Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 11 Pro?

NavyLCDR · Aug 30, 2021

The Microsoft Store has proven to be the least reliable method of upgrading. There are more posts on tenforums about upgrading from the MS Store than using any product keys purchased from any other source. I've bought a few <$10 product keys for Pro just to see what I would get and they always got me a digital license in VMs that are still valid years later

Almighty1 · Aug 30, 2021

Kari said:
That is absolutely not true. Each and every Windows product key works for both clean install and edition upgrade.

Of course, this only applies to all valid, legal Windows product keys. Those who knowingly buy illegal, pirated keys might naturally experience all kind of strange issues. I mean, anyone buying a Windows product key from eBay or any other obscure seller with 5 or 10 bucks of course know, that they are buying illegal key, and can only blame themselves for possible issues.

Kari

Think about this for a moment, if the key was illegal, would it even get passed Microsoft's servers and if it does, it should be legal and valid as it will not even upgrade to Pro unless the key is valid when connected to the internet. And as seen above, it was actually the people who bought the upgrade from Microsoft directly that had the major issues. Besides, unless you are Microsoft and even if you were and tested and used "each and every product key" to verify it works, it's more speculation and not from your personal experience.

NICK ADSL UK · Aug 30, 2021

Microsoft is mostly sticking to the original Windows 11 system requirements, though the company did add a few more processors to the list of supported models. However, the firm told The Verge that it would only enforce restrictions when upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11—a fresh installation with a Windows 11 ISO would have no such restrictions.

NICK ADSL UK · Aug 30, 2021

NICK ADSL UK said:
Microsoft is mostly sticking to the original Windows 11 system requirements, though the company did add a few more processors to the list of supported models. However, the firm told The Verge that it would only enforce restrictions when upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11—a fresh installation with a Windows 11 ISO would have no such restrictions.

i told them myself that the vast majority of people worldwide using the Windows platform don't belong to a forum and never have done and will take whatever you give them and in the main as long as it works, they don't care

zombola · Aug 30, 2021

thanks guys for all your hard work well done i am learning new stuff here thanks for allowing me
to be here with you.

Kari · Aug 30, 2021

Almighty1 said:
Think about this for a moment, if the key was illegal, would it even get passed Microsoft's servers and if it does, it should be legal and valid.

Using your words, think this for a moment: Microsoft sells Windows 10 PRO product keys for consumers for about USD 200:

Buy Windows 10 Pro for Business - Microsoft

Buy Windows 10 Pro to equip your workforce with enhanced collaboration tools, enterprise-grade security, single sign-on and more. Get more done, from anywhere.

www.microsoft.com

Assuming that you do not know how corporations make money for they share holders, and to pay their costs and staff, I can tell you that this is the way they do it: selling their products and services. Don't even try to tell me that you believe, that a company selling their own product directly from their own online store for USD 200, will then sell them in bulk to some eBay seller so cheap, that he can still make profit by selling the same product with USD 5 or USD 10.

Like if Ferrari would sell a model of their, a car, for let's say USD 200,000, and then decide to sell some of them to some online car dealer so cheap, that the site could sell same car for USD 5,000 and still make profit. Would you say that because it starts and motor runs OK, it must be a legally purchased car?

Every key not bought directly from Microsoft, or authorized retailer like for instance Newegg is US, is illegal. Most of those keys like yours are misused, sometimes criminally obtained volume licensing keys. With a bit of luck, they might work for some time, install without issues and so on, but they are still illegal, pirated keys. A person using them makes him / herself guilty of piracy.

Have you not seen, how often users complain online, that they suddenly lost activation, and re-installing does not accept the key?

Redirecting

USD 5 Windows product key legal? Thanks for a good laugh.

Kari

SlicEnDicE · Aug 30, 2021

Yeah, where I live, the price for a valid legal key cost the following:

Windows 10 Home OEM: 119€
Windows 10 Pro OEM: 159€
Windows 10 Home Retail: 134€
Windows 10 Pro Retail: 236€

All on par with what MS asks for keys if you purchase directly from them.

All other keys are in some way or form illegal. Or some form of "loophole" has been used to sell left over company bulk keys. They may work for a while but many will stop working eventually, once enough activations has been obtained.

Buy your keys from an MS partner or MS directly at the price they ask or be prepared to be deactivated at any time.

BunnyJ · Aug 30, 2021

<rant>
I just checked the prices on Amazon and a new key/copy of 10 Pro is 180 USD and the upgrade is 99 USD and no.. you can't get a legit copy for less. I just wish members wouldn't suggest that you can get it from say, Ebay, for 10 bucks. That's misinformation and it's not helpful to others looking for solid answers.

</rant>

Kari · Aug 30, 2021

A quote from answer to a user on Microsoft Answers:

In your case, what probably happened is, you bought an MSDN licensed key, which carries up to 10 activations unlike full packaged retail licenses which only carry 1 activation. The person who sold it to you probably sold it to 10 other persons. Somewhere along the way, one of those persons might have installed it on a second system, activated it, because it went past 10 activation threshold, Microsoft detected it that it was being abused and blocked the key from further use.

