Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

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The release day of Windows 10 is around the corner but you can reserve your free upgrade just about now. Here are some of the information you may want to know.

Does your computer meet Windows 10 system requirements?

  • OS: Windows 7 with SP1 or Windows 8.1 with Update 2 (more on this later)
  • Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
  • RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
  • Free hard disk space: 16 GB
  • Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
  • A Microsoft account and Internet access

Check more details here.

Which version to upgrade for FREE?

  • Windows 7 Starter → Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 7 Home Basic → Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 7 Home Premium → Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 7 Professional → Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 7 Ultimate → Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 8.1 → Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 8.1 with Bing → Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 8.1 Professional → Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 8.1 Phone → Windows 10 Mobile

Editions that are not free:

  • Windows 7 Enterprise
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 8.1 Enterprise
  • Windows RT/RT 8.1

Features that are removed after upgrade to Windows 10

  • Windows Media Center
  • DVD Playback
  • Desktop Gadgets (Windows 7 only)
  • Pre-installed Games
  • Floppy Drive Support
  • Windows Live Essentials
  • Windows Updates

How to reserve my free upgrade?

By now, if you are running a version that is eligible for free upgrade, you will see a Windows 10 icon showing up in system tray waiting for you to get started.

Windows 10 upgrade icon - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

Clicking the icon will start the reserving process.

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Navigate through a few slides to check out some of the new features in Windows 10 and click the Reserve your free upgrade button when you are ready.

Once done, when RTM version is released, it will be downloaded automatically through Windows Update and you will get notified once complete. Then you can install it right away or pick a time that’s convenient for you.

Get Windows 10 2015 06 09 23 45 51 600x390 - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

How to cancel my reservation to free upgrade?

I can’t really think of a reason why you need to cancel the free upgrade but in case you need to,

1. Right-click Windows 10 upgrade icon in System Tray and select Check your upgrade status.

right click Windows 10 upgrade icon - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

2. Click the Cancel reservation link. If you don’t see the link, click the hamburger button at the top left corner, and View Confirmation.

Get Windows 10 2015 06 09 23 53 40 600x390 - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

What if I don’t see the Windows 10 Upgrade icon?

It’s either the version you are running isn’t eligible or you don’t have Windows Update set to download updates automatically. If it’s the latter, go to Windows Update in Control Panel and check the updates manually.

Or, use this script to install the missing updates for you.

How to block the Windows 10 upgrade icon from showing?

Go to Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features → View installed updates, and uninstall the following installed updates.

  • Windows 7: KB3035583, KB2952664, KB3021917
  • Windows 8.1: KB3035583, KB2976978

Installed Updates 2015 06 10 00 03 54 600x390 - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

Once uninstalled, it’s important that you block these updates from being found and installed again by Windows Update. Or, they will get installed again on the system.

Go to Windows Update, right-click the updates listed above and select Hide update.

hide updates - Complete Guide on Reserving Free Upgrade to Windows 10

Or, you can also block the icon from showing and disable notifications with a registry hack.

  1. Open Regedit.
  2. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx
  3. Create a new Reg_DWord registry entry called DisableGwx, and set the value at 1.

That’s about it for now. Let’s wait and see how the upgrade goes when the final version gets released in Summer.

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