official MS link. I recommend Rufus to do so once you have the image. Then boot from the media, and follow instructions. When you're prompted, enter the Win7 key.

You may need to change the boot order, there should be guides on this form on how to do so. However, you need to provide the vendor of your UEFI/BIOS.

No, no WHY did i just provide instructions for a clean install???

Post updated

siliconbeaver said:

I was thinking Windows 10/11 once activated. its digital license has been stored on MSFT server. or this Rule only applied to OEM computer?

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All PCs upgraded from an activated Windows 7 to Windows 10 should have got a digital license for Windows 10 stored on the MSFT activation servers. This would allow a clean install of W10 (or W11) to skip entering a key when asked and to activate from the existing digital license. This applies whether you use a local account or a Microsoft account.

The only proviso is that you must install the same edition (Home or Pro) as the original Win7 install was entitled to (Starter, Home Basic/Premium = W10 Home, Pro/Ultimate = W10 Pro). A W10/11 digital license if for a specific edition, a license for Home will not activate an install of Pro.

The Win7 CoA sticker should tell you which edition of Win7 the OEM originally supplied with the PC.

After a clean install Windows must be able to connect to the insternet in order to activate from a digital license. Should the original upgrade have somehow failed to get a digital license, then you should be able to activate a clean install of the appropriate edition of Win10 by changing the installed key to to the Win7 one from the CoA sticker.

Just to be a wet blanket, you realize that a PC that's more than a couple of years old will probably not meet the hardware requirements for 11?

You can force install it, but if you want an officially supported OS, that'd be 10. Supported until at least October 2025.

@Bree
your explanation is clear. let me try and go clean-install to verify Home or Pro.

he was using a Win 7 Pro OEM COA. then should have got Windows 10 Pro activated. but I forgot my test was Home or Pro (as I kept hitting "Return", and NOT realized Home or Pro).

my Windows 11 NOT finished yet because my Windows 10 install didn't go through, couldn't get activated. Thanks bobkn and quack101
for your reply.

siliconbeaver said:

my Windows 11 NOT finished yet

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As @bobkn stated, a computer that old will not have Windows 11 compatible hardware.Therefore, it will not pass the hardware check. Your only alternative would be to use one of the procedures for upgrading from 10 to 11 on imcompatible hardware that are readily found on the internet. Then you would run into the problem of getting drivers that will work which I doubt you could. My advise is to get it running on 10 and stay there.

I am watching that update. It's noticed Win 11 22H2 beta, I have some problem to install it. (but 21H2 no problem so far). :)

I had been maintaining a team of Win 7.
Last year, I decided to upgrade all lappies to Win 11 21H2. Lenovo and Asus. It's noticed, Win 11 OS size more compact than Win 10. Yoga and IdeaPad running better on Win 11 than on Win 7/8.1. But Asus didn't see much improvement.
This year I started to upgrade old desktop computers to Win 11. presently, only main PCs stay with Win 7 Pro.
Therefore, these PCs are grouped into two. Win 7 OS and Win 11 OS.

glasskuter said:

As @bobkn stated, a computer that old will not have Windows 11 compatible hardware.Therefore, it will not pass the hardware check. Your only alternative would be to use one of the procedures for upgrading from 10 to 11 on imcompatible hardware that are readily found on the internet. Then you would run into the problem of getting drivers that will work which I doubt you could. My advise is to get it running on 10 and stay there.

Click to expand...

upgrade install takes too long time. Hence I prefer clean-install. a reason good for those retired computers.
indeed I have made a copy of Win 11 image, then restore it on any computer needs an OS. (Lenovo Asus HP. laptop or desktop). It saves time.
(I just found it's Win 11 Home. As Bree mentioned, I am working on a clean Win 11 Pro image)