Can clean install of Windows 10 be activated by 8.1 license?

[Niekon]

I wish to move from Windows 8.1 to 10, but I want to do it by doing a clean install of Windows 10 on an SSD rather than the HDD that came with the device. I was wondering if this Windows 10 can be activated with the license of 8.1?

If this is possible, I would appreciate if you could point me to some resources that will guide me.

If I do this, will the Windows 8.1 on the HDD remain activated as well?

Thanks a lot!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, it may be possible to do that, but I don't know 100% for sure.

Does your notebook come with W8.1 'standard' or W8.1 Single Language?

I have a different idea that should be guaranteed to work, but I need to know that info first.

[Niekon]

Hi, I have Windows 8.1 Single Language that came pre-installed with the laptop

[Paul_Tikkanen]

OK, great.

Here's my idea...I was searching the internet for an exact answer to your question, and I am finding that some folks are not able to activate W10 with a W8.1 key.

So, here is what I recommend you do.

Clean install W8.1 Single Language on your new 2.5" SSD.

Download the W8.1 single language 64-bit ISO file from the link below.

Download Windows 8.1 Disc Image (ISO File) (microsoft.com)

Use the free Rufus utility to create a bootable USB installer with the ISO file.

Select the GPT partition table from the menu.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

After you get W8.1 installed, use the media creation tool to create a bootable USB installation flash drive.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

After the media is created, open the USB flash drive in Windows Explorer to see the file contents.

Click on the setup application you see there and the upgrade to W10 will begin.

By using the above method, you will get the free upgrade to W10 Single Language, and it should be activated with a digital license.

If you want, you can also do this to your existing hard drive installation and upgrade to W10 and then you can clean install W10 on the new SSD.

If you do it the second way, when you get past the Install Now screen, you will be asked what version of W10 you want to install.  Select W10 Single Language 64 bit.

Then you will be asked to enter a product key.  Select the 'I don't have a product key' option and W10 will install and automatically activate since Microsoft has a record of your PC having been previously upgraded to W10.