Windows 10 Windows 10 free upgrade still open for some..

[kemical]

If you use 'assistive technologies' when using Windows then the offer of a free upgrade from either Windows 7.1 or 8.1 is still open.

For the general public, the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ends on July 29. However, if you use assistive technologies, you can still get the free upgrade offer even after the general public deadline expires as Microsoft continues our efforts to improve the Windows 10 experience for people who use these technologies.

You will need to access the correct download page which is here:
Link Removed

 

[Kekej97]

The upgrade is still available for all pcs?

 

[Neemobeer]

No, only if you have disabilities.

 

[kemical]

The upgrade is still available for all pcs?

Read the link and you'll see what is detailed but essentially it's a loophole left for disabled users. If you have a disability then you can still obtain the download for free although there is no actual check to see if your really disabled or not...

 

[catilley1092]

That's how I upgraded all of my OS's to W10, except two. One is a VM that I created when in the very early stages, and in the end, had an activated OS at no cost, 10-12 days before those late to the party got theirs.

Cat

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Interesting, I have some Customers with disabilities whom I may be able to upgrade this way, as they are on fixed income and can't afford to buy a W10 upgrade license.

Good Post, Thanks all!

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[catilley1092]

BIGBEARJEDI, glad that we could assist you!

Most all of my W10 installs was way after the free promo ended, kept the file to use on other computers. The installer by default will load the latest version of W10 onto your (or your customer's) computers w/out any trouble.

However, note that Microsoft reserves the right to pull the plug on this at any time, so the sooner you act, the better.

Computers that has had W10 installed & activated in the past & reverted to an earlier OS are eligible for another install, either via this method, or downloading the latest ISO, it'll recognise the hardware fingerprint (if there hasn't been many changes) & install w/out a key. What I did, before downgrading two computers back to W7, was created a disk image with Macrium Reflect, so that I'll be protected at EOL, even though these will still require upgrading afterwards. Maybe I should had went with a clean install, oddly, a Toshiba notebook with essentially the same hardware as my MSI ran like crap, the MSI ran great. Maybe it was all of the Toshiba's extra junk software that made it run bad.

At any rate, once you upgrade using the link above & it's activated, you can then clean install the OS w/out a key, that is, as long as you signed in with a Microsoft Account. That's the for sure way it's permanently activated with a digital entitlement.

Good Luck with upgrading your customer's computers!

Cat

 

[Jain Rohit]

Very good post thanks

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi Cat,
I thought I'd let you know that I'm putting together a little project to test the W10 free upgrade on W7 and W8x platforms. I have a colleague who is also in the computer repair biz who is going to assist me. If we can get it to work on either or both platforms, we plan on offering no-license cost upgrades *labor only* to our Computer Club members as a member benefit.

I'll keep you informed of our progress.

Have a Great weekend!
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[ragnarok1968]

Article: Windows 10 free upgrades are still unofficially available - ExtremeTech

Windows 10 free upgrades are still unofficially available
Joel Hruska on January 10, 2017 at 10:15 am

Officially, Windows 10’s free upgrade period ended six months ago. Unofficially, anyone who still wants to upgrade off a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 license is free to do so. We covered how Microsoft hadn’t shut the upgrade program down not long after the update period ended on July 29, 2016 but we haven’t checked back to see if the servers were still up and running.

Over at ZDNet, Ed Bott tried updating an older Windows 7 system to Windows 10 and discovered the entire process still works perfectly. The solution is as simple as visiting Microsoft’s “Link Removed” page, grabbing a copy of the Windows 10 OS, and then installing the as an upgrade to an existing valid installation of Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1. Microsoft isn’t really commenting on this official loophole. But since the OS remains a free upgrade to anyone who uses Assistive Technologies (with absolutely zero attempt to validate that the user actually needs such technology), it’s fairly obvious what we’re seeing here: Microsoft may have officially ended its upgrade program, but it’s leaving the capability in place for anyone who discovers it independently.

And why not? It never made much sense for Microsoft to only give Windows 10 away for just 12 months. For all that the general public hated Microsoft’s nagware, it undeniably worked, driving Windows 10 adoption more quickly than any previous operating system. At the same time, however, Microsoft’s giveaway was also blamed for slowdowns in the PC market. For the first time in decades, consumers didn’t need to buy a new PC to get a new version of Windows — and historically, new PC purchases have been the way 90%+ of the market has gotten a new OS. Retail or OEM sales of Windows licenses through companies like Newegg have never been a major revenue source for Microsoft.

