Windows 10: Windows 11 Pro upgrade from Home asks for non-existent Recovery Key

I have a 3 month-old HP laptop with Windows 11 Home. I purchased an upgrade via MS non-profit program TechSoup. All my files are backed up on my old computer except for the last 3 or so weeks. I have most of the files not backed up as attachments to emails in an IMAP Outlook, which is also installed on my old laptop.I followed all the procedures to install, disabled Norton, and set the installation going. It loaded "100%", and restarted directly to a blue "recovery key required" screen. I do not have a recovery key. None was provided. There isn't one in the MS account I was required to set

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Upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro using existing Windows 10 Pro key

Hi there.

I purchased a Windows 10 Pro license from Microsoft online back in 2015. I was e-mailed a license key which I still have. I've been using this license on a Parallels virtual machine on my Mac. I will soon decommission this virtual machine and I will be purchasing a new Windows PC with Windows 11 Home installed on it.

I plan to do a fresh install of Windows 11 Pro on my new machine and I was hoping to use my existing Windows 10 Pro license to activate it. From reading the forum it seems this should work. Any suggestions on steps I should follow? I see talk of people activating with a generic license key and relying on your Microsoft account to recognise you have a digital product key?

Thanks.

 

Windows 11 Home to Pro upgrade

Want to upgrade 11 Home to 11 Pro. Tried download, but apparently files transferred were for 11 Enterprise. This will not activate; error is "invalid digital license or product key". This is on a new Surface. How to proceed?

Can withdraw/delete this. The suggestion to downgrade - listed below - with a 'fake' windows 10 key works.

 

How to Recover Windows 11 Pro Upgrade

If you have upgraded to Windows 11 Pro and are facing issues or problems with the upgrade, there are a few steps you can take to recover the upgrade.

Here are the steps to recover Windows 11 Pro upgrade be shared by Laptopunder15000:

1. Open the Settings app by pressing Windows key + I, and then click on "Update & Security".
   
2. In the left pane, click on "Recovery".
   
3. In the right pane, click on "Reset this PC", and then click on "Get started".
   
4. Choose whether you want to keep your files or remove everything, and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reset process.
   
5. Once the reset process is complete, go back to the Settings app and click on "Update & Security".
   
6. Click on "Windows Update", and then click on "Check for updates".
   
7. If there are any available updates, download and install them.
   

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, you can try using the System File Checker (SFC) tool to repair any corrupted system files. Here's how to use the SFC tool:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
   
2. Type "sfc /scannow" (without quotes) and press Enter.
   
3. Wait for the scan to complete, and then restart your computer.
   

If the issue still persists, you can try using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool to repair any system image issues. Here's how to use the DISM tool:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
   
2. Type "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" (without quotes) and press Enter.
   
3. Wait for the scan to complete, and then restart your computer.
   

If none of the above steps work, you may need to consider performing a clean installation of Windows 11 Pro.