Microsoft had “clarified” that they were not going to be upgrading pirated copies of Windows to legitimate versions of Windows 10. As it happens, early reports have suggested that Pirates have been able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Not only that, but it also appears that they are also receiving new keys associated with the installation and these keys may well be legitimate. So I tested it.

I used the following files to complete the process. I won’t link to the copyright infringing files but I have reproduced their names in full and I did acquire them from a torrent site of the ass-kicking variety.

Install Win8.1 as the 30 day trial (I did not use the built in activator). I used the KMSpico activator listed above. I ran The Ultimate PID Checker to establish my current key. I ran the official windows upgrade tool (it downloaded fast but took absolutely forever to install but I believe this was due to the netbook). I ran The Ultimate PID Checker and confirmed that I now have a new license key.

You can see here that it’s activated:

This was performed on a NP-NC110 netbook and I have not tested elsewhere. I also don’t know if Microsoft will establish some method to retroactively de-authorise this copy. Either way, it certainly appears to be valid at the time of writing and Windows has successfully updated since. Based on the current evidence I have seen, Daz Loader or KMS activators are the only methods that seem to result in legitimate upgrades whilst alternative methods are being detected as pirated and producing invalidated copies of Windows 10.

Microsoft has confirmed again, that “devices they detect as non-genuine will not be offered the free upgrade…“.

My reading of this is that, devices they detect as genuine, whether they are legitimate or not, will be offered the upgrade. Given that they are providing what appears to be a new key to these new users: it would seem that you should also be able to use this new key to perform a clean re-installation which would negate their stated concerns regarding malware and fraud:

“We believe genuine Windows is the best Windows,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “Genuine Windows is published by Microsoft, properly licensed, and supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including Non-Genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud (identity theft, credit card theft, etc.), public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions.”

UPDATE:

After bodging some graphics drivers I had to completely re-install from scratch. I used the second key obtained with the PID tool after I had upgraded to Windows 10 and everything authorised and installed fine. Again, the key could still become invalidated later on, but my current suspicion is that Microsoft generate a new legit key when you upgrade.

As an aside: I HIGHLY SUGGEST PEOPLE ENABLE LEGACY F8 BOOT OPTIONS IN WINDOWS 10. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.

Why? When I installed an incompatible graphics driver W10 started boot-looping. But because it was booting successfully and then crashing at the desktop; I was never booted into safe mode or offered the option to do so. For some reason, even when using a repair disk, I still did not have the option to boot to safe mode and therefore had to do a complete reinstall. Since, re-installing the entire operating system, I’ve botched the driver again, but now I can boot back in under safe mode and correct the driver.