Link Removed
If you use (or “use”) assistive technologies, Windows 10 is still a free upgrade indefinitely.

Microsoft may have set a 12-month deadline in the hopes of pushing people towards Windows 10 more quickly, or it may have reached an agreement with its various hardware partners that it wouldn’t keep advertising the free upgrade after a certain amount of time. Either way, the company has every reason to leave this loophole quietly open — every machine that upgrades is one more machine that’s now tied to Microsoft’s Windows-as-a-service delivery system.

Should you upgrade?
There are two facets to this question. If you’re still running on Vista or XP but have access to a legitimate Windows license that allows you to download and install Windows 10, yes, I’d argue in favor of upgrading (probably both your software and hardware, but that’s a different topic). There’s little reason to put in the effort to learn Windows 7 or 8 if you aren’t using them already, and Windows 10 can run fairly well, even on older hardware. Pre-Windows 7 operating systems are no longer receiving security updates, and that’s reason enough to advocate for a more recent OS.

If you’re running Windows 7 or 8.1, the question is a little murkier. These operating systems are supported through 2020 and 2023 for security updates, so you’ve got no objective reason to switch (at least, not for security reasons). I upgraded to Windows 10 at the tail end of the upgrade period and have had no particular issues with it, but while DirectX 12 support is nice, I can’t point to any features of the operating system that I really consider killer, either. Compared with Windows 7, it boots faster, some of the new UI elements are better, and the GUI is a little smoother. I don’t personally regret taking Microsoft’s upgrade offer, but I can’t really point to any grand improvements. Gamers have good reason to grab DX12, but for everyone else? It’s mostly a wash, at least for the next 2.5 years.

 

[ragnarok1968]

Just in case, it's early morning for you, you're tired, here's the Link Removed

 

[davehc]

No, only if you have disabilities.

Not exactly. I work with helping old people who have sufficient interest in computers. With digital communication, which, here, even includes making an appointment with the doctor, it has almost become mandatory.

I have assisted several "oldies", who do not necessarily have any impairment. Lets face it, even young people may need quite strong glasses. It has been my welcome experience that Microsoft take a very lenient view of this. I think they are quite anxious to try and persuade all to go over to Windows 10.
I have no inside knowledge, but, maybe they (MS) are able to pry and see if you are using any of the functions mentioned.
In fact, I am in good health, but still find some of the "Ease of Access" items useful, for an example.

 

[catilley1092]

Am glad that for those who needs it, there's still a way to obtain W10 at no cost.

Also, one has to look at this from a hardware perspective, example one has a Full/Upgrade license of Windows 7 or 8.1, and has recently purchased the latest Intel or AMD CPU & everything else needed. The buck for those OS's stops here, it's either upgrade to W10 for full support, or move onto Linux, which may for some be too steep of a learning curve for many to accept, although today's LInux is not as bad as many portrays. The same browsers are supported (other than IE & Edge), and one also gets 64 bit browsers for their 64 bit OS w/out specially downloading these. There's even Skype for Linux, as well as an Insync app (a header for Google Drive). Plus those same devs are working on a OneDrive app, we'll see what becomes of it.

Still, the reality is Linux is a niche market, while I've been running Linux Mint for 8+ years, also have to run Windows for other reasons, am a Staffer on another Tech Forum, and assist folks face to face, so need all supported versions installed for troubleshooting.

My next upgrade will be on modern hardware, so will need W10 to reap the benefits.

Cat

 

[kemical]

Am glad that for those who needs it, there's still a way to obtain W10 at no cost.

Agreed..

