Clean installing Windows 10 Pro on a Home Edition PC

KabyBlue · 15 Apr 2018

I am interested in buying a PC online but the seller states it comes with Windows 10 Home x64. If I were to buy the computer and purchase a Windows 10 Pro license, would the PC get a digital license if I did a clean install and activated Win10 Pro?

Meaning, if I were to "lose" the product key card once the PC has been activated but decided I wanted to follow this guide and perform a clean install of Windows 10 Pro x64 at a later time, would I still need the product key card? I don't plan on using a MS account by the way (am aware there is a way to link the activation to your MS account).

cereberus · 15 Apr 2018

You do not need to clean install PRO if it has activated Home. Simply click on link 'Go to Store' in activation menu, and either buy an upgrade key, or enter a 10 Pro key.

Basically, the Home install contains most of the Pro features but upgrading unlocks them or downloads the extra bits it needs.

Clean installing PRO is actually a bit annoying, as it defaults to Home if device has a 10 Home key embedded in bios.

You can get round this by adding an ei.cfg file containing two lines to sources folder on installation drive i.e.

[Channel]
Retail

KabyBlue · 15 Apr 2018

cereberus said:

Clean installing PRO is actually a bit annoying, as it defaults to Home if device has a 10 Home key embedded in bios.

You can get round this by adding an ei.cfg file containing two lines to sources folder on installation drive i.e.
[Channel]
Retail

Thnx for the advice. I am aware of the upgrade option from Home to Pro but prefer clean install to get rid of manufacturer bloatware out of the box. I have used that ei.cfg trick a couple of times too. :)

In regards to the activation, does the PC get a digital license after activating Windows 10 Pro? Would future installs of Pro require the product key again?

NavyLCDR · 15 Apr 2018

The computer would get a digital license for Pro stored on Microsoft Activation servers and after the first install, subsequent installs of either Home or Pro on that computer would activate without a product key (although the product key for Windows 10 Home is likely permanently stored in firmware).

KabyBlue · 15 Apr 2018

NavyLCDR said:

The computer would get a digital license for Pro stored on Microsoft Activation servers and after the first install, subsequent installs of either Home or Pro on that computer would activate without a product key (although the product key for Windows 10 Home is likely permanently stored in firmware).

Glad to hear the PC would have both a Home and Pro license. That confirms my suspicion. Will mark this thread as solved.

Thnx for the responses

@NavyLCDR @cereberus