Today I upgraded my Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. I didn’t get my availability e-mail yet, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.

After searching for a way to force the upgrade to my computer, I found that if you set a registry setting, it would be made available. Before I write down how and where, be wary of the risks of editing the registry. One wrong move and you could find yourself in the predicament of reinstalling your entire PC.

To edit the registry, press Windows-key and R, type in “regedit” without the quotes and press Enter.

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade

Here, on the right side of the window, create a new DWORD (32 bit) Value named “AllowOSUpgrade”. Press Enter twice to edit the Value data. Enter “1” as Hexadecimal value.

After this, you’re all set. Go to Windows Update and the window should tell you that Windows 10 is ready to be installed. Enjoy your copy Windows 10!