How to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro using an OEM code | PCWorld

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mar 10,  · If so, the upgrade takes just a few minutes. Start at Settings > Update & Security > Activation, where you should see a screen like this: For Free Product Keys, use the keys from older Windows business (Pro/Ultimate) versions. If you don’t have a Win 10 Pro product key, you can also buy one and click “ Go to the Store ” and purchase the. May 19,  · Instead, use Microsoft’s generic product key to force the upgrade. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and click Change Product Key. Next, enter the default Windows 10 Pro product key Estimated Reading Time: 6 mins. Before upgrading to Windows 10 Pro, make sure your device is up to date and running the most recent version of Windows 10 Home. For more info about how to keep your PC updated, see Windows Update: FAQ. To upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro and activate your device, you’ll need a valid product key or a digital license for Windows 10 Pro.
 
 

 

Windows 10 Product Key Free (% Working).Upgrade Windows Home to Windows Pro

 

Looking for a new laptop that won’t break the bank? Read More. If you purchase a new PC with Windows 10 Home preinstalled, prepare to be annoyed. This down-market edition maybe we should just call it Windows for Cheapskates doesn’t have the features you need for getting real work done: Remote Desktop server access, BitLocker disk encryption, group policy support, and control over when updates get installed, just for starters.

Those keys can be reused to enable an upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro, potentially saving you the upgrade fee. In fact, you can use a product key from any of these older Windows versions to perform a clean install or to upgrade to Pro. It’s worth rummaging through your garage, storeroom, or email archives to see if you can locate one of those old keys.

Maybe you still have a key for one of the heavily discounted upgrades to Windows 8 Pro that Microsoft offered in the first few months after that product’s ill-fated launch in Or perhaps you have a shrink-wrapped retail copy of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, where the license associated with the product key is no longer in use. Best of all, you only need to use the older product key one time. After you complete the upgrade from Windows 10 Home, the Windows 10 Pro digital license is attached to the specific hardware you just upgraded, allowing you to reinstall that edition of Windows on that hardware anytime, without the need for a product key.

This scenario worked during the early Windows 10 upgrade program, and after some testing and multiple reports from independent testers worldwide I can confirm that it still succeeds in , more than five years later.

Microsoft first made this option available in Windows 10 version Since then, they have simplified the process dramatically. Here’s the scoop. Some vendors offer an upgrade option as part of the purchase, but many PCs sold in the retail channel are preloaded with Home edition.

This could also be the case if you took advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offer on a PC running a Home edition of Windows 7 or Windows 8. In either case, the upgrade takes just a few minutes. You’ll see a succession of progress screens and your system will restart. After the upgrade completes, you should see a Success notification. Check the Activation screen again to confirm that you’re now running Windows 10 Pro. After you’ve successfully performed a Home-to-Pro upgrade, you can file that product key away.

Your upgrade is now a digital license, attached to your unique hardware. If you perform a reinstallation of Windows, Microsoft’s activation servers will recognize the hardware and activate Windows 10 automatically. I have tested this scenario multiple times on hardware that originally shipped with Windows Home and was upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. After the upgrade was complete, I used a bootable USB flash drive containing Windows 10 setup files to reinstall a clean copy of Windows 10 Pro, skipping the option to enter a product key as part of setup, as shown below.

When prompted, be sure to choose Windows 10 Pro as the edition to install. The system was properly activated, because Microsoft’s servers recognized the hardware and used the digital license. The ultimate Windows 10 information hub. Looking for technical information about Windows 10 releases, new features, known issues, troubleshooting, and tech support? Start here. The one gotcha in this series of scenarios comes when you have a system that includes digital licenses for both Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro.

In that scenario, you can inadvertently restore Windows 10 Home. This happened recently when I used a recovery image to reinstall Windows 10 on a Surface Pro PC that had originally shipped with Windows 10 Home and had been upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. Not surprisingly, using the recovery image gave me an installation of Windows 10 Home.

If that happens to you, don’t bother searching for the product key you used to upgrade. Instead, use Microsoft’s generic product key to force the upgrade. Next, enter the default Windows 10 Pro product key:. Follow the prompts to upgrade from Home to Pro. Because your hardware already has a digital license for the Pro edition, it will activate automatically.

That generic product key isn’t magical, of course. If your hardware doesn’t already have a Pro license, you’ll get an activation error and you’ll need to supply a proper product key or pay for an upgrade.

This article has been completely rewritten to incorporate developments in recent feature updates to Windows Business broadband: Best internet service provider in Windows Microsoft apologizes for compatibility confusion, hints at changes.

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Microsoft updates Windows 11 with a bunch of fixes for Dev Channel testers Windows 11 test build How to bypass Windows 11 limits and install on almost any old PC Kids, don’t try this at home! Windows 11 upgrades: Why security is going to be the key driver While the changes to Windows’ look and feel may grab the eye, the less visible security upgrades may be more interesting to CIOs.

Microsoft’s famous blue screen of death gets a new colour in Windows 11 Microsoft changes its visual language for fatal operating system errors. If Windows 11 compatibility tool cannot run then my Windows on Arm journey is over When things go wrong on an Arm device running Windows, they can quickly go very, very wrong.

Windows 11 chaos, and how copying Apple could have helped Microsoft avoid it Five years is a long time in tech.