New
#1
Install Win 10 Pro on New Alienware Laptop w/Home Already Installed
Hi,
As the title states I have a brand new Alienware R5-17" laptop that comes with Windows 10 Home installed. It has a 256 SSD and a 1 TB HDD. I have not powered the laptop up yet because I know Windows will want to walk me through a first setup process along with activation. I purchased the computer this evening and also bought a flash drive copy of Windows 10 Pro.
I have built several desktop computers over the years and always began by installing my copy of Windows on a freshly formatted (blank) hard drive and then installing everything else (firewall software, chip set drivers, all other hardware drivers, etc.). I've been told now that each copy of Windows is now married to the hardware system it was first installed on so transferring Windows from one computer to another is no longer possible. I will be verifying this to see if it's true.
What I want to do is replace Windows 10 Home with the Pro version. But I do not trust the upgrade approach which is why I bought a physical copy of Windows 10 Pro. I want to erase what's on the laptop and start from scratch using the purchased copy of Win 10 Pro. I'm hoping I can still transfer it to a different machine later on if that ever becomes necessary for some reason. I will also need to check with Dell to see if this will confuse them and their warranty on the laptop.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.