You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free: Here's how
What's the story
As Microsoft plans to kill support for Windows 7 - one of its most-loved operating systems - in January 2020, it has become more important than ever to upgrade to Windows 10. The platform can easily be purchased for about Rs. 9,000 in India. But why shell out money when you can get the same official upgrade for free? Here's all about it.
Free upgrade
Microsoft (loophole) giving free Windows 10 upgrade
When Microsoft debuted Windows 10 in 2015, it gave Windows 7/8/8.1 users an option to upgrade for free. The offer ended sometime in July 2016, but over the years, users have noted that Microsoft's free tool to upgrade a PC to Windows 10 still works. The method was tested this month itself, and it works!
Steps
How to use the tool?
To get the free upgrade, head over to Microsoft's website and download the tool from the button given under 'Create Windows 10 installation media'. Then, run the program, and click on 'Upgrade this PC now' if the PC you are running the program on is the one that has to be upgraded. If that's not the case, click 'Create installation media for another PC'.
Details
Then, continue with the upgrade process
If the same PC is being upgraded, follow the prompts, which will verify your computer's hardware capabilities and upgrade it to the latest Windows 10 1909. But, if you go for the second option, it will show some prompts and save the installation files for this version on your PC. Then, you can use it to upgrade any other machine in the same way.
License
Your license would be digitally linked
Once the upgrade is done, your Windows 10 PC would be ready to use. In fact, you wouldn't even have to enter a license key, as it will be linked digitally from previous Windows. If you need to be sure, head over to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and check for a message reading: "Windows 10 is activated with a digital license".
Information
Upgrade needed to avoid security issues
If you are on Windows 7, we would recommend going for this free upgrade technique. This is because once Windows 7 loses support, your PC won't get any security updates from Microsoft and would be more vulnerable to attacks and bugs.