Salvage Win10 Home, upgrade to Pro


  1. Posts : 47
    Win10 Home x64 2oH2 Version 2009 (build 19042.685)
       #1

    Salvage Win10 Home, upgrade to Pro


    Hello Great Group,

    I am interested in steps I might take to salvage my Windows 10 Home license from a dead computer's drive, then upgrade to Pro on a new computer. Is this possible? If so, how?

    Details: 'Puter hanging issue became fatal, then died, I borked the BIOS, made a mess, building a new machine and plan to harvest as much as possible from the old drives. I have a backup of C: where Win10 lived as well as two identical SSDs (both with Win10 on them), yet do not want to boot from one of the old disks fearing that 1) Windows may be corrupted, or 2) The drive might have some nasties on it.

    Upgrading from Home to Pro is about $100? cheaper than just buying Pro. So, I'd like to upgrade from the old license if possible, but I'm not sure what steps to take and in what order in order to accomplish this mission.

    Are these the correct steps? (I'm guessing)

    Build the new computer
    Update BIOS if necessary
    Install Win10 Pro without key
    Attach old drive
    Scan old drive with Malwarebytes
    Run Belkin Advisor on that drive to reveal key?
    Enter key into Pro?

    I've no clue what might happen at this point. Key invalid? Upgrade to Pro somehow?

    Thanks in advance for your insight.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 43,022
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, how did you obtain your original license? If it's OEM, you can't move it to another PC anyway. You can only do that with a retail license.

    The license is not held as a key on the hard drive but as digital rights on MS's server against a form of the PC's hardware id.

    You might see if this offer for a Pro license is still available:
    Can I get an opinion on this PC World link
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 47
    Win10 Home x64 2oH2 Version 2009 (build 19042.685)
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thank you


    Thank you dalchina. The old offer led to a 404 page, yet the site had a good deal for Home for $60.
    (I decided that I did not need any of the Pro features)

    Again, thanks
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4,595
    several
       #4

    You can get Win 10 pro from computeractive for $39.99

    Software Store


    Computeractive Software Store - Windows 10 Professional - 80% off RRP
    Last edited by SIW2; 11 Dec 2020 at 07:45.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4,595
    several
       #5

    There is a deal for O&O diskimage v16 here very cheap especially for 5pc pack.

    O&O Software - OnlineShop
      My Computer


 

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