Ripped off - Got Win 10 Home for 8.1 Pro, + Stop auto updates?

[NeverSure]

OK, Updated to 10 some time back. Didn't check version. Today I see that I got 10 Home in trade for 8.1 Pro (legit 8.1) Not happy. This is my Toshiba laptop with factory installed 8.1 Pro.

In trying to stop the auto updates so it won't restart unless I tell it to, I find on the web that perhaps Home doesn't have that option. The best I could do was to go into Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Services> Windows Update and choose to stop the service which it appears it did. However I just got updates.

What happens is I get these nag screens telling me it's about to restart for updates and the best I can do is reschedule later. I don't want to reschedule. I have Cobian backup and Macrium Reflect Pro running at night doing backups and making an image, one after the other. I don't want to risk a restart during any of those. That leaves me wanting to start manual updates periodically when I'm leaving my computer for a while. I have a popup in Outlook Calendar once a week telling to run Update.

Does anyone know what to do about this version issue? I paid for 8.1 Pro and I'm not settling. I'll revert if I have to. I read that 10 Home doesn't have the option to disable updates but higher versions (any that will connect to Server and Active Directory) will.

Any ideas please?

Thanks.

[WhizBang]

How did you get your 10 Home edition? Automatic download and update from MS, or did you do the download yourself and install later?

Thing to do now would be to go to the microsoft download site (sorry, I don't seem to have the link at the moment) and select Windows 10 Pro edition for download (x64 or x86 as appropriate). Then wipe and reinstall your Win 7 Pro. Now do an upgrade of 7 Pro to 10 Pro. Windows 10 will activate automatically when online.

At this point you have two options: 1: Keep the upgrade as is, or 2: wipe again and install Win 10 Pro as a clean install.

If you opt for 2:, the clean install, BEFORE wiping the disk, go into Control Panel/System and make a note of the Windows 10 Key. You will need it for the clean install. There are also a number of utilities that will extract the key for you. Either way, make a note of the key for the clean install.

You HAVE to do the upgrade step to get the free activation. During the clean install you will be asked for a product key, so give it the key you extracted from the Win 10 upgrade. The clean install of Windows 10 will then activate automatically when online.

Ii hope that helps. Oh, one other thing, DO NOT choose Express Install. Choose the custom install option on the LEFT side of the screen in rather small letters. This will allow you to turn OFF a lot of the privacy stuff that MS has on by default.

[Chicog]

Does this help?

http://windowsinstructed.com/prevent-windows-10-from-automatically-restarting-after-updating/

It won't stop the updates - you should not stop the updates - but it will stop the autorestart if you're logged in.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Chicog

[RichCor]

<...>

If you opt for 2:, the clean install, BEFORE wiping the disk, go into Control Panel/System and make a note of the Windows 10 Key. You will need it for the clean install. There are also a number of utilities that will extract the key for you. Either way, make a note of the key for the clean install.

You HAVE to do the upgrade step to get the free activation. During the clean install you will be asked for a product key, so give it the key you extracted from the Win 10 upgrade. The clean install of Windows 10 will then activate automatically when online.

??

Microsoft is issuing upgraders a generic key, based on the detected version/edition of the previous operating system. So for someone trying to rectify a version/edition upgrade error I don't think they will be wanting to re-use the previously assigned generic key.

BTW, OP, you're not the only one:

Windows 10 upgraded to wrong version (Home instead of Pro)

answers.microsoft.com | MichaelC93012 | started on July 31, 2015

Upgrade From Windows 8.1 PRO installed Windows 10 HOME instead of Windows 10 PRO

answers.microsoft.com | EuellGoodman | asked on August 7, 2015

I think the solution will be to roll-back (downgrade), verify that the current OS is actually 8.1 Pro, then use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to complete the upgrade.

[Pib]

As RichCor asked, did your upgrade occur via the Get Win 10 icon saying one day you can upgrade now...basically all the upgrade files had been download automatically in the background. Or did you go create/download a ISO from the MS website where you can select what ISO version you want to install, even the wrong version.

I say even the wrong version because I actually did a reinstall of my Win 10 Home Eng-UK version to see if I could fix those minor issues I initially had after the automatic upgrade on 29 July...it was more like doing a repair action Windows allows you to do...it wasn't like a Clean Install. Anyway, I downloaded the Win Home Eng-US version and when I started the install I could not select the setting which would allow me to keep all my Apps, Settings, etc because it said what I was installing a version that didn't match the version currently on my machine.

I can't say for sure if the install would have continued successfully and been activated because I didn't want to take the chance of wiping out my apps/settings....so I went back and downloaded the Win 10 Home Eng-UK version and then I didn't have any grey-out install selections and could reinstall "without" losing any Apps/Settings/etc....and I did continue to reinstall successfully. But that reinstall didn't help to fix my issues which I later resolved.

