Win10 Downgraded Win8.1 Pro To Home Edition

I was finally able to upgrade Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10... All went perfectly until Windows told me it was not activated, which went smoothly...

After rebooting Windows 10 again said it was not activated... I checked and even tried to reactivate it but not only would it not activate, but it also said they key was blacklisted...

The other thing I noticed was although I have Windows 8.1 Pro installed, Windows 10 downgraded to Windows 10 Home....

Any idea why this happened and how to fix it??

One possible explanation is that Windows 10 examined your system and didn't detect it as a proper Windows 8.1 Pro installation, so it upgraded to Windows 10 Home rather than Windows 10 Pro. The fact that the key is blacklisted and cannot activate indicates it has to do with the Windows 8.1 license.

Try to revert to Windows 8.1, if you can. Then check your version, if it is Windows 8.1 (Core) or Windows 8.1 Pro and if it is activated. If it is Windows 8.1 Pro, activated properly, try the upgrade again. If you have problems again contact Microsoft. If it is Windows 8.1 then you can only upgrade to Windows 10 Home and then buy a new key to make it Windows 10 Pro through Windows Store.

In worst case, backup all your data, format your hard disk and clean install Windows 8.1 Pro again. Activate it. No point to install any drivers or applications, just upgrade to Windows 10 Pro first. Make sure you can activate them and then start installing drivers and applications. This will save you all the trouble in case you cannot activate them. If you still cannot activate, call Microsoft. You may have to prove that you have a Genuine Windows 8.1 Pro license, not used in another computer, in order to activate Windows 10 Pro by phone.

I don't think Windows 10 setup asks for a key when upgrading from earlier Windows version. It just forces Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro based on the previous version, no key required. If your previous Windows version was genuine, Windows 10 activates automatically when first online. If it doesn't activate something is wrong or you don't have access to the internet yet. In the second case, install LAN or WiFi drivers and when online it will activate.

spapakons said:

In worst case, backup all your data, format your hard disk and clean install Windows 8.1 Pro again. Activate it. No point to install any drivers or applications, just upgrade to Windows 10 Pro first. Make sure you can activate them and then start installing drivers and applications. This will save you all the trouble in case you cannot activate them. If you still cannot activate, call Microsoft. You may have to prove that you have a Genuine Windows 8.1 Pro license, not used in another computer, in order to activate Windows 10 Pro by phone.

I think that is what I am going to do. I will reinstall Windows 8 then upgrade it through the store to 8.1 again (it's been a while). Then reactivate it.

Kari said:

The obvious questions:
•How and where did you get your original Windows 8.1 Pro?
•Was it activated?
•How did you upgrade? Using Windows Update, an ISO image?
•When upgrading, did Windows 10 setup ask a product key?◦If yes, did you skip the key and upgrade without, or if you used a key where did you get the key you used?

To answer your questions in order
1.) Ordered Windows 8 Pro directly from Microsoft (I do this with all MS software). The upgrade to Windows 8.1 came from the Microsoft Store, and Media Center was done the same way.

2.) Windows 8 has always activated with no problem. It was activated at the time of the Win 10 upgrade, up until the second reboot after Win 10 was installed.

3.) Upgrade was done from the upgrade icon in the bottom right corner of my screen (by the clock)

4.) During the upgrade I was not asked for a key.

spapakons said:

I don't think Windows 10 setup asks for a key when upgrading from earlier Windows version. It just forces Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro based on the previous version, no key required. If your previous Windows version was genuine, Windows 10 activate automatically when first online. If they don't activate something is wrong or you don't have access to the internet yet.

As I said earlier, I know for a fact ALL my MS software is genuine. So that's not a problem.

Also, and I just thought of it... Someone told me to unplug any other hard drives I have connected before upgrading... so that it was I did... after the upgrade, I plugged everything back in.... could that be the cause of the problem?

Omega1 said:

Also, and I just thought of it... Someone told me to unplug any other hard drives I have connected before upgrading... so that it was I did... after the upgrade, I plugged everything back in.... could that be the cause of the problem?

No this is to make sure there is no conflict with the other drives during the upgrade to 10. Everybody should be able to add a new disk to the system after upgrading to Windows 10. This is not illegal and it shouldn't cause any problems to the activation. Of course it is always preferable to activate Windows first and then add new hardware, just in case.

spapakons said:

No this is to make sure there is no conflict with the other drives during the upgrade to 10. Everybody should be able to add a new disk to the system after upgrading to Windows 10. This is not illegal and it shouldn't cause any problems to the activation. Of course it is always preferable to activate Windows first and then add new hardware, just in case.

That is what I thought, because it's never been a problem before... but it was the only change I made...