Windows 10: Installation and Activation of Windows 10 Pro

This is for those who have upgraded an OEM Windows 8/8.1 Home machine to Windows 8.1 Pro and then to Windows 10 Pro.

Edited: Did you replace your old HHD/SSD, take it back to bare metal (delete all partitions and start over), or just format the hard drive for a clean installation? Then you installed the Anniversary Edition but were not asked for a Product Key? If not, you may have Windows 10 Home instead of Pro as you expected. End Edit

Here’s how to tell which version you have:

Go to Settings>Update and Security>Activation and look at the Edition you have installed. If it’s Home and you’ve upgraded to Pro, click on Change Product Key pointed to by green arrow, and enter the Windows 8/8.1 Product Key you used to upgrade to the Pro version.





Once that’s done, if you’ve inserted the correct key, your machine will then update to the proper version.

:)

 

Windows 10 Pro installation / activation (and keeping current files)

I recently brought a new HP laptop without an operating system on there. I took it back to the shop and they installed windows 10 home on there for me for free as I didn't realize this laptop came without an operating system when I brought it.

A few weeks later I am now being asked to activate windows 10 with a message that pops up every few minutes or so....

....I have no product key or activation code....

1) If I now decide to buy windows 10 PRO instead and if I install this on the new laptop using a newly purchased windows 10 pro cd/disk; will I loose my current files and applications that are currently on my laptop once the installation process is complete/upgraded?

2) Can I use the same cd/disk and the same product key that it comes with on another computer too?

3) Is it simply a matter of putting in the windows pro cd into the laptop cd holder and then following the steps to install and activate the new windows pro to overwrite my current windows 10?

Thank you

 

Windows 10 Pro installation / activation (and keeping current files)

Hello,

I now have the Windows 10 Pro OEM package. Disk and product key package.

Can you explain the process for installing windows 10 pro please, based on the below information.

1. I have now downloaded the Windows 10 Disk Image (ISO File) onto a blank usb stick from Microsoft.com.

2. I have also purchased the Windows 10 Pro OEM disk and product key.

3. I currently have a HP computer, which currently has windows 10 home on there but I am being asked to activate windows and the dummy windows product key provided to me didn't work on the computer. So now, I want to use the above products
in point 1. and point 2. to reinstall my new Windows 10 Pro package instead.

4. What is the process please? Should I use Windows 10 Disk Image (ISO File) first, before inserting the actual cd into the computer and following the steps with the product key?

Please assist.

Thank you.

 

Entering the generic Pro key you get with the free upgrade will work too. It's what I did the first time that happened to me.
It upgraded to Pro and then activated automatically with the Pro digital entitlement it already had.
If the PC doesn't have a Pro Digital Entitlement it will upgrade anyway, and not activate.
Now I just put a PID.txt file with the generic Pro key in it, in the sources folder.
It overrides auto key detection and installs Pro. No having to do a skip key either, it won't prompt for one. Speeds things up nicely on a clean install.

Nice tip by the way. I wonder how many out there are running Home and think they have Pro? Then wonder why some features are missing?

 

I have never used the generic Pro key, so would it work for me in this case? I had thought it was only for the Insider Program and not for the "RTM".

That's exactly why I posted; I was running Home instead of Pro and accidentally discovered it. And I wondered how many others have done the same thing.

 

If you do the free upgrade to Pro, and then run showkey you should see a key ending in -3V66T. Everybody that did the free upgrade to Pro got that key. There is another one for Home ending in -H8Q99. If you originally did the free upgrade to Pro, that key will work. I can PM you the key if you want. It's easy to find on the Internet but the mods asked that we don't post the full key.

 

One way this happens is the install Media reads your OEM Embedded key and does a version match.
My laptop has a Windows 8.0 Core key so I get 10 Home automatically. No prompt for a key or prompt to select edition.
My laptop was originally upgraded from 8.1 Pro to 10 Pro. I then did a change product key and entered the Generic Pro key. It upgraded to Pro and activated automatically.
The PID.txt file just overrides the auto OEM key detection and install Pro by default. If you also need to install Home from this same thumb drive, don't add the PID.txt file.

 

How is this happening for your computer(s), Alpha? Are you referring to an update or a clean install?

What I discovered is that with a completely blank hard drive, it went back to Home because of what is in the BIOS. I didn't want to add more stuff than necessary; mainly for understanding. "Check and if it's wrong, here's how to fix it."

If you're taken back to Home in any other way than my original post suggests, I guess I need to know so I can revise it to fit.

So, are you saying that Home was installed on an OEM machine that originally had 8.1 Pro on it? I sincerely hope not!

I'm not familiar with this; is there a tutorial?

 

If I clean install Windows 10 on my laptop, 10 Home is installed automatically with no prompt for a key or any menu to select Home or Pro.
It auto detects the Win 8.0 Core OEM embedded key in the BIOS. That laptop came with Windows 8.0 installed by ASUS. I was really hoping the Anniversary edition wouldn't do it but it does.

If I upgrade from an already installed OS what I get depends on what OS is installed. 8.1 Pro gets me 10 Pro. The OEM embedded key is ignored on an upgrade install.
My original upgrade was from 8.1 Pro that was installed on that laptop with one of my Retail MSDN keys. It wasn't an OEM install. Why run 8.0 Core if I can run 8.1 Pro. *Wink

PID.txt > https://www.tenforums.com/installatio...g-install.html

 

OK, between you and Kari, I now know what to do, but the general public would never understand the PID.txt way of doing things.

 

That's why I was wishing that Windows 10 install media would stop reading Windows 8/8.1 embedded keys when the free upgrade offer ended. It still does it though. I did a clean install with the Anniversary edition on my laptop and got 10 Home by default with no option to override it.

 

So did I, and on the desktop too.

What's worse, is that even those knowledgeable enough to know how to upgrade and clean install still won't have a clue that Windows 10 Home installed and he no longer has the Pro that he paid for!

 

It was brought up on the Microsoft MVP Yammer group, and the replay from a Microsoft representative was, "this is by design". That's the way its supposed to work. *Rolleyes
In most cases (but not all) the correct version is installed. If the key in the BIOS was for the OS you did the free upgrade from, its all good. You get the correct version.
In you upgraded your OS with a Retail key though, its not going to give you the version you got via the free upgrade.
Worst case scenario, somebody buys 10 Home to save a few bucks. Even though their PC came with 8.1 Pro. They will get Pro, which won't activate, and can't upgrade from Pro to Home with a key change.
Granted, that won't happen very often. Still, I wouldn't want to be that person trying to sort that out.

 

Forgot to add, right now, if that happens. That PC gets a digital license for 10 Home. At some point I expect that to stop. It shouldn't happen now. The free upgrade is officially over. So some time down the road they will get an unactivated 10 Home instead of an activated 10 Pro.

 

Since I received Win10 as the free upgrade from Win 7 Pro, I qualified for the Pro upgrade as well. Turns out, I can use my old Windows 7 key to install the Win10 Pro upgrade.