Windows 10: Need Help With Clean Install Of Windows 10 Home

Seemed like he did at one point, by some of the questions asked here, but now wants to go back to Home edition.

 

Just try that link and it didn't recognize that I run the Pro version. Looks like a good news! It should contain both...

 

OK guys, I'm back. This was a real nightmare. Of course I created the problem myself by entering the generic license key for Windows 10 Pro into the upgrade section of the activation area of the settings. It took the generic license, which surprised me, but it was not activated. In the lower right hand corner of my screen it indicated I was running an unactivated copy of Windows 10, so I wanted to get back to just running Home Edition. I tried the techbench ISO and it would not let me choose, it detected a Pro Edition on my computer so it automatically installed the Pro Edition. Also a roll back brought me back to Pro. I was on the phone with Microsoft for a total of about 6 hours spread out over 3 days and finally the bottom line was that I had to start over with installing Windows 8, then upgrading to Windows 8.1 then upgrading to Windows 10 and then doing a clean install of Windows 10. This nightmare consumed about 4 days of my life but I can't complain because I brought it on myself. Man was this the most frustrating situation a person could imagine.

I'm back and running the latest edition of Windows 10 Home Edition, but the whole thing was a real nightmare. Thanks to everybody that posted with suggestions, but this situation was deeper than just a simple fix. Even Microsoft representatives and technicians couldn't fix it.

 

Oh I think I see what happened here. He was upgrading, and when he tried using the pro keys, MS must have recorded that in his online digital signature. From then on, when it checked in with MS, it was recorded that he was on Pro, when he should have been in Home.

That would have been a nightmare, glad you and MS were able to sort that one out. The takeaway, if you want Pro, just pay for it. It might be cheaper than the lost time trying to obtain and use it in a non legit manner.

 

No, because Pro was never activated there was nothing pushed onto MS activation servers. Only ACTIVATIONS are stored on MS servers, not installs. What happened was he first attempted to run setup.exe from within Windows 10 Pro, which causes an upgrade to run, not a clean install. The upgrade will only upgrade the existing version to the matching version being installed. It wasn't until he booted from the Windows install media and did a clean install that he could change the version being installed.

 

If you had done a custom install and deleted all partitions, then quit and started over. You'd have gotten back to square one and been prompted to select Home or Pro. I'm almost positive there was no need to start over from Windows 8 again. You never lost your digital entitlement for 10 Home. Your currently installed OS being detected was what was throwing a wrench into things.

 

kind of sad we all know what went wrong and how to avoid that painful path but M$ did not...

 

The 8 to 8.1 upgrade was a total waist of time for sure. Windows 8.1 install media will use 8.0 and 8.1 keys, even OEM embedded keys. You can go right 8.1 now with no need to install 8 and then upgrade to 8.1. It's all water under the bridge now though, looks like he's back to 10 Home now. Hopefully for a long time to come with no further issues.

 

Thanks guys. I am back and I am happy. If I want Windows 10 Pro, I will buy it and pay for it. Ain't nothing free in this world.

 

It was a rocky road but you got there. *Wink You should have no problem clean installing 10 Home from here on, if need be.