NOTE: If you are having problems with "Get Windows 10" (GWX) app and its icon and can't upgrade to Windows 10, follow the METHOD 5 given at the end of this topic.
Recently we told you about the new "Get Windows 10" app released by Microsoft for Windows 7and Windows 8.1 users. This new app will help Windows 7 and 8.1 users in upgrading toWindows 10 for free when Windows 10 is released to public on July 29, 2015.
The basic idea behind releasing this app is nice as it'll automatically download Windows 10 setup files and will help users in installing Windows 10 easily without worries. This app also checks your computer for compatibility issues and lets you know whether you can upgrade to Windows 10 or not.
But there are many people who are happy with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and they don't want to upgrade to Windows 10. For such people this app and its icon present in Taskbar notification area might become annoying. That's why we posted an exclusive tutorial to disable or remove this Windows 10 upgrade app and its Taskbar icon:
Now there is another issue appearing for several users. Many Windows 7 and 8.1 users who want to upgrade to Windows 10, are not getting this app and its icon in Taskbar. Since they can't see the Windows 10 upgrade icon, they are unable to reserve their Windows 10 upgrade.
We have received many comments and emails from our readers who are not getting "Get Windows 10" icon in Taskbar system tray. They want to install the app but they have no idea how to do it.
That's why today in this tutorial, we are going to cover all methods and information which will help you in understanding why are you not getting Windows 10 upgrade app and its icon in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Taskbar and how can you show it in your system.
So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:
Important Things to Know About "Get Windows 10" App and Icon Availability:
First of all lets tell you about some important points which might be causing the missing "Get Windows 10" app and icon in your computer:
1. Your Windows must be genuine and activated. If you are
using a pirated Windows, you'll not see Windows 10 upgrade app and icon.
2. If you are using Windows 7, you must install SP1 (Service Pack 1). If you don't install SP1 in Windows 7, you'll not get the upgrade app and its icon.
3. Windows 8 users must upgrade to Windows 8.1 to be able to get the Windows 10 upgrade icon. Windows 8 users can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free using Windows Update or Store app.
4. If your computer is not compatible with Windows 10, you'll not see upgrade icon in Taskbar. You can make sure whether your computer system is compatible with Windows 10 or not by visiting following article:
Microsoft will enable the Windows 10 upgrade icon on incompatible PCs after Windows 10 launch date i.e. July 29, 2015.
5. Since the Windows 10 upgrade app and its icon are installed via Windows update, it might be possible that your Windows is not fully updated. So open Windows Update and make sure all available updates have been installed successfully.
If you have disabled Windows updates installation using Windows Update settings, enable them so that Windows can install the required updates.
6. If you are using an older version of Internet Explorer web browser in Windows 7, you must upgrade to the latest version i.e. IE11. Once you upgrade to IE11, run Windows Update and Windows will find and install the required updates to show Windows 10 upgrade app icon.
7. If you have removed Internet Explorer using "Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on or off" option, you'll have to re-enable it. Once you re-enable Internet Explorer, run Windows Update and Windows will find and install the required updates to show Windows 10 upgrade app icon.
8. If you are using Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, Windows RT or Windows RT 8.1 editions in your devices, you'll not see Windows 10 upgrade icon as these Windows editions are not supported by free Windows 10 upgrade offer.
9. If your computer is a part of a domain or network, you'll not see the Windows 10 upgrade icon.
If you are sure that none of the above mentioned points apply to you, following methods will help you in getting "Get Windows 10" upgrade app and icon in Taskbar:
METHOD 1: Show All Icons in Taskbar Notification Area
It might be possible that the Windows 10 upgrade icon is present in Taskbar but its hidden. You can show the icon by using following steps:
Right-click on the date/time in Taskbar system tray and select "Customize notification icons" option. It'll open a new window. Now enable "Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar" checkbox and it'll show all icons in Taskbar.
If the Windows 10 upgrade icon was hidden, it'll appear now in Taskbar.
METHOD 2: Enable Get Windows 10 (GWX) Using Registry Editor
There is a Registry tweak available to enable or disable Windows 10 upgrade app and icon. It might be possible that the Registry setting in your computer is set to not show the icon in Taskbar.
Check out METHOD 3 in following tutorial:
Just set the value of DisableGWX DWORD to 0 or delete the DWORD. The method also contains ready-made Registry script to automatically enable or disable GWX app and its icon.
NOTE 1: Also go to following key in Registry Editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\UpgradeExperienceIndicators
And in right-side pane, make sure values of UpgEx and UpgExU are set to Green. If their values are different, change them to Green.
Also make sure Genuine string is set to 1.
If you can't find above mentioned values in "UpgradeExperienceIndicators" key, you'll need to create them manually. You can match values of all available strings with following screenshot:
Restart your computer to take effect.
NOTE 2: If you see another key with the name REDUCED under UpgradeExperienceIndicatorskey, it means the "Get Windows 10" app is running under reduced mode. It happens when your computer hardware is not compatible with Windows 10 upgrade. In such case, as mentioned inpoint 4 of "Important Things to Know" above, the app icon in system tray will automatically appear after Windows 10 launch date i.e. July 29, 2015. So you should wait of Windows 10 launch. If you don't want to wait, you can try to delete REDUCED key and make sure the entries present inUpgradeExperienceIndicators key match with the above screenshot.
PS: If you are not familiar with registry editing tasks, we are also providing ready-made registry script to do the task automatically for your convenience. Just download following ZIP file, extract it and then run the given .REG files to enable GWX app and its icon:
METHOD 3: Manually Run Get Windows 10 App
If the upgrade app has been installed in your computer, you can try to manually run the app by going to "C:\Windows\System32\GWX" folder and run GWX.exe file.
It'll add the icon to Taskbar and then you can access the app by clicking on the icon.
NOTE: If you still don't see the icon in Taskbar, open Command Prompt as Administrator and run following commands one by one:
C:\Windows\System32\GWX\GWXConfigManager.exe /RefreshConfig
C:\Windows\System32\GWX\GWX.exe /taskLaunch
Now the icon should be visible in Taskbar notification area.
METHOD 4: Manually Install Required Windows Updates
If you don't see GWX folder in your computer, that means "Get Windows 10" upgrade app is not installed in your system. To install the upgrade app, you can try to install the required Windows update yourself.
Following are the direct download links of the required update KB3035583 which is responsible to install "Get Windows 10" upgrade app and its icon:
- Download KB3035583 Update for Windows 7 (32-bit or x86)
- Download KB3035583 Update for Windows 7 (64-bit or x64)
- Download KB3035583 Update for Windows 8.1 (32-bit or x86)
- Download KB3035583 Update for Windows 8.1 (64-bit or x64)
Just download and install the update and your Windows will start showing Windows 10 upgrade icon in Taskbar notification area.
PS: If you already have the above mentioned update installed in your computer but still not getting the upgrade icon in Taskbar, first uninstall the update using Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> View installed updates option. Then reinstall the update by downloading from above mentioned links.
METHOD 5: Upgrade Using Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
If you still can't see "Get Windows 10" app icon in Taskbar system tray, you can use another method to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
Microsoft has released a new program called "Windows 10 Media Creation Tool" which allows you to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8.1 computer to Windows 10 as well as create installation media such as bootable USB drive or DVD to install Windows 10 later.
No comments:
Post a Comment