[RichCor]

That was WhizBang that asked about the 'how' the OP upgraded. And it was an important question, as you've mentioned.

[IMA_FARANG]

Here is my problem.

I registered for the free windows 10 upgrade.

When it was available I downloaded and up came windows 10.

Two weeks later I decided it was not for me and went back to windows 8.1.

All that appeared to work fine.

I am now running windows 8.1 again.

That appears fine.

However, I am still receiving message that my free upgrade to windows 10 is now available and I should download my "free" windows 10 upgrade

I have turned off automatic updates and selected 'let me manually chose the updates to download from Microsoft."

That works fine

But I am still receiving the notice that my 'free windows 10 update is available , and I should download it."

I want to download any valid updates for windows 8.1 and NOT the update to windows 10

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of this annoying Microsoft malware notice?

Microsoft apparently treats any windows 10 updates as more important than a windows 8.1 update and automatically installs that windows 10 update..... no matter what I tell them to do.

There must be a way to turn off....de-register my registration for the free windows 10 upgrade once and for all.

But where is that ?

[WhizBang]

<...>

If you opt for 2:, the clean install, BEFORE wiping the disk, go into Control Panel/System and make a note of the Windows 10 Key. You will need it for the clean install. There are also a number of utilities that will extract the key for you. Either way, make a note of the key for the clean install.

You HAVE to do the upgrade step to get the free activation. During the clean install you will be asked for a product key, so give it the key you extracted from the Win 10 upgrade. The clean install of Windows 10 will then activate automatically when online.

??

Microsoft is issuing upgraders a generic key, based on the detected version/edition of the previous operating system. So for someone trying to rectify a version/edition upgrade error I don't think they will be wanting to re-use the previously assigned generic key.

BTW, OP, you're not the only one:

Windows 10 upgraded to wrong version (Home instead of Pro)

answers.microsoft.com | MichaelC93012 | started on July 31, 2015

Upgrade From Windows 8.1 PRO installed Windows 10 HOME instead of Windows 10 PRO

answers.microsoft.com | EuellGoodman | asked on August 7, 2015

I think the solution will be to roll-back (downgrade), verify that the current OS is actually 8.1 Pro, then use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to complete the upgrade.

Read what I said again.

I said to reinstall Win 7 (or 8), THEN do the win 10 upgrade and THEN note the key.

Then, and only then, can you do a clean install. Assuming, of course, that the original OS was indeed the PRO version and not the Home version.

[Pib]

Here is my problem.

I registered for the free windows 10 upgrade.

When it was available I downloaded and up came windows 10.

Two weeks later I decided it was not for me and went back to windows 8.1.

All that appeared to work fine.

I am now running windows 8.1 again.

That appears fine.

However, I am still receiving message that my free upgrade to windows 10 is now available and I should download my "free" windows 10 upgrade

I have turned off automatic updates and selected 'let me manually chose the updates to download from Microsoft."

That works fine

But I am still receiving the notice that my 'free windows 10 update is available , and I should download it."

I want to download any valid updates for windows 8.1 and NOT the update to windows 10

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of this annoying Microsoft malware notice?

Microsoft apparently treats any windows 10 updates as more important than a windows 8.1 update and automatically installs that windows 10 update..... no matter what I tell them to do.

There must be a way to turn off....de-register my registration for the free windows 10 upgrade once and for all.

But where is that ?

See Section 3 of this weblink...although it's talking Win 7, the same approach would apply to Wn 8.X. Basically, uninstall KB3035583 (the nagware KB update), then immediately do a Check for Windows Updates where it will come up to be installed again (since you just removed it) but this time "Hide" the update so it will not install again until you may decide to Unhide it in the future.

Basically you are telling Windows not to install a certain update that gives your computer problems. I've got such an Update (Wifi chip driver related) on one of my Toshiba laptops I have to hide because if it installs it messes up the computer...I have to ensure the driver from the Toshiba website for my model is installed.

[RichCor]

Read what I said again.

I said to reinstall Win 7 (or 8), THEN do the win 10 upgrade and THEN note the key.

Then, and only then, can you do a clean install. Assuming, of course, that the original OS was indeed the PRO version and not the Home version.

Yes, clearer now.

Just an aside, I didn't need to enter a key when I did two clean Windows 10 installs on my laptop.

After successfully completing the Windows 10 upgrade utilizing the Media Creation Tool method, I decided to do a clean install.

First time was a -32bit clean install, then decided to finally clean install a -64bit Windows 10 (as the laptop actually now had 4GB RAM that was partially wasted under -32bit Windows).

Didn't enter the key either time. Just kept using the 'skip' option until the install process completed. The "Pro" generic key magically appeared each time when I logged into my Microsoft user account.

