Posted: 9/5/2025 12:55:45 PM EDT
[Last Edit: scuba_steve][Edited]
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Yeah, I know, you hate Windows, and Linux rules. Or you love your Mac. Or you already installed Windows 11... or replaced that PC with one that came with Win 11. Fantastic. This thread is not for you. It's for folks who have some reason to stick with Windows 10 for a bit, perhaps because their current PC isn't eligible for upgrade and they aren't ready to replace it. Microsoft should make this option available to more folks soon, but it's hidden for now, so to unhide it, perform the following steps. WARNING: These steps first ensure the Windows DiagTrack service is running, enabling it if it is not. DiagTrack is Microsoft's "Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service, responsible for collecting and transmitting diagnostic and user experience data from your Windows device to Microsoft to help improve Windows and Microsoft products." It may already be running on your Win 10 PC, but if you're sure it's not and that you don't want it enabled, stop here. If you do proceed, you can disable the service (via the services control panel or command line) after you have successfully enrolled in the ESU program. 1) Ensure your Windows 10 device is up to date with the latest Microsoft patches (search > "Check for updates") 2) Open PowerShell as an administrator (right click, "Run As Administrator") 3) Type and execute the following three commands in PowerShell: sc.exe config DiagTrack start= auto sc.exe start DiagTrack reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" /v 4011992206 /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f 4) Restart your PC 5) Open PowerShell as an administrator 6) Type and execute the following command in PowerShell: cmd /c ClipESUConsumer.exe -evaluateEligibility 7) Drop back into the Windows Update control panel and you should see a new option to enroll in the ESU program. If you use OneDrive to maintain PC settings, enrollment is free. Otherwise, it will cost either 1000 MS points or $30. Mine was free, perhaps because I am using an MS login for Windows now, which also gives me a common desktop across the 3 PCs I use routinely. If you are successful, you'll see confirmation in the Windows Update control panel.  |
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Originally Posted By Sartorius: Counterpoint. Switch to Windows 10 LTSC IoT. Support until 2032. No bloat Ware, only security and stability updates. Is it possible to "switch", or do you have to reinstall? |
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I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
CO, MI, OR - Please lobby your legislators to end discrimination against non-resident CCW permit holders
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Originally Posted By Gamma762: Is it possible to "switch", or do you have to reinstall? Originally Posted By Gamma762: Originally Posted By Sartorius: Counterpoint. Switch to Windows 10 LTSC IoT. Support until 2032. No bloat Ware, only security and stability updates. Is it possible to "switch", or do you have to reinstall? Inquiring minds want to know. Bigger_Hammer 
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LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE AT THE GRAVE SAFELY IN A WELL PRESERVED BODY,
BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT SHOUTING "HOLY $H!T...WHAT A RIDE"!!
BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT SHOUTING "HOLY $H!T...WHAT A RIDE"!!
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Originally Posted By Gamma762: Is it possible to "switch", or do you have to reinstall? Originally Posted By Gamma762: Originally Posted By Sartorius: Counterpoint. Switch to Windows 10 LTSC IoT. Support until 2032. No bloat Ware, only security and stability updates. Is it possible to "switch", or do you have to reinstall? No. Requires reinstall which is a much larger PITA than a few commands and reboots. |
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Originally Posted By TigerForce: Windows 10 LTSC IoT is of interest to me. How or where does one get a legitimate/legal license? Following up, can someone please help with the Windows 10 LTSC IoT options shown at this link? They don’t provide much information. CDW - Windows operating system software ETA: Scroll down the page at the link - I’m interested in what are the differences between the higher priced version, “MS WIN 10 IOT ENT LTSC 2021” ($290) versus “Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC Value” ($110). TIA. |
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My wife's laptop was not eligible for upgrade to 11, and last month a bad update made it unbootable. I initially thought the drive failed, but there were no bad sectors and it still read fine when I booted from a thumb drive. Instead of reinstalling windows 10 and all the aggravation of that, I copied all her documents to an external drive and ended up putting Linux Mint on it, them copying them back to the new system. We've been married over 15 years and I never wanted to deal with trying to teach her how to use Linux, but at least with Mint it's been relatively easy so far. I already had her using LibreOffice and Brave / Chrome / Firefox on the Win10 computer, so that part was at least familiar to her as well. She's happy that it starts and runs fast, like the computer used to. I don't want to push Linux on anyone, but if you're considering that route, Linux Mint is a good option especially for those less familiar with its particularities. |
