Can I get a hard copy of my free Win 10 download?

My Win 8.1 was upgraded for free to Win 10 yesterday via the Windows Update process, so that's good. But now I'm worried that if I ever need to re-install the OS, I don't have a convenient and legal hard copy (DVD or whatever) of it.

Having had serious system crashes in the past due to games screwing up the graphics drivers etc, and the various restore mechanisms not being reliable or simple, this is a genuine concern for me.

Is there a way to 'capture' my Win 10 as a DVD or ISO file? I have Googled on this but did not find any comprehensible answers.
 
Morning Deane,

hope you ok mate!
i think there is a way you can make an iso when you dl the new win 10 version if i remember correct.

Have a nice weekend

Roy
 
Even if you have an ISO file, it would still be little use without a Product ID key which you are not given during your upgrade. Although the Product ID may have been wrote to your BIOS, the best thing you can do is image the drive and keep that in a safe place so if it all goes belly up at some stage you can rewrite your drive with your image and be up and going again.
 
Morning Deane,

hope you ok mate!
i think there is a way you can make an iso when you dl the new win 10 version if i remember correct.

Have a nice weekend

Roy

Hello Deane,

Window 8 was shipped with the iso image software, if I remember correctly, or you can download it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZjGKCS5Hfg

Do a search for it in the program files in win 10 -- maybe they included it here some where ...

Don't have win10, good buddy, so can't do search here to make sure!

Have a good one!
Ishie
 
Dean

As far as I'm aware, the program is tied to the original serial number used for whatever program you uploaded. However, if you have a big blow-up you would no longer be entitled to a free installation. As suggested above, clone the drive. I suggest you buy a hard drive large enough to contain the existing c: drive.contents and then clone your complete drive to the new one.

Peter
As long as you have the original Win 8 number I guess you could download a full copy of WIN 10 and keep that tucked away somewhere. My C: drive stuffed up the original downloads so I installed from a complete downloaded copy, didn't ask for my serial number.
 
OK, I have my bootable Win 10 ISO file burned to a DVD.

If I ever need to use it, will I need a Product Key to activate Win 10?

If so where do I find that Key? (there's a Product ID on the System page and I have the DVD and Product Key for my former Win 8.1, but I'm not sure if either of these is going to be relevant when the time comes).



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Windows 10 is supposed to have your system hardware information stored somewhere so that you never need a serial number. I believe it only works on newer systems, as a 10 year old machine I have did not work like that. Either way, you can still reinstall your previous os and use your media to re-upgrade it at anytime.
 
OK, I have my bootable Win 10 ISO file burned to a DVD.

If I ever need to use it, will I need a Product Key to activate Win 10?

If so where do I find that Key? (there's a Product ID on the System page and I have the DVD and Product Key for my former Win 8.1, but I'm not sure if either of these is going to be relevant when the time comes).



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There is no need for a CD-KEY for the machine you registered as an upgrade. This information is associated with your Microsoft account when you setup the computer and stores the computer info. If there is ever a need to reinstall, you can skip over the serial number/CD-Key requests when they show up during the process.

I just went through this when I did a fresh install of my Windows 10 on my desktop.
 
There is no need for a CD-KEY for the machine you registered as an upgrade. This information is associated with your Microsoft account when you setup the computer and stores the computer info. If there is ever a need to reinstall, you can skip over the serial number/CD-Key requests when they show up during the process.

I just went through this when I did a fresh install of my Windows 10 on my desktop.
Just a quick question, but as I'm planning on installing 10 on my old vista laptop, does this mean that if I log into the machine using my Microsoft Account, that the machine would actually switch from the serial key registered after the upgraded to the serial key that my 7 PC had after I did upgrade that one before reverting it back?
 
it seems that all Windows 10 upgrades have the same generic CD key, All pro versions have one key all home versions a different one, mine match the same key as some of the "idiots" are posting on various forums! I can never understand why seemingly knowledgeable Computer users have this desire to publicise their CD keys! although as in this case they are all the same no real harm done. Use Speccy or Keyfinder to view it. From what I understand it isn't going to a lot of use for a clean install as the PC gets it's hardware registered with MS during the upgrade and it's from MS that a clean install gets its validation, CD Key not required.

Interesting is that my Ugraded OEM system builder Win7 Pro now has the same key as a Win7 Pro retail after upgrading.
 
Ok, so before I even upgrade my laptop to 10, are my specs good enough for the upgrade?
Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 2 (build 6002)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 10/13/2014 4:18:51 PM
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported)
System Model
Hewlett-Packard Compaq Presario CQ60 Notebook PC F.36
System Serial Number: 2CE9028HHC
Enclosure Type: Notebook
Processor a
2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon Dual-Core QL-62
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded
Main Circuit Board b
Board: Wistron 303C 08.51
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard F.36 03/13/2009
Drives
160.04 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
64.21 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space


MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000 [Optical drive]
TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633M ATA Device [Optical drive]


Generic- Multi-Card USB Device [Hard drive] (15.47 GB) -- drive 1
Hitachi HTS543216L9A300 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 081213FB0200VCC870GB, rev FB2OC40F, SMART Status: Healthy
Memory Modules c,d
1790 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory


Slot 'S1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'S2' has 1024 MB
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 148.92 GB 62.38 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 11.12 GB 1.84 GB free
* Operating System is installed on c:
Network Drives
None detected
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Bubba 8/11/2015 4:36:10 PM (admin)
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Disabled Administrator 10/13/2014 4:30:41 PM (admin)
ASPNET never
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Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
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IDE Channel [Controller] (4x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (2x)
Display
NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G [Display adapter]
LGD LP156WH1-TLA1 [Monitor] (15.3"vis)
Bus Adapters
MagicISO SCSI Host Controller
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller (2x)
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Multimedia
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None detected
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HDAUDIO Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP


↑ Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.2.2 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.2.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.2.1
Physical Address: 00:24:2B:4A:39:6B
Connection Speed: 54 Mbps
Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter - Virtual Machine Network Services Driver
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
↓ NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Networking Controller
Status: Cable unplugged
Dhcp Server: none responded
Physical Address: 00:1F:16:63:1E:A6
Connection Speed: 1 Gbps
NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Networking Controller - Virtual Machine Network Services Driver
Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

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Multiple Card Reader, s/n 058F63666438, rev 1.00 7/24/2015 11:21:37 PM*
* Possibly used again before the reboot following this time.
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Windows 98 8/4/2015 10:09:19 PM
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Windows POSReady 2009 7/6/2015 12:04:10 AM
 
Ok, so before I even upgrade my laptop to 10, are my specs good enough for the upgrade?
Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 2 (build 6002)

You can't upgrade Vista, the free upgrade is only for Win 7 and Win 8.1 With Vista you have to pay for the upgrade.
 
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