Purchase a genuine license: Buy Windows 10 Home/Pro

Windows 10 OEM key/license off eBay

Quick question. For my second PC, which I built myself from parts I bought, I want to buy an OEM key from eBay. Assuming the key is working, one question, is that legal ? I know buying from eBay is

answers.microsoft.com

Kari

Almighty1 · Aug 30, 2021

Kari said:
Using your words, think this for a moment: Microsoft sells Windows 10 PRO product keys for consumers for about USD 200:

Buy Windows 10 Pro for Business - Microsoft

Buy Windows 10 Pro to equip your workforce with enhanced collaboration tools, enterprise-grade security, single sign-on and more. Get more done, from anywhere.

www.microsoft.com

Assuming that you do not know how corporations make money for they share holders, and to pay their costs and staff, I can tell you that this is the way they do it: selling their products and services. Don't even try to tell me that you believe, that a company selling their own product directly from their own online store for USD 200, will then sell them in bulk to some eBay seller so cheap, that he can still make profit by selling the same product with USD 5 or USD 10.

Like if Ferrari would sell a model of their, a car, for let's say USD 200,000, and then decide to sell some of them to some online car dealer so cheap, that the site could sell samr car for USD 5,000 and still make profit. Would you say that because it starts and motor runs OK, it must be a legally purchased car?

Every key not bought directly from Microsoft, or authorized retailer like for instance Newegg is US, is illegal. Most of those keys like yours are misused, sometimes criminally obtained volume licensing keys. With a bit of luck, they might work for some time, install without issues and so on, but they are still illegal, pirated keys. A person using them makes him / herself guilty of piracy.

Have you not seen, how often users complain online, that they suddenly lost activation, and re-installing does not accept the key?

Redirecting

USD 5 Windows product key legal? Thanks for a good laugh.

Kari

Remember, you do not really know how they bought the keys since it could be someone trying to get rid of a product as how often do people really pay sticker price for anything.

And just for your information, I am a Microsoft shareholder for longer than most people so I know how they make money. It all depends on the distribution channel on where someone gets their stuff which might not always be someone buying a volume license key.

And using your Ferrari example, I know for a fact that many people have bought BMW's at cost since there is something known as MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) and what prices it's allowed to be sold at. Some manufacturers have something called MAP (Minimal Advertised Price) which is what they agreed not to sell under. Louis Vuitton and Rolex are two examples of things that never sells below sticker price as it's their policy but Omega on the other hand can often be bought under the MSRP.

But anyways, using your link, it has been said that it's Volume Licenses that are the ones that are the ones with problems as this is what I get with what they recommended as a way to check using slmgr -dli:

People can sell things for anything they want to and there is virtually no risk since it's not like the money will be lost as this is protected by Regulation Z of the US Truth in Lending Act should something go wrong.

BunnyJ · Aug 30, 2021

Yeah.. There might just be one in 100 keys you buy on Ebay are legit.. but the other 99 aren't and never will be. Yes,, you can buy or sell just about anything you like but keep in mind. MS can and will disable a key that's being misused. There's not protection from that, period.

Bottom line... caveat emptor

Kari · Aug 30, 2021

Useless to argue with someone telling that a five dollar product key is legal, and if it stops working, some law says that the purchase was protected. Good luck in getting money back from seller!

BunnyJ · Aug 30, 2021

Kari said:
Useless to argue with someone telling that a five dollar product key is legal, and if it stops working, some law sys that the purchase was protected. Good luck in getting money back from seller!

Almighty1 · Aug 30, 2021

BunnyJ said:
View attachment 6741

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201502_cfpb_credit-card-account-management-examination-procedures.pdf

BunnyJ · Aug 30, 2021

Almighty1 said:
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201502_cfpb_credit-card-account-management-examination-procedures.pdf

Dude.. no one is going to take up a case for 5 bucks. That's an issue for small claims court at best.

Almighty1 · Aug 30, 2021

BunnyJ said:
Yeah.. There might just be one in 100 keys you buy on Ebay are legit.. but the other 99 aren't and never will be. Yes,, you can buy or sell just about anything you like but keep in mind. MS can and will disable a key that's being misused. There's not protection from that, period.

Bottom line... caveat emptor

If they disable, then you will just end up with Home again and one can always buy from Microsoft at that point in time.

BunnyJ · Aug 30, 2021

Almighty1 said:
If they disable, then you will just end up with Home again and one can always buy from Microsoft at that point in time.

Oh... other than being a waste of both time and money you're correct.

SlicEnDicE · Aug 30, 2021

Almighty1 said:
If they disable, then you will just end up with Home again and one can always buy from Microsoft at that point in time.

If you don't own a valid license you'll end up with a non-activated Windows. Home, Pro, Enterprise...does not matter.

cereberus · Aug 30, 2021

NavyLCDR said:
Absolutely not true. Disconnecting from the internet defeats that. Thus the first step in the procedure I posted: disconnect the computer from all sources of internet.

Seems like there is a lot of misinformation floating around about upgrading Home to Pro.

cereberus · Aug 30, 2021

Bree said:
It only performs this check if you are connected to the internet. Disconnect before changing the key and it will upgrade. Of course, if the PC does not have a previously established digital licence for Pro it will not activate when you reconnect.

Ah - that is interesting. It is alleged that MS did this as many users were customising in W10 home, then upgraded using generic key and more or less gettting pro free.