Hey Shawn,

I just purchased an ex-corporate leased laptop on behalf of a colleague (home user) whom I support. It is an 8th Gen Intel machine which is on the list of supported processors for Win 11.

I bought ex-corporate device because they have typically been maintained well and have a more solid build.

It has been clean installed by the reseller with Windows 10 Pro for Workstations - which I had never heard of until now.

Given I will be supporting this machine (maintaining upgrades and updates etc.) I am a bit perplexed as I do not want any complexity. The vendor assured me the license is permanent and legitimate and the laptop is activated with a digital license.

I would prefer to downgrade to Win 10 Pro as I know my way around that OS and often have to resort to reinstalls or Clean installs as part of maintenance. From what I read, that version OS provides support for functionality the average home user would never use.

I don't know best way to revert ie. change license key (which I don't have but is imbedded in the system) or just do a Clean Install on the assumption it will revert to a Win 10 Pro.

Appreciate some guidance on the best way forward (backward).

Thank you.

You won't see any difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

NavyLCDR said:

You won't see any difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

Thanks NavyLCDR, sounds encouraging. I did read some discussion here on the forum that you cant reinstall this version from the Media Creation download which I use to repair install and clean install. ie that it is an additional upgrade on top of that. ?

Brink said:

Hello Ashley,

You can directly clean install Windows 10 Pro for Workstations using the Media Creation Tool. I do it on my desktop all the time.

Ok. Sounds like I'm worrying over nothing.. I'll do a Macrium Image and try both a repair install and a clean install just to satisfy myself.

Was thinking I should revert the system back to the basic Win 10 Pro rather than go through another learning curve but as long as it gets Win updates and functions otherwise as normal, then I'm happy.

Will report back.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's the results I got.:

1. Imaged system using Macrium Reflect

2. Performed an in-place repair (following tutorial) - using MCT USB disk, no internet connection.
- Identified the OS as Workstation version along with data in 'what to keep'
- ran through the entire process and completed without issue.
- on completion ran sfc /scannow which said it found and resolved corruption. Ran it again and all clear.
3. checked activation and all was good.

4. Performed a Clean install (following tutorial) - Booting from MCT USB disk, no internet connection.
- Ran very quickly and on completion Acivation showed it was digitally activated with Windows Home (!)
- Ran clean install again but connected to Internet and couldn't get past the need to login, so it didn't complete.
- I somehow managed to reboot and checked activation and it was activated as Win 10 Pro, Corporate Edition (?)

5. I restored the system from Macrium Backup and all is back to normal with Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
working all nicely and digitally activated. (Phew!)

I'm pretty sure I did everything correctly but it appears my system doesn't have the correct embedded license key which will give me a big problem if I ever need to clean install that system. Unusual it reverted to Win 10 Home as this is definitely a corporate machine.

Appreciate any advice on what I should do next as I should be able to clean install but seems there may be a problem with the licensing.

Thanks.

Hey thanks everyone for your feedback while I was sleeping. The sun is just coming up over here so I'll be making myself a strong coffee and start working through your responses. Very much appreciated. ashleyg

- - - Updated - - -

Whoohoo! Success!

Appreciate the guidance with getting this sorted.

Shawn - Thanks for that method - I haven't got to the stage of setting up a MS Account yet for the other person and am doing the build from a local admin account, so the local account option was my best option in this case.

NavyLCDR - Thanks for putting all the pieces together. It was exactly what I was after as I knew the Windows 10 Pro Workstation version was an upgrade to the base but couldn't figure out how to link to it. The key was indeed to change the activation key to that generic product key. It was a bit messy not being online and didn't appreciate was that even though it said it couldn't apply that key, it actually went on to apply the entitled updates/features and after a reboot and going on-line the activation showed the correct details. So it appears the device was authorized/activated via the hardware (digital entitlement?) versus via the MS Account in the method Shawn put forward.

Superfly - Not sure where I got the word Corporate from. I checked my notes and it was Enterprise (not corporate) but can't even recall in the heat of the moment where that fitted in . Cheers.

Main thing is, I'm happy knowing that I can Clean-install that system in the future if necessary.

ashleyg.