How to get that free Windows 10 upgrade three years after the fact: Difficulty -3
If you have a machine that missed the Windows 10 update window but had a valid Windows 7 license, well, it’s not quite master hacker difficulty level to get the free upgrade. You might disagree.
We had a machine called back into service at work yesterday with Windows 7 on it. It’s ok, don’t laugh, it’s just a machine used to check email and work on a shared calendar. My task – get it up to date even though it’d been unplugged for five or so years and we missed the Windows 10 upgrade window.
Enter: hacking extreme
OK – go to Microsoft’s ISO / Media Creation page. Here’s the difficult part – click the Download tool now button and run it. Follow prompts to upgrade.
Oh wait, there’s more
You can also create an install disk, and use a valid Windows 7 license on a different machine to fresh install Windows 10 and get a machine license. You know the Windows 7 licenses – the stickers you find on the side of machines going off to recycling.
Yeah, they haven’t locked it down. Saves you $150 or so.
