Windows 7 Users Might Get a Free Upgrade to Windows 11

Tom's Hardware ^ | Jun 17, 2021 | Nathaniel Mott

[dayglored]

Windows 7 users might finally decide to upgrade soon. Windows Latest today reported that a leaked build of Windows 11 suggests Microsoft plans to offer a free upgrade to the next significant update to the operating system when it debuts.

A caveat: This is based on a configuration package in a leaked build of an operating system that hasn't officially been announced yet. Microsoft's plans could have changed, or it may have planned for the upgrade to be paid all along.

Windows Latest said its claim was "based on the configuration keys found within Pkeyconfig (product key configuration package) in the leaked build of Windows 11." Those keys suggest Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users will be able to upgrade at no cost.

That upgrade path would make sense. Microsoft offers a free update to Windows 10, too, and that promotion is still valid even though it was supposed to end in 2016. Anyone with a valid key for Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 can take advantage of that offer.

Microsoft continues to sell licenses for Windows 10, of course, but the free upgrade from a prior version of Windows reinforces the platform's status as an operating-system-as-a-service on top of which the company's real money-makers are built.

Charging for Windows 11 when Windows 10 was a free update would come as a surprise. So would requiring systems running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 to install a free upgrade to Windows 10 before installing a free upgrade to Windows 11.

Windows 7 users have been on borrowed time—Microsoft officially dropped support for the operating system in January 2020. Windows 8.1 will follow suit in January 2023, and Microsoft plans to stop supporting Windows 10 in October 2025.

We should know more about how Windows users, from those relying on a version released over a decade ago to those running the most recent update, will be able to upgrade to Windows 11 after Microsoft's announcement on June 24.

[Don W]

The machine is a 2 year old Asus X541NA. I will try the restart right now.

[minnesota_bound]

Contact the manufacturer and see if they have a copy of Windows to download.
They may have their version with Windows plus all the ad ware.

Download the free product key finder:
ProduKey v1.97 - Recover lost Windows product key (CD-Key) and Office 2003/2007 product key.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

Bigger article on the varoius ways to find your serial numbers:

How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys
https://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

[minnesota_bound]

You can also buy Windows 7 cheap at Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/b/Microsoft-Windows-7-Operating-System-Software/11226/bn_2780793

[Bob434]

Thanks, I do have my product key on the side of the tower, and have the serial key too. I’ll check with the manufacturer and see what they have, thanks

[Bob434]

I’m always leery of those. They sel. Them on Amazon too, but reviews are really mixed on them with folks saying they got ripped off, while other s say it’s legit. Like on eBay, I note they range in price fro around d $29-99, which ones are legit? Hard to tell, so e folks say that the product key needed to register them don’t work. It’s a gamble I think. But worse comes to worse, I’ll give it a go, thanks for the link

[TomGuy]

Where would you suggest one look for Windows 7 keys if W7 came pre-loaded on an HP laptop?

I just ran across this portable utility on MajorGeeks.com: Wise Windows Key Finder

[Bob434]

Thanks. Major geeks has a lot of cool utilities on their site

[LibertyWoman]

I’m hoping someone can answer this question for me: My son worked for a company that went out of business a couple of years ago and they gave him some of the computer equipment and he turned around and gave me one of the Desktops. It currently has Windows 7 professional however, I don’t have the ‘key’(?) that they are talking about here. Any suggestions on how to proceed with an upgrade? IOW, will there be any other option other than that?

[dayglored]

> ...It currently has Windows 7 professional however, I don’t have the ‘key’(?) that they are talking about here. Any suggestions on how to proceed with an upgrade? IOW, will there be any other option other than that?

The 25-character key string (usually displayed as five groups of five characters separated by hyphens) is stored in the Windows Registry. There are a few ways to display it.

1. You can sometimes display it using this command (from a Command Prompt window ("cmd"):

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

If you're lucky, and the computer was purchased with Windows pre-installed (most businesses do this), then it will display the key string. If not it'll just print back "OA3xOriginalProductKey" and no key.

2. If that didn't work, try the Belacr Advisor program. Browse to https://www.belarc.com, click the "Free Download" menu item, and download a free copy of the Belarc Advisor. Install (temporarily) and run it. It will take a minute or two and then print out a LOT of information about your computer. Look under "Software Licenses" for one that says "Microsoft - Windows 7 Pro". Across from that will be two strings. The first is an identifier (often contains the substring "-OEM-"). The second is the Key -- 5 groups of 5 characters. That's what you're looking for.

3. Finally, but only as a last resort: The key can also be retrieved and displayed using various software tools found on the internet, most are called something like "Windows Key Finder" or some such name. But beware Some of them are spyware/malware. I don't recommend taking chances like that unless there's no other option, and make sure you have a good backup of the system before you download any untrusted software, in case you have to restore.

Good luck!

[LibertyWoman]

Thank you !!

[AFreeBird]

Have a Sony viao with win7. The update system is broken. Don’t really use it anymore but it might be nice to make it a viable system at least.

[LibertyWoman]

I don't mean to bother you again but... :)

I did #1 and it came back OA3xOriginalProductKey like you said it might. Does that mean that the number is not on the computer at all? If that's the case I don't want to download anything from Belarc as it would be useless. Could the number be anywhere outside of Windows registry?

thank you for your help!

[dayglored]

> I did #1 and it came back OA3xOriginalProductKey like you said it might. Does that mean that the number is not on the computer at all?

Nope, it just means that the Windows installation was -not- done by the computer maker (i.e. Windows was -not- "pre-installed"), but instead was installed after the computer was manufactured.

The Belarc Advisor will find the key, wherever it is, regardless of how Windows was installed. The reason for trying the commandline option first is it's quicker -- if it happens to give the answer. But in your case it didn't, so proceed to option #2. :-)

[LibertyWoman]

Ok, great. Thanks again!