How Change Windows 10 Pro To Education?

Behindyouu · 29 Sep 2016

Hi, I am building a custom PC and I want to install Windows 10 Pro on it. Currently I am running Windows10 Pro on my laptop and want to use it on my desktop. I have the Windows 10 Educational Key, but the Windows 10 Pro key is from the Windows 7 free update.

So basically, I want to change my Windows version from Pro to Educational for my laptop. I have downloaded the ISO from Microsoft's website.

I don't mind formatting my laptop as there is nothing on it.

EDIT: I will install Windows 10 Edu on my laptop and then Install Windows 10 Pro on my desktop

alphanumeric · 30 Sep 2016

The 10 Pro (free upgrade) is not transferable. Not easily anyway. The key you get is a generic key and will only activate if that PC already has a Digital License on the activation server. Your new desktop PC won't, so it will fail activation if you install with that generic key. JFYI post. You can upgrade from Pro to Education with a simple "change product key". No need to reinstall Windows. I've done it. No install media needed. The Education features are unlocked/installed, it reboots and then activates with the key you entered.

Behindyouu · 30 Sep 2016

alphanumeric said:

The 10 Pro (free upgrade) is not transferable. Not easily anyway. The key you get is a generic key and will only activate if that PC already has a Digital License on the activation server. Your new desktop PC won't, so it will fail activation if you install with that generic key. JFYI post. You can upgrade from Pro to Education with a simple "change product key". No need to reinstall Windows. I've done it. No install media needed. The Education features are unlocked/installed, it reboots and then activates with the key you entered.

I will try that.

I spoke with the Microsoft Customer Service and they said it will work.

Install Edu on my Laptop with the Key
Install Pro on my Desktop without the key and update to AU
Use my outlook account to activate windows 10 w/o key. They said my key is linked to my account.

alphanumeric · 30 Sep 2016

The "linked to my account" option was added to make recovering activation easier after a significant hardware change. Like if you had to replace the motherboard, the new motherboard would have a different hardware ID. The link will be to the laptop, device wise. IMHO, its not meant to be used to do what you propose. I'm not here to judge so if you want to try it, go for it. Just don't be surprised if it doesn't work. Or if Microsoft refuses to activate your new PC. I'm not saying they will, it just wouldn't surprise me if they did draw a line in the sand.