 

[davehc]

I love fooling with Computer progams as a learning, and curiosity experience. I must confess, probably through lack of Linux Knowledge, that the linus runs usually end in abysmal failure in a very short time.
However, as we say - been there, done that. With Windows 10 now squared away, life is boring and I might have another go.
I recently tried Zorin and Chalet. Must say, if you let your mind wander, you can imagine you are actually in Windows.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi all,
I haven't been on this thread to update my result in a few months. Thought I'd share the information. Bottom line is after doing 4 months of testing with the W10 AT, and having a friend assist me with independent review, my low-cost upgrade project came screaming to a halt last month. The first 3 computers I attempted the upgrade on for Customers who happened to be Computer Club members in my Club, all failed repeatedly and badly--especially the first one (all 3 were laptops), which was a Samsung. It took me 9 days to do the upgrade to W10 from W8 and it was a complete nightmare. I probably spent 100 hrs. on it. It turns out that the normal method of upgrading from W8 to W8.1 as most of you know is a mandatory requirement, otherwise the W10 installer won't play ball! It turns out that Samsung and other PC companies as well, decided NOT to offer driver level support for W8.1 on all their laptops made from 2011-2013 or so. This means that no matter what I did, I could not achieve the upgrade to work on the Samsung laptop to get it to W8.1 in order to apply and use the free W10 AT upgrade! After trying everything including the always risky BIOS flash and CHIPSET upgrades, I had no other choice but to do a Clean Install of W10 and buy a product key online to make it legit and pass Windows Activation. The problem was that the price I quoted this this Customer was $60, but it cost me $45 to buy the W10 license and get his laptop running W10. So, I made about $15 there and you can do the math. For 100 hours of labor, it's not worth it. I had 2 other laptops come in right after that one, and they also had similar issues with the W10 AT upgrade, which caused them to fail, and I had to charge them more money to get W10 installed as they too required Clean Installs--the AT upgrade would not work on the existing hardware.

Bottom line, I pulled the plug on the whole Project and am no longer offering these upgrades to Club members or others at the reduced price. The whole thing was quite embarrassing, as the point of the project was to help seniors and others on low-income or fixed-income situations to be able to afford to upgrade their existing desktop and laptops to the latest W10 version for a reasonable cost. (certainly less than it would have been if I had to charge them $99 or $199 (either W10 Home or W10 Pro)) in addition to my labor charge to do the upgrade and also add RAM or new HDD if required. The pricing structure I came up with was around $200 if parts were needed to accomplish the upgrade, but no charge for the W10 software and license due to the AT free offering. That's worse case scenario. As you all know, you can buy a brand new Dell or other laptop these days for right around that $200 price point or less if you shop around or are willing to stand in line at the computer stores on Black Friday.

Even if I was going to do these upgrades for free and not charge them to do the work it takes to upgrade a W7/W8x computer to W10 via a free W10 AT license, in many cases there is no achievable upgrade choice if the hardware doesn't have driver support for W8.1 or W10 from the hardware manufacturer, as in my Samsung story. Therefore, I would still have to charge the Customer almost the same price $100-$200 as a brand new W10 laptop. This is not helping them, and not helping me. A couple of people suggested that I take a few of these computers in and attempt the W10 AT upgrade and see if it's possible or not and simply return the computer if the upgrade is not possible at the quoted price. Say $60. If a W10 license is required then it's $160 or $260; clearly almost the price of a brand new W10 computer or even a little more. And I would receive $0 for the 2-3 days or more of labor trying to make the determination on whether the W10 AT would work. So I would get no money for the effort, and the Customer would get his/her computer back and would either continue to use it on W7/W8.x or stick it into a drawer or closet and go buy a new computer down the road. They would just keep using the computer they have until it dies or W7/W8.x is end-of-lifed in a few years. No low-cost solution available. I saw no upside to these various recommendations, and have refused all upgrades involving the W10 AT since. Don't know what the rest of you are doing with this, but it's a big fat failure for me and my Client base.

The idea was a good one, but ran into practicalities there were unforeseen such as computer manufacturer's deciding to wait for W10 support and skipping 8.1 support on their hardware, and leaving Customers and Techs in the lurch in the meantime. Perhaps their idea was that if people running their W7/W8x computers wanted W10, then let them go out and buy a new computer with it pre-installed.

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[kemical]

Just so we are clear the Windows upgrade for Windows 10 is still available via the guidelines set out in the first post:

The link you need is on the page found here:
Link Removed

 

[kemical]

According to this article : A Year Later, You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free Windows 10 is still easily available as a free upgrade.
How long it will remain this way is unclear but if your looking to upgrade then the free option is still available.

 

[kemical]

According to a tweet last October upgrading to Windows 10 via assistive technologies will end December 31 2017:

Reference:
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[kemical]

Microsoft have extended the end of the assistive technologies upgrade path until Jan 16th 2018:
Microsoft extends Windows 10 Free Upgrade offer till January 16, 2018