Is windows 11 home to pro possible for free?

[Anirudha2000]

Is windows 11 home to pro possible for free, as far i know i need to buy the pro licence.

[Bill_To]

Greetings @Anirudha2000 

Welcome to the HP Forum.

Yes, you would have to purchase the W11 Pro upgrade from Microsoft if you want an activated copy of W11 Pro running on your PC.

Regards

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@Anirudha2000,

You can purchase legit Windows 11 license keys at greatly discounted prices via e-companies such as ElectronicFirst.

For example, using the PC I happen to use right now running on an ElectronicFirst purchased W11 Pro license key:

My Windows License Status:

✔️ Permanently Activated
✔️ License Type: RETAIL
✔️ Channel: Windows(R) Operating System, RETAIL channel
✔️ Partial Key: QRR9G (masked)
✔️ Status: Licensed

---

What This Means:

• RETAIL Channel: The ElectronicFirst W11Pro license key is a full, transferable license. It is not tied to my motherboard or specific hardware.

• Legitimate Activation: My system is permanently activated, which confirms that Microsoft’s activation servers accepted the key.

• Safe for Reuse: As a matter of fact, I could re-use this key on another machine (just one at a time), making it suitable for hardware upgrades or migrating to a new PC.

---

Final Verdict:

This key is fully legitimate and recognized as a genuine Microsoft RETAIL license.

So, my friends, nothing to worry about. This example supports my claim that the keys from Electronic First have worked well for me and are legit.

Btw, if I ever wanted to move the license to another machine, I could do it with:

slmgr /upk ← (uninstall key from current machine)

slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX ← (install key on new machine)

slmgr /ato ← (activate it)

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Bill_To]

Greetings @NonSequitur777 

Purchased a W11 Pro key at Electronic First.

The Bank initially flagged the purchase. I had to approve the purchase to close the deal.

I was bummed about creating another account but that's the way it goes. 🙄

Uninstalled the existing W11 Pro product key from a test PC.

Installed the Electronic First W11 Pro product key.

Checked the new product key using Show Key Plus.

All is well, Bravo!

Regards

[NonSequitur777]

@Bill_To,

Yes, my bad: I forgot to mention that if you make your purchase using your PayPal account, no such issues happen.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Bill_To]

Greetings @NonSequitur777 

No problemo.

I forgot to mention the new W11 Pro product key is full retail channel.

@Anirudha2000 should be able to to an easy in-place upgrade to W11 Pro using a retail product key.

Regards

[NonSequitur777]

@Bill_To,

And to retrieve your Windows license key, I prefer to use this Windows PowerShell command as administrator:

Just copy/paste/enter this string as-is in PowerShell as Administrator:

function Get-WindowsKey {
$key = (Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform' -Name BackupProductKeyDefault).BackupProductKeyDefault
if ($key) { "Installed Product Key: $key" } else { "No key found in registry." }
}
Get-WindowsKey

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Bill_To]

Greetings @NonSequitur777 

Another good tip.

I've been aware of other dodgy sites selling: W10 and W11 OEM product keys.

In some cases, the product keys offered for sale at the sites were compromised Windows Enterprise keys or W8 keys when the free upgrade from W8 to W10 was active.

This is why I did not mention those dodgy sites in my first response.

So I also had some doubts about Electronic First.

Very good, we have accomplished something.

A retail Windows Pro product key for $5.99 is insane!

Regards

[NonSequitur777]

@Bill_To,

Yes, a genuine Windows Pro key for $5.99 -because clearly, somewhere in Redmond, someone forgot to carry a one on the pricing spreadsheet. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s official store is still trying to convince us that $199.99 is a perfectly reasonable number for an OS upgrade that’s basically forced on most users anyway.

So, hat-tip to Electronic First -not only for offering a price that doesn’t require a small business loan, but also for not turning my PC into a cryptocurrency mining rig in Kazakhstan. That’s a rare combo in this day and age.

That reminds me: I once bought a "legit" key from one of the sites you mentioned, and my PC suddenly spoke fluent Russian and tried to join a botnet. True story!

Glad we’re steering folks toward the light -and not the blinking red one that says: “Your copy of Windows is not genuine.”

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777