But, as you said, noting the key would be a good idea.

The Generic Key issued should also confirm what edition your device is now Windows 10 associated with (if you know which key goes with which edition, I think we posted many of the generic keys being used in another topic).

[NeverSure]

Thanks for the feedback. To answer, I installed 10 as an update. I had hidden that update to stop the nags and when I was ready I unhid it and waited for the icon to reappear and ran it.

This is a factory installed Win 8 Pro on a Toshiba laptop sold in the USA by a major US bricks and mortar retailer. I had already upgraded it to 8.1. I know the OS is legit because I ordered and got an image of the whole HDD from Toshiba (on a memory stick) when I had another issue changing HDD's. That image contains 8 Pro, drivers, validation, bloatware LOL, etc.

It is 8/8.1 Pro. I bought it for that and I verified it more than once.

I do have an image of the HDD from after I updated to 8.1 and another from just before I upgraded to 10. Hooray. I actually have no way to do a "clean install" manually because I don't have that kind of disk or stick. I don't have the "setup" files.

If there is no way to stop updates from jumping into my face and threatening to reboot my computer when I am working, and if 10 Home is the reason I can't stop it, and if I'm stuck with 10 home which isn't a fair trade IMHO I'll image from the image I made just before the 10 update/upgrade (it's on a USB external) and run my backup restore from last night and call it good.

More input appreciated if anyone can think of how to fix this to Win 10 Pro as-is, or even just to turn off updates.

Thanks!

[NeverSure]

The more I think about it I need Pro. I still occasionally need to connect to Server with Active Directory and I don't believe Home will do that. I still sometimes contract with my former employer (I'm retired) to do something they don't have the time or manpower to do. My last project was to write an MSI file and push new software to more than 80 computers in the middle of the night when they weren't being used. Those workstations will all Wake On Lan - a setting in the bios - so that AD can wake them after assigning the software to them, and install that software from the server, all at once. It's called pushing the software from the Server and it's awesome - everyone in that group gets it all at once.

I'm a bit ticked off because even though I have the image from just before 10, and Cobian backups from last night, I don't have any way to recover all of the detail things such as settings changes and software I've done since.

Thanks for all of the input.

Cheers.

[DogNo1]

Well, for my Win 8.1 computer, I had to select "Add Features" and upgrade 8.1 to 8.1 pro. After that, upgrading using the flash drive media and running Setup from within Win 8.1 Pro, I WAS upgraded to Win 10 Pro. I wouldn't have been if I hadn't upgraded to Win 8.1 Pro first.

Make sure that the OS that you are upgrading actually says Windows 8.1 Pro on the system properties page. I dimly remember that I was given the choice to upgrade to Win 10 Home or Win 10 Pro. After I extract the key (just for my records) I'll do a fresh install of Win 10. Actually, if you do the upgrade, you can later remove the old version of Windows using Disk Cleanup. There don't appear to be many problems using an upgrade vs a fresh install. Good luck!

[NeverSure]

Maybe I missed choosing Pro. I had long since upgraded to 8.1. Yes I had seen the 8.1 Pro in system properties a number of times as well as this is genuine.

I only bring up the genuine due to issues in Thailand where there is so much piracy but this is a major US retailer and a gennie Toshiba/Win8 Pro machine.

I have to fix this due to Server and I want to due to controlling updates and I also feel ripped off. I know that Pro will stop updates. System Admins wouldn't tolerate having software install itself to their big networks without testing it first. They are going to push approved updates from the server as assigned software and not let the clients pull it from the net ad hoc. They aren't going to let a buggy update infect countless machines. End of.

Cheers.

[NeverSure]

I wonder if I could download the 10 Pro update and install that now and have it work and validate... ?? Hmmmm.....

[MAJIC]

In all my 20 years in computers,the finest thing I have learned :ignore the updates,they have been worst thing I have ever taken any notice of! now i ignore them,and saved myself endless,formats,Rescue/Reboot discs,having woke up to urgent attention needed to my ancient Compaq Presario CQ60,when the system was working perfectly when I shut down and went to bed. They can now stuff their updates!

Updates often lead on to a crash,a need to change to another Browser,a realisation that the system has slowed up since the last updates have been installed.

Edited August 30, 2015 by MAJIC

[RichCor]

I wonder if I could download the 10 Pro update and install that now and have it work and validate... ?? Hmmmm.....

Doubtful.

Your PC Hardware has already been associated with Windows 10 Home generic key.

I think you need to go back to an 8.1 Pro and successfully complete an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro so the previous PC Hardware association to Windows 10 Home stored on Microsoft's activation servers can be overwritten with a new PC Hardware association to Windows 10 Pro.

