Windows 10 "Free" Upgrades for Domain PC's
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So does anyone have a clear understanding if PC's connected to a domain will get the free upgrade to Windows 10? I heard that if you log in locally, wait for the Windows 10 upgrade Icon to appear and then rejoin, then you will get the upgrade. But wanted to see if there was a better way or if, by license, those PC's even qualify for this.
These PC's are OEM's and not on a any volume license program.
Thanks...
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It would be pretty mind blowing if the act of associating a machine with a domain removed it's update eligibility. That would be a pretty strong statement that MS was abandoning Active Directory.
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"clear understanding" and "Microsoft licencing" is something of an oxymoron. But I'm pretty confident that domain joined PCs with OEM licences will get the free upgrade and that it will be relatively painless.
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If OEM licenses don't get it, who would? The number of non-OEM machines in the world is pretty near zero. Unless only those with VL upgrades would get it which would be pretty much pointless.
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@scottalanmiller said:
If OEM licenses don't get it, who would? The number of non-OEM machines in the world is pretty near zero. Unless only those with VL upgrades would get it which would be pretty much pointless.
Well those with Software Assurance under VL will clearly get it.
But I agree with Scott - if you have an OEM license you'll qualify - the question will be, what kind of hoops do you have to jump through.
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For example, I don't use the CD key on the sticker. Instead I deploy using KMS.
So my question is, do I have to somehow register all of these machines with MS so the hardware is recognized as 'being upgraded' license wise, THEN I can use KMS to deploy Windows 10 and my images?
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
If OEM licenses don't get it, who would? The number of non-OEM machines in the world is pretty near zero. Unless only those with VL upgrades would get it which would be pretty much pointless.
Well those with Software Assurance under VL will clearly get it.
But I agree with Scott - if you have an OEM license you'll qualify - the question will be, what kind of hoops do you have to jump through.
The ones with SA have paid for it, so they can't get a free upgrade by definition.
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@Dashrender said:
For example, I don't use the CD key on the sticker. Instead I deploy using KMS.
So my question is, do I have to somehow register all of these machines with MS so the hardware is recognized as 'being upgraded' license wise, THEN I can use KMS to deploy Windows 10 and my images?
If you aren't buying a seat for every install then yes, you'd need to register all the OEM licences. and then buy one volume licence to image/do KMS with.
Our techs record all this information in a database so it's easy to get anyway.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@Dashrender said:
For example, I don't use the CD key on the sticker. Instead I deploy using KMS.
So my question is, do I have to somehow register all of these machines with MS so the hardware is recognized as 'being upgraded' license wise, THEN I can use KMS to deploy Windows 10 and my images?
If you aren't buying a seat for every install then yes, you'd need to register all the OEM licences. and then buy one volume licence to image/do KMS with.
Our techs record all this information in a database so it's easy to get anyway.
How is it easy to get for you?
As far as I know, OEM machines never actually have the CD key that is on the sticker entered into the machine. Instead they have a generic OEM key installed in the BIOS that registers the machine.
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@Dashrender said:
For example, I don't use the CD key on the sticker. Instead I deploy using KMS.
So my question is, do I have to somehow register all of these machines with MS so the hardware is recognized as 'being upgraded' license wise, THEN I can use KMS to deploy Windows 10 and my images?
If you aren't buying a seat for every install then yes, you'd need to register all the OEM licences. and then buy one volume licence to image/do KMS with.
Our techs record all this information in a database so it's easy to get anyway.
How is it easy to get for you?
As far as I know, OEM machines never actually have the CD key that is on the sticker entered into the machine. Instead they have a generic OEM key installed in the BIOS that registers the machine.
They get them off of the COA sticker or using a script from the BIOS.
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New machines these days have the REALkey associated with that particular computer in the BIOS, I do believe.
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