Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade offer still works for many Windows 7 and 8 users and Microsoft is encouraging Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 10 before support for the former ends.
With support for Windows 7 and 8.1 ending TODAY, Tuesday January 14th 2020, Microsoft is encouraging users to upgrade to Windows 10 to keep devices running securely and smoothly. On Microsoft’s website, the Windows 10 Home operating system costs $139 to download. However, you don’t necessarily have to shell out the cash: A free upgrade offer from Microsoft that technically ended in 2016 still works today.
When Windows 10 was first released way back in July of 2015, Microsoft offered an unprecedented free upgrade offer for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users, good through July of 2016. But apparently, Microsoft is still offering the upgrade.
Windows 7 users who don’t upgrade to the new version will no longer be able to get Microsoft’s security updates or fixes, or technical support for any issues, leaving your computer at greater risk from viruses and malware. While Windows 10 users have experienced a number of bugs over the years, upgrading remains the best option for keeping your computer safe.
While you can no longer use the “Get Windows 10” tool to upgrade from within Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, it’s still possible to download Windows 10 installation media from Microsoft and then provide a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key when you install it.
Windows will contact Microsoft’s activation servers and confirm the key to the previous version of Windows is real. If it is, Windows 10 will be installed and activated on your PC. Your PC acquires a “digital license” and you can continue using and reinstalling Windows 10 on it in the future.
Here’s how to get Windows 10 for free, if you’re currently running a licensed and activated copy of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 Home or Pro:
- Go to the Download Windows 10 website.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 - Under Create Windows 10 installation media, click Download tool now and Run.
- Choose Upgrade this PC now.
- Follow the prompts.
- When the upgrade is complete, you can verify this by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation after installing Windows in this way, you’ll see the words “Windows is activated with a digital license”.
It should be noted that if you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, you can only update to Windows 10 Home, while Windows 7 or 8 Pro can only be updated to Windows 10 Pro (the upgrade is not available for Windows Enterprise.
To get the best Windows 10 experience and take advantage of features like passwordless sign-on through Windows Hello, you’ll want to purchase a new Windows 10 PC (or one released after July 2015) with all the appropriate hardware upgrades.
Don’t procrastinate on this upgrade – Microsoft critical security updates end TODAY!
