Enable The Windows 10 Notification

Hot PC Tips - Windows 10 NotificationWant to get the Free Windows 10 Upgrade? Most of you have probably already noticed the “Get Windows 10” notification in your taskbar as shown at right.

If you have not, and you want to be an early Windows 10 adopter, this may help you to enable this option to get the early free upgrade. Remember, if you decide at a later date you want to cancel or delay the upgrade you can do that as well.

Are You Eligible for the Upgrade?

The Hot PC Tips - Win 10 Upgrade (1)table below will list the versions of Windows that are eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade. If you are a Windows 7 user, be sure you have installed SP1. Windows 8 users have to upgrade to Windows 8.1. In general you need to have installed all the important updates from Microsoft.

Windows 10 Upgrade Editions

NOTE:  If you are running a different version of Windows and would like to upgrade to Windows 10 the best alternative is to locate an inxpensive option for upgrading your system to Windows 7 or 8 as noted above.

The Windows 10 notification was delivered through an optional Windows update. To check whether the optional update KB3035583 and KB2952664 (For Windows 7) / KB2976978 (For Windows 8.1) has been installed on your computer, access Windows Update via the Control Panel. Once you successfully reserved Windows 10, you should see what’s shown below under Windows Update.

Once you successfully reserved Windows 10, you should see what’s shown below under Windows Update.

Hot PC Tips - Win 10 Upgrade (3)

NOTE:  If you are a corporate Windows user and your computer is assigned to a domain, you will probably need to work with your IT department as to the company policy on upgrading to Windows 10, and installing updates in general.

Still not seeing the upgrade notice?

If you are not seeing the notice, and you have installed the updates and you believe you are eligible for the upgrade, you can run the Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser. Your PC may have been determined to be incompatible with Windows 10. If that is the case, you won’t see the preliminary “Get Windows 10″ option.

This script from Microsoft will help you ensure that your computer meets the requirements for running Windows 10 and, if it does, will then activate the “Get Windows 10″ icon in the taskbar.

1:  Open Notepad, and copy & paste the code below.

REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\UpgradeExperienceIndicators" /v UpgEx | findstr UpgEx
if "%errorlevel%" == "0" GOTO RunGWX
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Appraiser" /v UtcOnetimeSend /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser"
:CompatCheckRunning
schtasks /query /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser"
schtasks /query /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser" | findstr Ready
if NOT "%errorlevel%" == "0" ping localhost >nul &goto :CompatCheckRunning
:RunGWX
schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Setup\gwx\refreshgwxconfig"

2: Click File, and then Save As
3: In the File name box, change the file name to ReserveWin10.cmd
4: Then click the dropdown next to Save as type, and select All files (*.*)
5: Select the folder you would like to save the file to (For this example, save the file to the C:/Temp folder) then click Save.
6: Open an elevated command prompt. (From the Start screen or Start menu, type Command Prompt in the search box, and then in the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.)
7: Run the file from the location as noted in Step 5. For example, In the elevated Command Prompt Enter: C:/Temp/ReserveWin10.cmd and press return.

NOTE: Before running this script make sure you have installed all the required updates. The script can take up to 30 minutes to complete its scan.

Want to Cancel or Delay the Upgrade?

If you have reserved your Windows 10 upgrade but want to wait and not be one of the early adopters, you don’t have to install Windows 10 on the July 2015 launch day.Hot PC Tips - Win 10 Upgrade

If you want to cancel the reservation you can click on the menu top left (indicated by the arrow above), navigate to View confirmation, and click Cancel Reservation.

The Upgrade Reservation Is Optional!

Don’t worry if you can not get the Get Windows 10 icon to appear to reserve your early copy in July of 2015.  You will still be able to obtain your free upgrade! Eligible users will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free until at least through July of 2016.

Even if you have reserved Windows 10, you can install it when YOU want to!