Activated Win10 on defective laptop, how to transfer key to new laptop

Hello,
I bought a laptop for a client, wiped and formatted the hard drive that had Windows 8.1 Home.
Installed Windows 10 Pro. And activated it with a purchased key.
When I started working on it, there were a lot of issues, and a defective touch pad.
So I am about to take the laptop back and trade it in for a new one from a different manufacture.
How do I transfer the key from that laptop to the new one?
Would Advanced Token Manager, Advanced Tokens Manager - Josh Cell Softwares
do the job even though it doesn't say Windows 10 supported?
I also found this, http://www.thewindowsclub.com/deacti...ws-product-key
Would that work on Windows 10? I see the screenshots, however they look like they are Windows 7.

First question - why did you purchase a product key when it would upgrade for free from Windows 8.1?

Second question - what type of product key did you purchase? Was it OEM or Retail. An OEM product key cannot be transferred to a new computer; once it is used on any computer, it stays with that computer.

So, if you purchased a retail product key - then on the old laptop from an elevated command prompt ("run as administrator" command prompt) you will type SLMGR /UPK

The UPK stands for uninstall product key. That removes your retail product key from that laptop.

Then, again, on the new laptop which will probably come with Windows 8 installed not sure why you wouldn't want to just do the free upgrade - but if you really want to enter your product key then just enter it when it asks for it during install. If you want to enter it later then from an elevated command prompt type SLMGR /IPK XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (with the product key you want installed, obviously). Then SLMGR /ATO will attempt online activation.

I purchased a Retail key. So that should work, thank you for explaining that to me! I will do that right now!
The reason is because it was Windows 8.1 Home Edition. I did not know you can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro edition from a home edition? Can you do that?

Georgeilots said:

I purchased a Retail key. So that should work, thank you for explaining that to me! I will do that right now!
The reason is because it was Windows 8.1 Home Edition. I did not know you can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro edition from a home edition? Can you do that?

Yes. All you have to do is go to settings -> update & security -> activation -> change product key and enter the Windows 10 PRO key there and it will initiate an upgrade to Pro version. So, on the first laptop, I would have upgraded the Windows 8.1 Home to Windows 10 Home - got the free Home activation that way, then entered the Windows 10 Pro key to upgrade it to Pro version. The first Home activation from the upgrade would remain stored on MS Activation Servers and be able to activate Windows 10 Home on that computer later. Now, when you run SLMGR /UPK on the old laptop, it should be left with an unactivated Windows 10 Pro version installed.

My current laptop has both Home and Pro activations stored on Microsoft servers and I can install/activate either one with just the generic Product Keys resulting from the 8.1 to 10 upgrade.

Wow, that's really informative, thank you so much all this information.

NavyLCDR said:

Yes. All you have to do is go to settings -> update & security -> activation -> change product key and enter the Windows 10 PRO key there and it will initiate an upgrade to Pro version. So, on the first laptop, I would have upgraded the Windows 8.1 Home to Windows 10 Home - got the free Home activation that way, then entered the Windows 10 Pro key to upgrade it to Pro version. The first Home activation from the upgrade would remain stored on MS Activation Servers and be able to activate Windows 10 Home on that computer later. Now, when you run SLMGR /UPK on the old laptop, it should be left with an unactivated Windows 10 Pro version installed.

My current laptop has both Home and Pro activations stored on Microsoft servers and I can install/activate either one with just the generic Product Keys resulting from the 8.1 to 10 upgrade.

Is it known if this procedure would work on the Insider Preview(s)? I am presently running "Windows 10 Home Insider Preview Evaluation Copy 10576" and would like to upgrade to the Pro version. Perhaps worth noting is the fact that I was eligible for the Windows 10 upgrade on my HP Envy laptop running 8.1 (unbeknownst to me the 8.1 Home version). When I upgraded/installed the Windows 10 (Home version) I set it up to receive the Insider Previews as I have (3) other machines running the Pro Insider Previews. Now that I have received the subsequent Insider Preview upgrades it appears from some other users that an upgrade may no longer be possible.

I have considered going back to the original 8.1 OS on the recovery drive, upgrading that to 8.1 pro and then upgrading to Windows 10 but I am concerned as to what I may lose during those OS shuffles. If is is as simple as just uninstalling and reinstalling a product key I would be more than happy to purchase the applicable Windows 10 Pro key and utilize this procedure. It would be my want to have the security functions/encryption and remote capabilities I had on 8.1 but lost in the Windows 10 Home upgrade.

Your thoughts and/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

shelbymustang said:

Your thoughts and/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Yes, it will work on the insider previews as well.