Need to reinstall Pro version I bought from Home versions I installed

[dhaymil]

The computer has slowed to a crawl and I need to reinstall Windows 64 PRO. Unfortunately, I purchased the system with Win 8.1 64 PRO and didn't do the free upgrade to 10 when MS offered it. So then I purchased my own copy of Win 10 64 Home and installed it. How can I get back to Win PRO, which is what I purchased? The Cloud Recovery doesn't support the Home version, only Pro7 and Pro 10 (acc. the web page). Any suggestions? Computer is very very sick and needs a complete reinstall.  Thanks for the help,

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Reinstall W8.1 Pro and see if you can still get the free upgrade to W10 Pro.

If you need the W8.1 Pro x64 installation ISO file, you can download it from the link below.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO

See this link.  I was able to upgrade a Dell PC from W8.1 Pro to W10 Pro this past July.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

Then click on the blue Update Now button at the link below...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

I have zipped up and attached the Microsoft utility below, that you will need to transfer the W8.1 Pro ISO file to a DVD or USB flash drive so that it is bootable.

If for some reason you can't get the free upgrade to W10 Pro using the above approach, you may have to pay to upgrade from W10 Home to W10 Pro.

Install W10 Home, and use one of the methods below to upgrade to W10 Pro...

If you don't have W10 installation media, use the W10 media creation tool link I posted above to create a bootable W10 installer.

1. If you do not have a W10 Pro product key...

To upgrade, select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Activation .
Open Activation settings
If you have a digital license for Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 10 Home is currently activated on your device, you'll see one of two messages when you select Go to Microsoft Store:
If you see Install, select the button to install Windows 10 Pro.
If you see Buy, you may need to purchase a Windows 10 Pro license. Or, try to sign in to Microsoft Store with the Microsoft account that was used to purchase the Pro license. Then, follow the instructions to install Windows 10.
If you have a digital license for Windows 10 Pro, but Windows 10 Home isn't activated on your device, select Troubleshoot and then follow the instructions to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.

2. If you have a W10 Pro product key...

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Activation .
Select Change product key, and then enter the 25-character Windows 10 Pro product key.
Select Next to start the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.

[dhaymil]

Paul - this is extremely helpful. Thanks very much. I have deleted a few 100 thousand files from the machine and it seems to be working better, so I will save this info for a bit and see how things progress. Again, thanks for such a detailed reply.. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.