Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Enterprise for a Microsoft 365 E3 License
I worked on an issue recently, where some laptops purchased from a retail store with Windows 10 Home installed couldn't be activated using a Microsoft 365 E3 license.
Windows 10 home firmware embedded key
This method does not work if the computer has a Windows 10 home firmware embedded key
Check Windows firmware embedded key using PowerShell
(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey (Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKeyDescription
If the output is Core OEM the computer has a Windows 10 home firmware embedded key.
Example: Windows 10 Home firmware embedded key
Core OEM:DM is Windows 10 Home
Windows is not activated message
Even though the M365 E3 includes a Windows 10 Enterprise license, signing in with an Office 365 account did not activate Windows.
Users were starting to get " Windows is not activated" messages.
Windows 10 upgrade paths
The Microsoft docs show that there is no upgrade path from Home to Enterprise, but you can upgrade from Pro to Enterprise.
Windows 10 upgrade paths
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-upgrade-pathsWindows 10/11 Subscription Activation
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https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/windows-10-subscription-activation
So to activate Windows using the M365 E3 license, we will need to first convert from Home to Pro and then to Enterprise.
Windows 10 Home > Windows 10 Pro > Windows 10 Enterprise
We don't want to buy additional Windows 10 Pro licenses because we already have Windows 10 Enterprise licenses included with M365 E3. So we will need to install a Windows 10 Pro license but won't need to activate it. Once the Windows 10 Pro license has been installed, signing in with our M365 E3 license will activate Windows 10 Enterprise.
To change the Windows 10 edition, you have to change the product key.
Settings - System - About
Windows 10 Home
Change the product key or upgrade your edition of Windows
Windows upgrade methods
When researching how to do this, you've probably found these methods that can be used to upgrade Windows editions and change product keys.
- change the Windows product key using changepk.exe
- use DISM /online to change the Windows edition
- install a Windows KMS client key using slmgr /ipk
I've included the error messages and some troubleshooting notes for the other methods below in the hope that it will save you some time..
Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro using changepk.exe
changepk.exe is a command line tool used to change the Windows product key
You can use changepk.exe to upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro
1 Disconnect the network / put the laptop into airplane mode
2 Open Command Prompt (run as Administrator)
changepk.exe /ProductKey VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
3 Windows 10 Pro product key
We're using the generic Windows 10 Pro key (using the Windows 10 Pro KMS key doesn't work)
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
4 Upgrade your edition of Windows - click Start
Preparing for upgrade
5 Unable to upgrade your edition
You'll get this error:
Something interrupted our troubleshooting. Make sure that you're connect to the Internet, wait for a few minutes, and try again. (0x80070005)
Click Close
6 Re-connect the network and restart
You'll get some messages about configuring Windows updates and adding features
7 Windows 10 Pro License installed
Windows 10 Pro license has been installed but not activated
Settings - Update & Security - Activation
8 Activate M365 E3 Windows 10 Enterprise license
Sign-in with your Office 365 account with a M365 E3 license and Windows 10 Enterprise will be automatically activated
Settings - Accounts - Access work or school - Connect
Join this device to Azure Active Directory
Sign in with your Office 365 credentials when prompted and join the organization
Restart and sign into Windows with your M365 account
Upgrade Windows edition using slmgr /ipk
You can use the slmgr /ipk command to install a Windows KMS client key that you can then use to activate Windows using a KMS server.
Windows 10 Enterprise KMS Client Key
NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
Open Command Prompt (run as Administrator)
slmgr /ipk NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
Error 0xC004F069 On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition
You might get this error message when trying to run the command slmgr /ipk on Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Pro KMS Client Key
W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX
Open Command Prompt (run as Administrator)
slmgr /ipk W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX
Error 0xC004F069 On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run 'slui.exe 0x2a 0xC004F069' to display the error text.
Key Management Services (KMS) client activation and product keys
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/kms-client-activation-keysIf you want to activate Windows without a KMS host available and outside of a volume-activation scenario (for example, you're trying to activate a retail version of Windows client), these keys will not work.
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Change Windows edition using DISM /online
You can change the Windows server edition using DISM /online.
DISM /online /Set-Edition:<edition name> /AcceptEula /ProductKey:12345-67890-12345-67890-12345
Error: 50 - Setting an edition is not supported with online images
If you try this command on Windows 10 Home you will get this error
DISM /online /Set-Edition:Professional /ProductKey: 12345-67890-12345-67890-12345 /AcceptEula
Error: 50
Setting an edition is not supported with online images.
DISM Windows Edition-Servicing Command-Line Options
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/dism-windows-edition-servicing-command-line-optionsTo change an online Windows Server operation system to a higher edition, you must use the /Set-Edition option with the /AcceptEula and /ProductKey arguments.
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On a running Windows Server operating system only:
You can use DISM /Mount-Image to change the Windows 10 edition for an offline image
Change the Windows Image to a Higher Edition Using DISM
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https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/change-the-windows-image-to-a-higher-edition-using-dism
To summarise:
Change the Windows product key using changepk.exe
Can be used to install a Windows 10 pro product key and change the Windows edition from Home to Pro
Use DISM /online to change the Windows edition
Windows server only, cant be used with Windows 10
Install a Windows KMS client key using slmgr /ipk
slmgr is used for managing KMS client keys and cant be used with retail versions of Windows
Check out these other guides:
Convert Windows 11 Home to Pro using a Microsoft 365 Windows upgrade license
https://techlabs.blog/categories/guides/convert-windows-11-home-pro-using-microsoft-365-windows-upgrade-license
SOLVED: We can't activate Windows on this device as we can't connect to your organization's activation server. Error code 0x8007007B
https://techlabs.blog/categories/guides/solved-we-cant-activate-windows-on-this-device-as-we-cant-connect-to-your-organizations-activation-server-error-code-0x8007007b
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