The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Windows 7 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 10

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by iqcar, Aug 1, 2016.

  1. iqcar

    iqcar Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    16
    Messages:
    343
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    HI, this will be a dumb question, so bear with me:
    If the system has "Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 10 Pro", what exactly will I get? When I receive the computer, turn it on, will it be running on Windows 7 or 10? If it's Windows 7, will I be able to upgrade to Windows 10 in future for free?
    (I asked 3 different reps they gave 3 different answers)
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2016
    iqcar, Aug 1, 2016
    #1
  2. t30power

    t30power Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    190
    Messages:
    778
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    You will get Windows 7 as the title suggest "Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled.."

    But I don't know how the process of upgrading to Windows 10 will be.
    For example I got a brand new T440p with the same entitlement but downgrade rights in Windows 8, so I got the recovery media to install Windows 8, the reason why is that Thinkpad was the last to feature the Ultrabay Optical Drive.

    Supposedly the free upgrade to Windows 10 is over, so I think if you reinstall with an ISO it should pickup the license in the BIOS, but it will be nive to get a USB to get the recovery media.
     
    t30power, Aug 8, 2016
    #2
  3. hmscott

    hmscott Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,110
    Messages:
    20,384
    Likes Received:
    25,139
    Trophy Points:
    931
    It will come with Windows 7 Professional x64 installed, and you will also get the Windows 10 Pro activation sticker/code.

    What "Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 10 Pro" means is that Windows 10 Pro was purchased, and you exercised your "right" to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional - you could also downgrade to Windows 8.1 Professional.

    Here is the info from Microsoft:

    Downgrade rights for Windows software
    https://www.microsoft.com/OEM/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/downgrade_rights.aspx

    Windows downgrade rights.JPG
     
    hmscott, Aug 8, 2016
    #3
    huntnyc likes this.
  4. Kana Chan

    Kana Chan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    356
    Likes Received:
    214
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Extract the key first and reinstall if you want
     
    Kana Chan, Aug 9, 2016
    #4
  5. Thors.Hammer

    Thors.Hammer Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    982
    Messages:
    5,162
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    216
    You don't need to extract the key if you use the right media.
     
    Thors.Hammer, Aug 14, 2016
    #5
  6. real_rover

    real_rover Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I bought a new Lenovo ThinkPad on eBay with factory downgraded to W7 Pro. No media and no product key on the laptop bottom - only Windows Pro logo. How could I upgrade back to Window 10 Pro? Thanks.
     
    real_rover, Sep 19, 2016
    #6
  7. djembe

    djembe drum while you work

    Reputations:
    1,064
    Messages:
    1,455
    Likes Received:
    203
    Trophy Points:
    81
    You'd need to find and download a copy of Windows 10 Pro OEM (also called System Builder), then install it on your system. The product key should be hard-coded in your BIOS, so you won't need to enter it. You just need the correct version of Windows.
     
    djembe, Oct 2, 2016
    #7
    hmscott likes this.