I read a note that some folks are still able to install Windows 10, using the software keys from old WIN 7 & WIN 8 Professional versions.

Clean install - not upgrades.

Yes, it works, I just did it.  How long Microsoft will allow it.... I don't know.

Here's how I just did it, 9/11/2016...  This tiny little ASRock BeeBox N3150B is a great little quad core machine, and has really great graphics to boot!  We had loaded 32bit WIN 8 Pro on it, and the key was "used up", so it SAT Idle for many months.

a.  Do a disk image or backup everything (yup, was going to do a 100% clean install, and I had a backup, just in case I wanted to go back)
b.  using a WIN 10 multi-version DVD, I did a CLEAN 64bit, Professional, WIN 10 install.
c.  when it asked for a software key, I checked "I don't have one..."  (probably gives you 30 day trail or something, who knows, I could have put in the WIN 8 key, I suppose, but figured, "Meh"....)
d.  Did a custom install, turning OFF as much of the spy-ware & reporting stuff I could - I will not do an "Express" install, ever!
e.  When the install was 100% completed, I went to the settings & activation screen to "activate"
f.   Entered a VALID WIN 8 Professional 64-bit key, which after a little wait, it took it, and activation was completed.

WHY Upgrade??  Because this is one of the few machines in the house that actually accesses the Internet.  The rest of the machines & servers, do not.

Now... I'm DL the specific device drivers, CCleaner, Malwarebytes, VLC, Maxthon, Brave, MS Streets & Trips & Winamp....  that's about all this machine gets - I want to keep it as program free as possible, mainly for speed.

It -still- works... Oct. 7, 2016.   Did it again to another machine last night.

And.... turned OFF as much of the spyware stuff as I could, then using CCleaner went through and cleaned out another half-dozen programs I didn't want.   I have not figured how to get completely rid of the "Cloud" storage stuff.

When you go to upgrade, check the box for "...reloading WIN 10" - after that It askes if you'd like to get the latest updates... yada, yada.
Read the SMALL PRINT - there's ways to step through the optional junk & turn it off.

Under the Settings - Activation tabs, all mine now read: 

Edition           Windows 10 Pro
Activation      Windows is activated
Product Key   Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement

As far as I know, this only works with the PRO versions of WIN 7, WIN 8.0, WIN 8.1 (all which I've upgraded from, without a new Key)
There is a 30 day "roll back" if you change your mind.

I cannot tell if my 64 bit versions are running faster on the i5 or Quad Core machines, other than one of the BeeBoxes that runs my HD Video cameras is less than 35% CPU utilization at 25FPS for multiple cameras - it was 55-60% utilization, so that's quite a bit better.

But... on the older Dual Core machines, formerly running WIN 8.0, quite a nice improvement in boot speed, graphics and Visio.

If you install Linux instead of Window10, you don't need a key and there's no junk to turn off.

There are a number of distros of Linux.  I prefer Fedora but many claim Mint or Ubuntu is easier for beginners.

Quote from: KenJackson on October 20, 2016, 04:08:11 PM
If you install Linux instead of Window10, you don't need a key and there's no junk to turn off.

There are a number of distros of Linux.  I prefer Fedora but many claim Mint or Ubuntu is easier for beginners.

As much as I loved UNIX, years ago, and still have a multi-user license....  some of the programs I run are pretty tied to Windows.  Aside from the whole MS Office suite with VISIO, heavy graphic design and the ability to easily move varying data types between programs, resize, scale, color enhance, we're kinda stuck.   The other programs are ones we've written that address ports & devices directly (written in C#, debugged in Windows, and then debugged again in Linux)...   Still have to run "everything" on slow and fast machines, & fileservers.

So far, WIN-10 has been faster than WIN-8.0 and quite a bit better all around than WIN 7 for us.
It's faster and "cleaner" than WIN on this Dell Latitude E5500 I'm on right now, and really quick on a HP 2170p elitebook (I-5 machine).   I LOVE the little HP 2170p, it's fast, small, great battery life, and the lit keyboard - definately faster switching from WIN-7 to WIN -10.

...hmmmm.... just occurred to me, we have 3 computers in every room of the house, not including the 2 file servers in the basement... and then there's the laptops floating around.... 3 commercial printers, copiers.... no wonder our electic bill never dips below $250 a month.

I am "satisfied" with WIN-10 so far, If I need to, we can easily migrate back to WIN-8.0 or WIN-7.  Everything has a disk image on the servers.

Here's a REAL downer on WIN-10.

Those automatic updates.  With very limited internet bandwidth, during those times when you think, "Gee.... it's kinda slow today... hmmm, well, at least I won't be burning up alot of my monthly allotment of Internet, eh?"

Surprise!

It's been downloading updates in the background!  There went another 150meg of your monthly usage.  You'll not realize it updated anything, unless during the power down of your PC it says, "Please wait, do not unplug, installing updates".   Unfortunately, some of those updates do not require a reboot - they install, and you never know, until you get the Internet access bill.

