Windows 10: Windows 11 home preinstallation needs to be updated with a windows 11 pro OEM license.

We have a machine that was bought by a client and given to us with windows 11 home on it. We purchased the license for windows 11 pro and for some reason when going to the settings and changing the product license, it gives an error saying "The product key you entered didn't work. Check the product key and try again, or enter a different one". We bought it from newegg. From them themselves, not some other side company. I don't know why it wouldn't be valid. It does say it's an OEM license, but even that should be able to replace an existing home license. If anyone has any experience with this

:)

 

Free upgrade from Windows 11 Home to 11 Pro using 10 Pro retail license

My current computer has an activated Windows 10 Pro retail license. I'm planning to replace my current computer by buying a new computer that comes preinstalled with Windows 11 Home, and then I understand I can use my 10 Pro license to upgrade to 11 Pro for free.

What's the most straightforward way of accomplishing this? The obvious approach that comes to mind involves two steps:

1. Reinstall Windows 10 Pro on new computer and activate with my existing retail license.
   
2. Upgrade new computer to 11 Pro for free through the settings.
   

Is there a simpler way of doing this without having to reinstall Windows 10? For example, would it be possible to somehow "trade in" my Windows 10 Pro license for 11 Pro? I'm fairly new to Windows licensing and am just trying to understand what is possible/best practice, with minimal effort.

 

windows 11 pro

The more important question is whether your base license is OEM and whether you want to transfer the license in the future to a new computer.

If you bought a Dell computer with OEM Windows 10 Home, then upgrade for free to OEM Windows 11 Home --- buying an $100 US upgrade to Windows 11 Pro will make your license OEM Windows 11 Pro. This is a non-transferable license.

If you want a transferable license, then you have to buy the full $200 US Windows 11 Pro license.

 

Upgrading Windows 11 Home using Windows 8.1 Pro Product Key

Hi, I’m Nicole, I’ll be happy to help you out today.

If you are using preinstalled windows 11 home on your new laptop it means it was a OEM license Windows* OEM licenses cannot be transferred to another system. The Intel:registered: NUC Mini-PCs uses an OEM license, so it can't be transferred. However, the license is attached to the system you need retail windows 11 licesence, retail license is transferrablle,

Also there is a system requirement on windows 11 check if your windows 8.1 laptop is compatible to upgrade to windows 11 before buying windows 11 digital license.

Note: it is not possible to use a Windows 8.1 Pro product key to upgrade a preinstalled version of Windows 11 Home. Windows 11 has different system requirements and is a different version of Windows than Windows 8.1 Pro, and product keys are not interchangeable between different versions of Windows.

However, if you want to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro, you can purchase a Windows 11 Pro upgrade key from the Microsoft Store or another authorized reseller. Once you have the Windows 11 Pro upgrade key, you can go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation on your Windows 11 Home laptop and click on the "Go to Store" button to purchase and activate the upgrade.

Regards.