Older blog but I will take a chance and post my problem. One partition is windows 10 Home 64bit and the other is windows 10 pro 32 bit. When I had a hardware failure I replaced the mainboard with a board that was very close to the original in the sense of chipsets and CPU.
Used my original Graphics card , FAXmodem , Hard drives, and memory. When I powered the system I went to the 64 bit partition first. It activated using the "replace hardware recently" option. I have a second retail win 7pro disc package with valid key but when I enter it, It just keeps saying I can't have two different versions on the same machine basically. I have tested this scenario multiple times on hardware that originally shipped with Windows Home and was upgraded to Windows 10 Pro.
When prompted, be sure to choose Windows 10 Pro as the edition to install. Had a dell i purchased that came with 10 home, and purchased along with it a copy of 10 pro oem. When i installed from the disk that came with the 10 pro oem, it installed home. They INSISTED that they can change it to pro, but first time I called, they were unable to. They COULD NOT HELP ME. Told me I could get that disk from manufacturer. Dell media creation tool only has HOME ISO for this computer, as it came with home.
Would be better if you would also add some tips for potential buyers who will otherwise take the cheapest option and buy the home edition which is atrocious. Better to spend few Rs more and get the Pro version. If you get to upgrade from windows 7 "Free upgrade" then the key will be stored in your microsoft account .
So, you just have to try to upgrade for free from windows 7 and when you have installed your new windows 10 log in with your microsoft account. Then you will have a activated copy totally legal. If you want later reinstall windows 10 you just have to download the same version you have activated and you install it w/o key and when you start your windows you log in and it will be activated. Seems to me this is much easier and less work then making all sorts of media and manipulating files. And you can use all the previous PRO keys that you've been collecting from old computers.
How To Download And Install Windows 10 Pro For Free We upgraded from Windows 7 to 10 late on October 22, 2019 with no problems on my SSD boot drive . Quite frankly many of my apps seem snappier in response and performance. It may take some time in downloading Windows 10 files from the internet. So it depends on your internet speed that how much time will it take.
If you are using a pirated or cracked version then it may ask you to enter the product key. Otherwise it will not ask for any product / license key and upgrade process will go smoothly. After completion of download, click on the 'Install' button. If your Windows 7 or Windows 8 license is not activated and you are not interested in purchasing a license, then your options are limited. Microsoft offers a 90 day trial of its Windows 10 Enterprise edition.
Windows 10 Enterprise is normally distributed under Microsoft's volume license program for large organizations that deploy Windows 10 in bulk. It's a full-featured edition of the operating system but in this case, it's really an evaluation version of the software. Users must register before they can download and install the software. This option is perfect for those users who are running Windows Vista or never had a genuine license, to begin with.
Prior to Windows 10, the upgrade from the Pro to Enterprise edition required a complete wipe and reinstallation of the OS. In Windows 10, Microsoft enabled bit-less edition upgrade from Pro to Enterprise. This means all the features are on the device already and the upgrade to Enterprise edition can be performed by changing the product key rather than having to download and deploy a new image. However, doing this required a reboot to complete. Microsoft heard a lot of feedback about having to reboot to complete the upgrade so starting with build 14352, a reboot is no longer required when upgrading from the Pro to Enterprise edition. Getting hold of the Windows installer is as easy as visiting support.microsoft.com.
Whether you've paid for Windows 10 already or not, anyone is allowed to download a Windows 10 ISO file and burn it to a DVD or create installation media on a USB drive for free. Once that's done, you can boot from your installation media and load Windows 10 onto your PC. During installation, Microsoft asks for an activation key.
You can skip it, but eventually, Windows will start alerting you that your install isn't activated. AfterWindows 10 is completely installed, you'll be presented with the new desktop and all the new features. At this time, it's a good idea to go to Windows Update using the Settings app to check for updates. Also, go to Device Manager to confirm if the computer hardware is working correctly, and you don't need to reinstall any driver.
Click Next to have Windows 11 check for any updates, then accept the license terms. The Ready to install screen shows that Windows 11 will be installed and that your personal files and apps will be kept. You can then elect to keep personal files and apps, personal files only, or nothing. Many would argue that downloading Windows without paying for or already owning a product key is ethically wrong. That said, Microsoft has made this process easier over various Windows iterations and lessened the limitations and nagging that happens when you don't activate. The company isn't trying to close this loophole, probably because it's more interested in driving user numbers.
I've even seen well-known vendors and Microsoft partners do press presentations with watermarks on their desktop. After you've successfully performed a Home-to-Pro upgrade, you can file that product key away. Your upgrade is now a digital license, attached to your unique hardware. If you perform a reinstallation of Windows, Microsoft's activation servers will recognize the hardware and activate Windows 10 automatically. Best of all, you only need to use the older product key one time.
If you do, however, find yourself being prompted to enter a product license key when you boot from the Windows 10 setup installation media, click the option I don't have a product key. The laptops were trying to install Win10 Pro instead of enterprise which they originally shipped with. You can't use a Windows 7 or Windows 8 key if you are upgrading. What you can do though is activate it using a Windows 7 or Windows 8 key after setup is complete; if you choose to perform a clean install.
If it's activated, then setup doesn't prompt you. That's it, you can upgrade without any further hindrance. There you go, my system upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in 2017 for free. The reason this website's instructions don't work is because when you install 10 on a system that came with windows 10, the product key in the bios overrides the ei.cfg file and pid.txt file.
