win8 side by side with win 10

[re66]

I have installed a win 10 on my win8.1 computer on differant partition.

After few days win 8.1 say that my activation key is wrong and I need to reactivate.

I'm affraid that reactivation will only after my next win 10 upgrade ( probably reseting key in the bios )

What can I do ?

 

[jmccleary50]

I had the same problem when I put 10 alongside 7. An online chat with Microsoft help desk resulted in being told to roll back to 7 reinstall all updates (an excruciatingly long process) and then upgrade to 10. Your problem will be the same as mine. You will end up with 10 by itself which is not what you want. I put 10 on a new partition beside 7 and it would not activate because I did not start the upgrade from the correct configuration.
I have actually considered purchasing a new product key ( somewhere in the area of $119 ) but I defy anyone to explain to me how this is actually done. Everything I see on any Microsoft site goes on and on about updates and product keys but never says how to actually buy one. Hope you have better luck with this than I did.

 

[re66]

I had the same problem when I put 10 alongside 7. An online chat with Microsoft help desk resulted in being told to roll back to 7 reinstall all updates (an excruciatingly long process) and then upgrade to 10. Your problem will be the same as mine. You will end up with 10 by itself which is not what you want. I put 10 on a new partition beside 7 and it would not activate because I did not start the upgrade from the correct configuration.
I have actually considered purchasing a new product key ( somewhere in the area of $119 ) but I defy anyone to explain to me how this is actually done. Everything I see on any Microsoft site goes on and on about updates and product keys but never says how to actually buy one. Hope you have better luck with this than I did.

Thank

 

[BigFeet]

I had the same problem when I put 10 alongside 7. An online chat with Microsoft help desk resulted in being told to roll back to 7 reinstall all updates (an excruciatingly long process) and then upgrade to 10. Your problem will be the same as mine. You will end up with 10 by itself which is not what you want. I put 10 on a new partition beside 7 and it would not activate because I did not start the upgrade from the correct configuration.
I have actually considered purchasing a new product key ( somewhere in the area of $119 ) but I defy anyone to explain to me how this is actually done. Everything I see on any Microsoft site goes on and on about updates and product keys but never says how to actually buy one. Hope you have better luck with this than I did.

Once you do the upgrade, your other key will be invalid. You would have to roll back (within the 30 day period).

To buy a Windows 10 key, click "Buy Windows 10 (download)" on the right side of the page, then the buy and download button.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-10-Home/productID.319937100

 

[jmccleary50]

Big Feet thanks for the link. I could not find anything on Microsoft sites to actually buy an activation key, That link led me to purchase a new download which included a new key to activate what I already had.

 

[BigFeet]

No problem. The key is all you need. I did that with Windows 8 a few years ago. I had Windows 8, just needed the key.

 

[jmccleary50]

All's well that ends well. I've been all over this forum posting about dual boot. Just took a look at the 10 version on the dual boot. There is no vertical list on the left side of the start menu but this is the side that has classic shell on it. I had shell for a short time earlier then uninstalled it. Now it seems what I downloaded was an abbreviated version of 10 but shell makes it look much better so i'm satisfied.

So much for my adventures with dual boot. It was a long way to get there but it ended up the way I wanted.

 

[davidhk129]

What happens if you make a left click at the left side ?

 

[davidhk129]

Is that what you see on the "left side "?
If yes, click the 3-line "hamburger" icon at top left.

 

[davidhk129]

If that is truly what you have, you can change it back to "normal".
Settings > Personalization > left side, Start > right side, turn off " Use Start full screen ".

 

[jmccleary50]

This should show 10 left side list.

 

[jmccleary50]

This should show 10 without list. Note difference at search window-no magnifying glass-wider search window. Is this difference because of classic shell?

 

[jmccleary50]

Last picture

 

[davidhk129]

That is not what I meant to ask. I was not asking how it looked with Classic Shell.

You said you had an abbreviated version od Win 10 with nothing shown on the left.
I asked if you would post a screenshot of that.
There is no such thing as "an abbreviated version ".

 

[jmccleary50]

Let me explain. The first picture is from the laptop which went from 8.1 to 10 and was always activated. The next picture is from the laptop which I used the thumb drive and an iso file to install10. I didn't understand why there was no list of folders shown by the start setting "choose which folders appear on start". The final picture shows classic shell start menu.

I thought maybe I had somehow installed a modified version of 10 when it was not properly activated.

Anyway my latest effort is now that I have two laptops to install a USB switch so I can avoid the nuisance of switching the printer cable. Never give up-just keep floundering!