Basic question about formatting with Windows 10

[Wartung]

Hi guys,

Thanks to you guys for all the help you've given me already, it's very appreciated. Be assured, all the knowledge I get here, I do my best to spread it around everywhere I go and help others the way I've been helped. This is just have a very generic question about Windows 10.

Anyways, here goes: I've always used Windows 7, right, and whenever I needed to format I just deleted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows. I've done it many times, for myself and others, never had any real problems.

Now, with Windows 10 I've noticed my product ID is not the same as it was. I imagine this is because they have assigned us all new ones.

If I download Windows 10 and burn it or something, should I be able to format and install Windows without any complications the way I've always done with W7? Without any hitches or unforseen surprises?

Is installing Windows essentially the same as it was, or are there some extra bumps in the road that I should maybe know about? Can anyone guide me a bit on this?

I haven't yet installed Windows 10 from scratch, I really need a reformat and I'm in school so if I mess up it could really affect my studies until I get it figured out.

Thanks in advance, I'm sure someone will probably help me on this, it's much appreciated...

Cheers

 

[~Darkseeker~]

If you look on MS's website, they have a tool that lets you create an ISO image, and it will even let you burn it to disk straight from the utility assuming that you have a DVD Rewriter.

I think, though I may be mistaken; that when you upgrade from a valid copy of Win7 to Win10, it embeds the details for that product key somewhere, so if you do a fresh copy over the top of Win10 with a Win10 disk, it should auto-activate and be dandy.

Though, and this is the best part for me, Windows 10 will take any valid Win7 or Win8 product key for activation now.

 

[Wartung]

If you look on MS's website, they have a tool that lets you create an ISO image, and it will even let you burn it to disk straight from the utility assuming that you have a DVD Rewriter.

I think, though I may be mistaken; that when you upgrade from a valid copy of Win7 to Win10, it embeds the details for that product key somewhere, so if you do a fresh copy over the top of Win10 with a Win10 disk, it should auto-activate and be dandy.

Though, and this is the best part for me, Windows 10 will take any valid Win7 or Win8 product key for activation now.

Hrmmm, that all sounds fine and dandy I guess. One small problem though, and I'm going to try to be honest as honest as I can here.

My computer was bought with Windows 8 on it. I installed Windows 7 not long after (Pretty straightforward so far).

Now, I'm not sure if I have my old Windows 8 Product ID laying around somewhere or if there is any way to find it....

It exists, I'm pretty sure. Where, however? I'm not sure. Somewhere in cyberspace perhaps. I may have written it down, I have to look but I'm not too confident.

You wouldn't happen to know a means of tracking down my old number? I'm going to scour the booklets and stuff I got when I bought it. Meanwhile, I'll burn that CD as well.

Big thanks though for the response Dark

Cheers

 

[pete.i]

I use Belarc Adviser to find my embedded product numbers. There are others. If you have UEFI bios then your product number is embedded in the bios and Win 10 will just use that to install. It doesn't sound like you have UEFI so I would assume that you used a Win 7 product number to install 7 and Belarc will find that. Before you do any reinstall make sure that you back up any files that are important (they should be backed up anyway somewhere else other than your hard drive especially your education stuff) Unfortunately there is a small problem with Windows 7 product numbers when "upgrading" to Win 10 in as much that sometimes Microsoft's registration process does not recognise the product number as one that is not in use. It will not register and then you have to go through the nightmare of talking to an actuall human being instead of the nice robot lady. I actually have experience of this when reinstalled a Lenovo laptop recently. It had Win 7 from new and I only wanted to put Win 7 back on. I had the product number on the blue label but the registration process kicked it out telling me that that product number was in use. That is the first time in many years of reinstalling computers that that has happened to me.