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Originally Posted By TigerForce: Windows 10 LTSC IoT is of interest to me. How or where does one get a legitimate/legal license? The LTSC is for workstations that aren't frequently upgraded and don't need every new feature patch. It's for setups that need long term stability and security and bug patches, not candy crush or copilot or Microsoft's latest wet dream. Imagine CT/MRI workstations, nuclear reactor workstations, etc. But I hear you say, "Long term stability, security and bug fixes (without buggy new features) is exactly what I want." And that is why we like LTSC. Originally Posted By TigerForce: Following up, can someone please help with the Windows 10 LTSC IoT options shown at this link? They don't provide much information. CDW - Windows operating system software ETA: Scroll down the page at the link - I'm interested in what are the differences between the higher priced version, "MS WIN 10 IOT ENT LTSC 2021" ($290) versus "Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC Value" ($110). TIA. Here's what you do. 2 options. 1. Buy an LTSC license from one of those online key stores. It's probably $20-30. Download the LTSC ISO file from Microsoft (or even better, from option #2). These are generally legitimate keys. They're sold by companies (usually EU) that have large volume licenses from MS. Microsoft says companies can't resell the volume licenses they've purchased. It's not illegal. Microsoft says they don't allow it. The EU tells Microsoft to piss off and says that if an EU company bought it, they can resell it. That's where these keys generally come from. Buy the license, download the ISO, use Rufus to create an installation USB and you're good. Rarely, these purchased keys won't activate. If so, email the seller and they'll email you a new key. I've never had this fail. You can't do an upgrade from Win 10/11 Home/Pro/Enterprise to LTSC. It's a new, fresh install. (Yes, there are ways, but it's hard and a fresh install is better anyways.) 2. Search for massgrave.dev . MAS means Microsoft Activation Scripts. You can download the ISOs there as well. Install using Rufus, follow the instructions to activate and you're done. LTSC is just a cleaned-up, debloated version of Win 10 or Win 11 Pro/Enterprise. My feeling is that if I have a legit license for Pro or Enterprise (and I do), then this is a better functioning equivalent package. I paid for a legit license. So I don't consider this to be piracy. I've purchased many copies of Windows over the years. |
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I've only used Win 10 LTSC (and lately IOT LTSC) for over six years now with the EU keys. I don’t want "features" much less "feature updates" that change thinges around, add crap and take stuff away. I want just an operating system, no exrtas, like previous Windows up through Windows 7 came and to stay that way. IOT LTSC is stripped down but evidently it comes with enough as when I installed Steam and played Steam games I didn't have to install or add anything else. As Sartorius said, you might get a bad key (I've got two out of several I've bought over the years) but you just email and they will send another. Just about every time this comes up somebody(s) speculates these keys might stop working, I've got two that have been working for over six years. The one thing about LTSC and IOT LTSC keys you need to know though is, they work like OEM keys. Once activated they are tied to a computer and if you make too many hardware changes they will unactivate just like OEM keys do. It takes a lot more than just changing a drive or something like that though to unactivate them. I've swapped drives, sound cards, GPUs, Bluetooth and wifi devices with no problem. A motherboard swap will unactivate it. Windows 10 IOT LTSC gets updates to January 13, 2032. |
But he sure found out the hard way
That dreams don't always come true
That dreams don't always come true
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Originally Posted By scuba_steve: Yeah, I know, you hate Windows, and Linux rules. Or you love your Mac. Or you already installed Windows 11... or replaced that PC with one that came with Win 11. Fantastic. This thread is not for you. It's for folks who have some reason to stick with Windows 10 for a bit, perhaps because their current PC isn't eligible for upgrade and they aren't ready to replace it. Microsoft should make this option available to more folks soon, but it's hidden for now, so to unhide it, perform the following steps. WARNING: These steps first ensure the Windows DiagTrack service is running, enabling it if it is not. DiagTrack is Microsoft's "Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service, responsible for collecting and transmitting diagnostic and user experience data from your Windows device to Microsoft to help improve Windows and Microsoft products." It may already be running on your Win 10 PC, but if you're sure it's not and that you don't want it enabled, stop here. If you do proceed, you can disable the service (via the services control panel or command line) after you have successfully enrolled in the ESU program. 1) Ensure your Windows 10 device is up to date with the latest Microsoft patches (search > "Check for updates") 2) Open PowerShell as an administrator (right click, "Run As Administrator") 3) Type and execute the following three commands in PowerShell: sc.exe config DiagTrack start= auto sc.exe start DiagTrack reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" /v 4011992206 /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f 4) Restart your PC 5) Open PowerShell as an administrator 6) Type and execute the following command in PowerShell: cmd /c ClipESUConsumer.exe -evaluateEligibility 7) Drop back into the Windows Update control panel and you should see a new option to enroll in the ESU program. If you use OneDrive to maintain PC settings, enrollment is free. Otherwise, it will cost either 1000 MS points or $30. Mine was free, perhaps because I am using an MS login for Windows now, which also gives me a common desktop across the 3 PCs I use routinely. If you are successful, you'll see confirmation in the Windows Update control panel. https://i.imgur.com/HsWIWuQ.png Those first Powershell commands didn’t work for me. Edit: Nevermind. I see the last three lines were to be entered as one line. Attached File |
