Windows 10: Product Key/Upgrading help

I built my mom a PC some years back and used Windows 8.1 32-bit on it. She has since upgraded to Windows 10 Home but it is still 32-bit. I need to upgrade it to the 64-bit version. I know I will have to do full system wipe and reinstall but, will I need to buy a new product key? We have no idea where the Windows 8.1 packaging is with the original key. Just for reference, the PC does have a x64-based processor with 8gb RAM.


Thanks for any help offered,


B

:)

 

Convert a Windows 8pro product key to a Windows 10pro produkt key

Hi Andre,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft community.

I suggest you to Uninstall the license using the following steps.

• Press Windows key + X
• Click Command Prompt (Admin)
• At the command prompt, type: slmgr.vbs -upk
• Press Enter, this will uninstall the product key from the computer.

Further on, install Windows 8.1 activate the copy with the product key on the new machine. Then again upgrade the same to Windows 10 using Window Update or Media Creation Tool.

Hope this information was helpful and do let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to assist.

 

Cannot upgrade to Windows 10 - Unique Product Key situation

No... let me try again.

• Old computer is running Win7 Pro (SP1) with a Product key I have from a few years ago. The Product is activated already, but I do NOT use this computer at this point, so I didn't worry about using the Product key when moving to the new computer (see below).
  
• New computer is running Win10 Pro, with data and OS migrated from the Old computer, (same Product key as above), then Upgraded to Win10 (without getting a new Product Key).

What I am trying to do now...

• I want to upgrade the OLD computer (Win7 Pro) to Windows 10... using a new Product Key I just purchased.
• I have tried to do this internally, and also using the ISO burned to a thumb drive. But it does not want to work.
• Steps:
  • Start from USB drive.
  • Enter New Product Key (or click "I don't have one").
  • Install initiates and then tells me to restart from Windows and then open the installer again to continue.
    • At this point, I actually need to Quit the installation to restart the machine.
  • When restarted, I go to the USB drive and restart/resume the installation process.
  • I have tried to download and not to download updates, but when the installation fails, I see the message, "Something happened" and "Setup has failed to validate the product key".
  • NOTE This happens if I enter the NEW Windows 10 Product Key, or if I skip that step (which I assume means that it will use the old Windows 7 Key for the upgrade).

 

Product key

Hi Megan,

A product key is used when activating a software.
To help us determine the appropriate troubleshooting steps that can resolve your concern, we'd like to ask the following questions:

• What product are you trying to activate?
• Are you looking for the product key to activate your Office application?
• Which version of Office are you trying to activate? To check this, you can perform the steps posted on this
  link.
• Are you looking for the product key to activate your Windows?

We look forward to your response.