Windows 10: Upgrading Home install to Pro with generic product key

I'm curious, I might have to try this on an extra partition...

My computer is fully activated on Pro version. I've also done a clean install after the upgrade and activated immediately just fine.

So, let's say I bungled and clean installed Windows 10 Home by mistake. Of course it wouldn't activate. So, would I be able to enter the generic Pro product key in the change product key/upgrade screen and have it upgrade to Pro and activate since my computer has the activation for Pro saved on Microsoft servers?

I'm thinking not a snowball's chance in Phoenix that it would work. Other people here have discovered they have done clean installs with the wrong version - just wondering if there is a way to convert/upgrade the wrong version to the correct version without a new clean install.

:)

 

How i can restore my previous product key

Can’t guarantee this will work but as you have a genuine key for Pro you could try entering the generic key to see if it’ll activate.

VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

http://www.intowindows.com/generic-product-key-...

If this doesn’t work then it’ll require a clean install imo.

 

Resetting Windows 10

I upgraded to Windows 10 pro from home (in my case a windows 8.1 pro key) & I eventually did a clean install but the USB install media installed home so I had to re-enter the pro upgrade key.

I did this:

Create a PID.txt file containing the following text:

[PID]

Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

The Xs get replaced with your Windows 10 Pro product key. If your Windows 10 Pro activation is with a digital license, then insert the generic product key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Save the PID.txt file to the \Sources folder on your Windows 10 installation media (USB flash drive).

Windows 10 decides which version (Home or Pro) to install in the following order:

1. Finding a product key in the PID.txt file

2. Finding a product key in UEFI/BIOS

3. The user manually enters a product key when asked for one

4. No product key is found or entered - then the user is asked for Home or Pro

I can now clean install Win 10 pro directly.

 

Hi don't know if this will be of any help, but I have two laptops with windows 10. Having upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 8.1. I used the program I found on this site to find out what the keys were after the upgrade. When I input the key from the Windows Pro to the Windows home version it upgraded it to the Pro version.

On a separate note when I input the Home version key to the Windows Pro machine (originally 7) it tells me the it can't upgrade with this key. So it seems that you can only upgrade with the generic codes, but not downgrade a machine. Admittedly with both machines I upgraded and didn't do a clean install.

Hope this is of some help.

P

 

Experiment completed. Laptop started with Windows 8 Pro upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. Installed Windows 7 Home on second partition, set up dual booting. Upgraded 7 Home to 10 Home. Everything activated and runs just fine. Entered the generic key from Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home upgraded to Pro. Now, I don't know what would have happened if Pro had not been activated on this computer before. Then clean installed Home. So, now I am dual booting between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home . Question answered: you can have a Home and Pro activation for the same computer stored on MS activation servers at the same time.

So, the only question is, if you have a Windows 10 Home system that has never had Pro on it before, what happens when you enter the generic Windows 10 Pro key into the Home version?

Oh, forgot to add that after I upgraded Windows 10 Home to Pro using the Pro generic key, I reverted back to Windows 7 Home from Windows 10 Pro using the revert option of Windows 10 which remained in place after the upgrade to Pro from Home.

 

Logic says it shouldn't activate, otherwise everybody running Home would get a free pass to Pro. The generic Pro key is listed online, even here on this forum. Your Digital Entitlement stored on the activation server is for Home not Pro. As far as I know anyway. All my PC's are already running Pro so I can't actually test it.

 

That would be what I would guess too and all my PCs are running Pro too, except for my daughter's. And I don't want to end up with a non-activated Windows 10 on it. She's got a gigabyte of photos and songs on it - and I mean number of files, not file size!

 

Yeah, if it upgrades then fails activation that's not good. Unless rollback will get you back to Home? I wouldn't want to find out it won't, the hard way. I'm sending you a PM on another related manner.

 

I did not look for a way to rollback the upgrade to Pro. When I went to the standard location to revert back to previous OS, it took me back to Windows 7 - not back to Windows 10 Home.

 

I don't think it can, the Home To Pro upgrade is like the Windows 8 add features, its a one way trip with no way back. Other than a reinstall. The 7 to 10 creates the Windows.old used for the rollback. I don't think the Home to pro upgrade does that.