Windows 10: Can't upgrade my new laptop with my existing Windows 10 Pro licence key.

Good day,


Tried to Activate my existing Windows 10 Pro license on my new HP laptop, but the activation process says that it "can't activate Windows on this device because you don't have a valid digital licence or product key. If you think you do have a product key, select Troubleshoot below. 0x803fa067".


Two issues here:


1. There was no "Troubleshoot" option below.


2. My Windows 10 Pro licence was on my old PC and has been deactivated. I've been using it since year 2012, some 8 years.


Any advice please?

:)

 

How to transfer a Windows 10 Pro Upgrade Licence

My Dell laptop has died. It was originally supplied with a Windows 8 Home OEM licence, upgraded to Windows 10 Home then I bought a license to upgrade to the Pro version.

I need to buy a new laptop which will come with a Windows 10 Home licence. Can I reuse the Pro upgrade licence currently linked to the dead laptop for the new laptop and how do I transfer the licence? I can’t remember the T&Cs of the Pro upgrade licence.

 

Upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro with Windows 8.1 Pro key

I've got two laptops:

• the old one, with Windows 10 Pro (1909) installed after a free update from Windows 8.1 Pro
• the new one, with Windows 10 Home (1909) installed

I've got the Windows 8.1 Pro product key, and I want to transfer it to the new PC. Microsoft support tried to help me, but here's the conclusions we reached:

• I can't use the 8.1 Pro product key in the setting to upgrade my Windows 10 Home to Pro
• I could use it if I had Windows 10 Pro installed instead of Home
• I can't use the generic Windows 10 Pro product key to start the upgrade, because the new PC doesn't have a Pro licence
• I could upgrade directly from Windows 10 Home to Pro if I had a Windows 10 Pro product key instead of a Windows 8.1 Pro product key
• I can't upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro and activate it later, because the installer (from the media creation tool) automatically understands that I have a Home licence and not a Pro licence, and doesn't let me choose

So, according to the support guy, my only option is to clean install Windows 10 Pro, and then it will recognize my Windows 8.1 Pro key and activate it.

It seems so weird to me that, having a valid Pro licence (in the form of a Windows 8.1 Pro product key), I can't directly upgrade my Windows 10 Home to Pro. Like, I have the licence, it will only work if I enter it after the upgrade, but I can only start the upgrade after entering the licence ??

So here I am, asking if there's a workaround that would allow me to simply upgrade my Windows 10 Home to Pro without losing any files, programs or settings, just like if I had a Windows 10 Pro product key instead of a Windows 8.1 one.

Is there any way to convince the media creation tool or whatever else to download an iso/anything that would upgrade Home to Pro?

Whatever the answer is, thank you


EDIT: Okay so I had a weird idea and I have no idea if it would work, but basically: what if I clean installed Windows 8.1 Pro on another partition on the new PC, activated it to with the product key, updated it to Windows 10 Pro (is that still possible?)... Would that link a Windows 10 Pro licence to my Microsoft account as a digital licence for the new PC, that I could then use to upgrade the other partition to Pro for free through the Microsoft Store?

 

How to transfer a Windows 10 Pro Upgrade Licence

I recently did something similar. You’ll need to call the activation support number. To save time before you call, go to activate and put in your activation code so you’ll get the failure codes to read to the support person. They’ll use those to generate a new activation code for you. If they’re busy you can have them call you back.