[SOLVED] Upgradin Win 10 Home > Pro

[nlinecomputers]

Beat me to it.

 

[britechguy]

MS dont give you the key - is digital license.

Potato, potatoh. There is an actual key to complete the initial upgrade and the final product of doing same is the digital license.

Though I have no doubt there are probably ways MS does this that don't involve you hand entering a key, I've not used them. All the upgrades I've done have been via the Activation pane, Change product key link, which does prompt you for the good, old-fashioned MS product key. After the process completes, if a Microsoft Account is in use, the digital license will be stored in that account as well as linked to the hardware.

 

[mikeroq]

Potato, potatoh. There is an actual key to complete the initial upgrade and the final product of doing same is the digital license.

Though I have no doubt there are probably ways MS does this that don't involve you hand entering a key, I've not used them. All the upgrades I've done have been via the Activation pane, Change product key link, which does prompt you for the good, old-fashioned MS product key. After the process completes, if a Microsoft Account is in use, the digital license will be stored in that account as well as linked to the hardware.

When you upgrade via the Microsoft Store there is no key. Of course you can enter a key you have with Change Product Key.

 

[britechguy]

When you upgrade via the Microsoft Store there is no key.

Which I thought I covered with: "Though I have no doubt there are probably ways MS does this that don't involve you hand entering a key."

The point is that there is a "key equivalent" whether you're entering it or not. They have some way to track the creation of the digital license.

I don't disagree that there is no key sequence that you have to input via the Store method. But you can be sure that a "key equivalent" is involved under the hood that they enter for you, for lack of a better way of putting it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Any version of Windows 10 no matter HOW you acquire it becomes a digital license. That’s how Microsoft tracks installs and why if you nuke the system you can reinstall without ever having to input the key again. And it would not work as the keys are canceled the first time they’re used, if they are OEM. If you have a retail box the reverse is true. Using the key again will void the previous digital license and new one tied to the new hardware is issued.

 

[fincoder]

The reason I'd prefer a key is because a clean install might read the embedded BIOS key for Home edition and use that, then the upgrade would need to be done again somehow. I haven't done Pro upgrades with a keyless online purchase before so I'm not sure how the reinstall works.

I think @frase did a clean install so maybe this can be cleared up?

 

[nlinecomputers]

The reason I'd prefer a key is because a clean install might read the embedded BIOS key for Home edition and use that, then the upgrade would need to be done again somehow. I haven't done Pro upgrades with a keyless online purchase before so I'm not sure how the reinstall works.

I think @frase did a clean install so maybe this can be cleared up?

If you read the link @mikeroq posted it tells you what to do. It should install as home and then upgrade to pro after it gets online. If it fails to do so you can run the activation troubleshooter.

 

[Sky-Knight]

The anytime upgrade only works for the box you upgraded, it can't be moved to another machine as far as I know.

As for reinstalls...

place ei.cfg into the sources folder in your Win10 installation media. Contents of the file are as follows:

[Channel]
_Default
[VL]
0

This change will force the installer to let you pick what edition is installed instead of simply pulling the key from the BIOS and installing Home. Install Pro, and it'll simply activate later automatically.

As always if you lose the mainboard, buy a new license. For this reason I prefer to purchase Windows 10 Pro Retail instead, yes... it costs more. But I get a KEY, which can be moved.

 

[frase]

Yes I did a reinstall - though it picked up the key once logged in and activated.