Ei.cfg and pid.txt alone won't let you install whatever version, you need to add an autounattend file too. (this won't automate installation, only if you tell it to in the file, otherwise the file in this case is only used to force allowing us to select an OS. If you have installed a pro key before it will automatically recognise it and activate once you go online. Alternatively, users who want to migrate their files, apps, and settings can purchase a copy of Windows 7, upgrade their current installation, and only then upgrade to Windows 10. However, a clean install will save you time and money and help you to start with a fresh installation.
Keep updating Windows 1o as and when updates are released. Microsoft offers several ways to download Windows 11 manually. One is to use the Installation Assistant app, which you install on your PC to trigger a normal upgrade install via Windows Update. The second is to use the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool, which automates the process of creating a bootable USB install drive or downloading an install ISO file. Once you have a USB drive, you can either boot from it to perform a clean install or run the Setup app from within Windows 10 to do a normal upgrade install. You can also burn the ISO to a DVD, but installing from any USB drive, even an old USB 2.0 drive, will be much faster, so you shouldn't do that.
Finally, you can just download an ISO file directly from Microsoft's site. Some times it happened that if you have a genuine Windows 7 key and still Windows installer can throw message like "This product key didn't work". In this case you can try to re-activate Windows 7 first. And then start upgrading again, now installer will skip that step and you will be able to start the upgrade process. Users can either do an in-place upgrade on same computer or a new clean install on a new PC. In both methods simply use the Windows 7 Serial key when it ask and it will work perfectly.
Make sure you have enough free disk space before upgrading. Check the minimum free disk space required for Windows 10 upgrade. Before starting up the upgrade process, I suggest you to take a backup of your important data. After the download, double-click the ISO file and then double-click the setup.exe file. Click Next at the initial install screen to check for and download any updates to Windows 11.
At the Ready to Install screen, you will see that Windows 11 will be installed and personal files and apps will be kept by default. After the installation completes, you will be prompted to restart your PC. You are given the option to restart the machine immediately or wait for the 30-minute timer to end if you need time to save any open work. After your PC reboots, you can sign into Windows again.
Once the final setup is complete, you are deposited at your new Windows 11 desktop. Reboot your computer and connect it to the internet. Open Settings and choose "Update & Security" and click "Activation." From here, you can see if the Windows 10 upgrade worked.
If not, press an "Activate" button ; this will create a digital Windows 10 product key. Try using your Windows 7 or Windows 8 license key. If you have completed a clean installation of Windows and kept nothing, navigate the setup experience with the help of Cortana.
If you chose to keep your personal files and apps, you do not need to set up Windows 10 again. I discovered that if you already installed and activated Windows 10 with a Digital License, you can do exactly that. Just install a second copy and it will activate without even asking questions. Previously, additional installations even on the same hardware required the purchase of an additional license in order to activate.
The End User License Terms still says you do, but apparently, it is not enforced – for now. This worked perfectly and i was able to select the edition we needed, and activation went through successfully. So my problem was, I had a Microsoft Surface Pro that was purchased with Windows 10 Home by accident, by the purchasing dept.
We use a custom Windows 10 installation that first checks to see if the resident OS on the device is Windows 10 Professional, if not the custom install will error out and fail to run. So using the "ei.cfg and pid.txt" files copied the "sources" folder on a USB installation made by Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, worked like a charm. It worked fine for me on my dell Latitude with ie.cfg file + PID.exe file, with the generic license. Options wasn't able through the installation but when finished and Windows started, the PRO version was running. One thing to point out is that I'd disabled from BIOS the secure boot option and windows boot manager. Now the only thing left, is to activate it with serial.
Thank you very much everybody contribution, it helps me a lot. I tried different methods but I don't see a window to select any windows 10 editions during fresh windows installation, only one method works which only install windows 10 pro. There is an easier way, when you are installing windows during a clean install, Click that you dont have a product key, then it gives you the option to chose which Windows you want to install. Then add the product key after installing Windows. There is no direct upgrade path for Windows Vista to Windows 10.
As such, you'll be doing a clean installation of the operating system, which will wipe your computer clean, deleting your files, apps, and settings to start from scratch again. Two years back, Microsoft quietly made Windows 10 free to download, install, and use. However, the sad part is that users are still unaware of it. If you are looking for a Windows 10 key, the better alternative will be to use the free version of Windows 10 instead of buying a new license key.
It comes with all Windows functionalities and you will get feature and security updates too.Basically, everything works similar to the activated Pro version. The most important thing to remember is that the Windows 7 to Windows 10 upgrade could wipe your settings and apps. There's an option to keep your files and personal data, but because of differences between Windows 10 and Windows 7, it's not always possible to keep all of your existing apps. Make sure you've noted what apps you use regularly so you can easily obtain them by downloading the installers again. Windows 8.1 can also be upgraded the same way, but without needing to wipe your apps and settings. Windows 10 Setup allows you to do a clean installation of Windows 10 or to keep your personal files and apps.
HP still recommends backing up all data in the event of any data loss. I then booted from the Rufus USB drive, which required pressing F8 repeatedly during boot for my Asus motherboard to show boot device options. Other options include purchasing a new PC with Windows 10 installed or buying Windows directly from Microsoft. A clean install will ask for a product key, and that can be skipped.
Unless you have purchased a license for Windows 10 that has it's own unique product key, you should never enter a product key when upgrading or clean installing Windows 10. Before moving forward with the upgrade, you want to back up your files to an external drive and make sure you have the installation files and product key to reinstall any software after the upgrade. You'll need a license key to complete the Windows 10 setup, but you don't actually need it to get Windows up and running. If you don't have a key yet, you can postpone entering the key until after the files are installed.
