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

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-paths

Windows 10/11 Subscription Activation
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/windows-10-subscription-activation

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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 

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-keys

If 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-options

To change an online Windows Server operation system to a higher edition, you must use the /Set-Edition option with the /AcceptEula and /ProductKey arguments.
On a running Windows Server operating system only:

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Change the Windows Image to a Higher Edition Using DISM
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/change-the-windows-image-to-a-higher-edition-using-dism

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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