This is becoming more and more common, while writing this, I got a Brave popup, "Hello!  A Brave update was just released.  Requires a quick relaunch..."  - thanks Brave, for the near DAILY bandwidth bump.   Now even browsers are getting in on the act, taking over your internet bandwidth, without your knowledge.

Quote from: Hoofer on October 25, 2016, 04:50:12 AM
Here's a REAL downer on WIN-10.

Those automatic updates.  With very limited internet bandwidth, during those times when you think, "Gee.... it's kinda slow today... hmmm, well, at least I won't be burning up alot of my monthly allotment of Internet, eh?"

Surprise!

It's been downloading updates in the background!  There went another 150meg of your monthly usage.  You'll not realize it updated anything, unless during the power down of your PC it says, "Please wait, do not unplug, installing updates".   Unfortunately, some of those updates do not require a reboot - they install, and you never know, until you get the Internet access bill.

This is becoming more and more common, while writing this, I got a Brave popup, "Hello!  A Brave update was just released.  Requires a quick relaunch..."  - thanks Brave, for the near DAILY bandwidth bump.   Now even browsers are getting in on the act, taking over your internet bandwidth, without your knowledge.

The updates are a pain the a--.

Quote from: Hoofer on October 25, 2016, 04:50:12 AM
Here's a REAL downer on WIN-10.

Those automatic updates.  With very limited internet bandwidth, during those times when you think, "Gee.... it's kinda slow today... hmmm, well, at least I won't be burning up alot of my monthly allotment of Internet, eh?"

Surprise!

It's been downloading updates in the background!  There went another 150meg of your monthly usage.  You'll not realize it updated anything, unless during the power down of your PC it says, "Please wait, do not unplug, installing updates".   Unfortunately, some of those updates do not require a reboot - they install, and you never know, until you get the Internet access bill.

This is becoming more and more common, while writing this, I got a Brave popup, "Hello!  A Brave update was just released.  Requires a quick relaunch..."  - thanks Brave, for the near DAILY bandwidth bump.   Now even browsers are getting in on the act, taking over your internet bandwidth, without your knowledge.

I warned of this a couple of years ago when I posted what a Microshaft engineer told a group of us in an obscure forum.
He said that unless you kill all Win updates, that they will upgrade every pooter out there to Win 10, with govt backdoor entry points as well as Win tracking abilities for commercial gains.
But his big warning was the way Microshaft can mow be considered Micro/Govt, in that they aligned with the govt in the Win endeavor.

Could he have been lying? Sure, but he did warn about the Win updates and he was spot on, so it gives credence to his other claims.
I go with the idea that everything I do on my computer is open for govt inspection, so todd the idea of privacy out the window.

MS would be in real trouble if not for government.  Those gov contracts are keeping them alive, in my opinion.  It seems like any decent-sized company I'm in, that doesn't depend on a gov contract, runs Mac... with a few exceptions.  So, it makes sense that MS repays the favor by stuffing themselves full of backdoors, etc.

I couldn't believe it, had I not seen it today.

It took almost 1hr to update a Dual Core Dell laptop, AFTER I shut down and started the next morning.
Must have rebooted 3 times.

Can't disclose names, but an IT guy for the State of Ca told us avoid Win 10 at all costs, that it is in constant contact with the cloud uploading all your information on every program/hardware in your system.
In other words Win is selling your Internet history/activity to anyone willing to pay for it.

Quote from: Solar on October 26, 2016, 08:55:25 PM
Can't disclose names, but an IT guy for the State of Ca told us avoid Win 10 at all costs, that it is in constant contact with the cloud uploading all your information on every program/hardware in your system.
In other words Win is selling your Internet history/activity to anyone willing to pay for it.

Same with my IT guy. He said the worst was when an existing machine is updated from another Windows version. The updates are still a nightmare.

Quote from: supsalemgr on October 27, 2016, 04:36:44 AM
Same with my IT guy. He said the worst was when an existing machine is updated from another Windows version. The updates are still a nightmare.

Yeah, it got so bad, I turned off all updates, Adobe has nothing on these guys where updates are concerned.

most of our machines are NOT connected to the internet, wired or wireless.

If I can't find a suitable CLEANER, we'll migrate everything back to WIN-8.

The lack of updates doesn't bother me, it's when a program I really need/like will not run without a newer version of Windows.

I got up this morning and booted my laptop. I had another update awaiting me. It took over twenty minutes to upload. No, I am waiting to see what surprises I may have in store for me.

Quote from: supsalemgr on October 29, 2016, 05:28:56 AM
I got up this morning and booted my laptop. I had another update awaiting me. It took over twenty minutes to upload. No, I am waiting to see what surprises I may have in store for me.

If I find someway to completely turn off updating, or make it a manual setting (so I can select it), I'll post it.

I like the speed, but having to SIT & WAIT for a laptop to update, and explain that to a waiting customer - is bad for business.
This will get FIXED, or Microsoft is going to be supporting WIN-7 Pro for a L-O-N-G time.... nobody is gonna migrate with these kinds of delays.