A while back I ran across an article about upgrading Win10 Home to Pro using a Win7 Pro license key. I do have one such key (unused), and would like to upgrade my laptop — mainly so I can use BitLocker — but try as I might I can’t seem to find anything similar on Win11. I can find discussion about activating Win11 using a Win7 key, which implies that upgrading should also be possible; but I’m kinda skittish about poking the Microsoft bear in its den, so before pulling the trigger I figured I’d see if anyone here had information or suggestions.
Thanks for the link, which appears to be a later version of the article I mentioned.
The good news: my laptop is not a lump of smoldering slag. The not-so-good news: when I entered the Win7 Pro key the response was that it didn’t work and I should rekey it (it was correct the first time) or try another. No error code or further elaboration. I suspect the problem was that a) a Win7 key doesn’t really work, or b) an OEM key won’t upgrade an existing install. Either way, not something I’m gonna lose sleep over.
We used to clone a PC and making multiple copies - all the requisite software was installed before cloning, so it worked well even on different models of the same brand (worked for HP or Lenovo depending on the source clone). This was the quickest way to set up a company’s 40 new PC’s with the same standard software. (Just had to set name and join domain separately)
OTOH, for home I purchased a “used” copy of Office - one of those cheap versions being resold after someone abandoned it, like a bankruptcy sale. The install key failed, but the seller advised to use the phone-in and that worked. (The phone-in asked “is this installed on another computer?” No. I assume it’s for people who have to re-install when the system crashed) Not sure if phone-in activation is possible or would work for Windows, i’ve never tried.
Even more specifically, it the key is associated with a hardware signature based on key components like the motherboard. If you use an OEM key and then do a motherboard swap, the key will invalidate and Windows will consider itself unactivated. Or, if you use a previously -used OEM key on a different computer, it will either not install or install unactivated.
Microsoft documentation that I’ve seen is that you’re allowed to re-activate once after a system hardware change, after which the key can’t be used any longer for any different hardware than whatbit is already associated with.
There’s a good reason why OEM keys are cheaper than retail keys. You pay extra for the portability (or, as Microsoft probably thinks of it, for the greater likelihood of being able to be pirated).
As I said, we’ve cloned a PC with and OEM key (mind you, was WIndows 10) and put that image onto multiple other PC’s as a shortcut to installing a particular configuration of software. There was no problem with the Windows being activated. This applied with different models of the PC, with both Lenovo and HP. I’ve also moved the hard disk from one PC to another without issues (same brand). Whatever key piece triggers “OEM” it’s something to do with the ROM of the motherboard and similar across models, I assume. What OEM looks for in more generic machines - I don’t know. Whether the OEM version (Home vs Pro) is coded into the ROM, I don’t know.
But definitely, OEM code will not work for a different brand. And OEM is intended for that particular hardware, so not reansferrable to a new PC even if the old one dies. We justified cloning because each PC had a license for that version when we started.
I don’t know for sure, but I suspect there’s something in the key that requires the manufacturer’s specific hardware, most likely identified by code in the firmware. We have cloned onto other hardware, different model but same manufacturer. I guess that’s the question - how does OEM know it’s different? If it was strictly motherboard configuration then the moment it “phoned home” to validate the key it would be told “No, you last validated on this motherboard model”.