If upgrade from Wn8.1 to 10 for free, can you reinstall your 8.1 on a different comp?

[Timo]

If you have Windows 8.1 installed on one computer and then upgrade to Windows 10 for free, does it then free up your former copy of Windows 8.1 to be re-used on a different machine? (obviously without upgrading to Win 10 on that machine, too).

Or does upgrading Windows 8.1 to 10 on one computer mean you have to surrender that Win 8.1 software (product key) entirely, for any and all machines?

Thanks,
Tímo

[zachs33]

Or does upgrading Windows 8.1 to 10 on one computer mean you have to surrender that Win 8.1 software (product key) entirely, for any and all machines?

I believe that will be the consequence of upgrading. There's no EULA for Windows 10 as yet, but the EULA for upgrading to Windows 8 states:

The software covered by this agreement is an upgrade to your existing operating system software, so the upgrade replaces the original software that you are upgrading. You do not retain any rights to the original software after you have upgraded and you may not continue to use it or transfer it in any way.

Upgrades to Windows 7 worked in a similar fashion. Also, if you are not happy with Windows 10, Microsoft has stated that it will let you 'roll back' to Windows 8, which further suggests that any Windows 10 licence obtained via an upgrade is permanently tied to your Windows 8.1 key. It may be possible that you could install another copy of Windows 8.1 elsewhere, but this would be likely to violate the EULA.

[Timo]

Cheers.

[Saracen]

The most accurate answer to this is, to the best of my knowledge .... "we don't yet know".

Many have asked the same questions, including me, and, as far as I'm aware, there has been no definitive, official answer. Just a very loud silence from MS. Which lots of people are now interpreting, rightly or not, as ominous.

Therefore, my advice is .... if unsure, and if it matters to you, DO NOT "upgrade" until such time as there is a definitive answer, which presumably, there will be when the release software becomes available, at the latest.

In short, if in doubt, don't.

[Splash]

As Saracen says, we don't actually know 100%.

That said: I'm not sure what you're asking. Are you saying "If I upgrade my Windows 8 install to Windows 10, then if I decide I don't like it can I reinstall Win8 on another machine, after wiping the machine that I upgraded" or are you saying "Can I upgrade my current Win8 install to Win10, then move the Win8 license to another machine while leaving Win10 on another machine"?

If the former (and this is all opinion, but it's based on historical evidence rather than just random opinion) then: I don't know, but I'd expect that this is possible dependent on the license type on the original machine.

If the latter: I'd be very surprised if this were the case. That would be essentially giving away a copy of Windows for free (as opposed to just bumping you up to the latest version for free), and while I know that they are talking about changing the business model I'm not sure if this is the direction that they're taking.


That said: nobody knows