While you can force a Windows 10 Pro clean install now using the correct "Pro" version ISO (and even provide the correct Windows 10 Pro generic key) that installation probably will NOT be recognized by Microsoft's activation servers, so you won't get the activated confirmation and the installation will only work for 30-90 days then you'll get the nag messages about needing to provide a correct install key or purchase a new license.

There's nothing stopping you from trying it.

[Pib]

I wonder if I could download the 10 Pro update and install that now and have it work and validate... ?? Hmmmm.....

Do an image backup of your current drive and then give it a test. I think you will get an indication "before" hitting the final install menu button to start the upgrade as to if it will work as desired. That indication would be when walking through the initial install menu selections the choice of saving all apps/settings would be grey-out and/or giving an indication/message that you are not installing an upgrade version authorized based on your current version.

After I initially upgraded to Win 10 on 29 Jul via the automatic process (upgrade files previously downloaded in the background) I had some minor Win 10 issues which I talked about in another thread...issues got resolved later on. But during that process I contacted the MS Level 2 Tech Support (not the front line answer desk folks that are Level 1 techs at best) with my issues and the tech said do a reinstall which was more like a repair action vs a clean install. Well, to do this required downloading the Win 10 ISO which I did. Now my Win 10 Home was the English-UK version....I first downloaed the English-US version (because I preferred the US Eng over UK Eng). When starting the reinstall process/menus, a selection for allowing me to keep all my apps/setting was greyed-out and if I remember right it said it was because I was attempting to install a version that didn't match what was currently on my machine/what I was authorized to upgrade to...I can't remember the exact wording.

Well, I didn't want to lose all my apps/settings like doing a Clean Install; I just wanted to reinstall as a repair action where all my current apps/settings were maintained and any corrupt Windows files would just be replaced/repaired. So, I went back and downloaded the Win 10 Home Eng-UK to match the version that was currently loaded on my machine... no install selections like keeping my current apps/settings were greyed-out...it installed fine and I was allowed to keep all apps/settings. But this reinstall didn't fix my issues which I got resolved a little later on.

Basically I just could not pick any Win 10 ISO like the Pro version to install without losing my apps/settings and I fully expect it would not have been activated after the install either. It would have installed but I expect not be activated. That would just be too easy to get a Pro version from a Home version

But in your case my gut tells me you probably need to reinstall your Win 8.1 Pro image and then install Win 10 Pro "by downloading the ISO image/during it manually so to speak" versus letting the automatic upgrade process through the Get Win 10 nagware icon do it which apparently got confused doing the upgrade and left you with the non-Pro Win 10. Plus, once you reload your Win 8.1 image you can then 100% for sure determine whether you had the Pro version loaded before or not.

[thedemon]

I wonder if I could download the 10 Pro update and install that now and have it work and validate... ?? Hmmmm.....

With Win8/8.1 it is possible to upgrade from Core to Pro using a generic key but the installation won't activate with that key. It only takes about 10 minutes and all your settings will be retained.

I presume the same applies to Win10 but I don't know for sure. However if after upgrading it won't activate then I suspect that it wouldn't activate with a complete reinstall either. It should be possible to get it activated using the phone method.

The Win10 generic keys are:

Home:TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99

Pro:VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

I see that upgrade place has moved from Win8 and is now located at Settings/Update & Security/Activation/Change Product Key.

[NeverSure]

Thanks for all of the thoughts and ideas. I have been working my butt off to no avail.

This Toshiba is one of the new bios types where the product key is hard coded into the bios. I have no product key sticker on this laptop and that's the new normal. I did use a utility to suck the key out of the registry and convert it from hex, so I have it.

What I've tried:

Tried to roll back to 8.1 but too much time had passed. (They give 30 days.)

Downloaded the Win 10 Pro 64 bit ISO and burned to DVD. Booted to that and tried to upgrade. I couldn't because it required a product key and mine didn't work.

Got pissed at that, put in another HDD and booted from the USB stick that I got from Toshiba - factory reset. Checked thoroughly and yes, it is Win 8 Pro. The reset is so thorough I had to go through all of the stop screens to enter my time zone, language, etc. etc. This was major discouraging because I've done so much over time installing programs, settings, getting rid of bloatware, etc.

Tried again to upgrade to Win 10 Pro and got the same problem - key wouldn't work. It must have something to do with that bios and something is misfiring. I have no idea what. Yes, I know that if all is working one can skip entering the key but the "next" button stayed grayed out.

Gave up, put my (untouched) 500GB SSD back in and booted.

My new plan is to buy a brand new laptop for enterprise work and for future use and use this one as the wag around utility machine. It is an AMD 2.2 with 12 gig of ram and works plenty well.

NOW. If anyone finds a hack, a utility - anything - to shut off the auto updates in Home I'd love to know about it.

Cheers.

Edited August 31, 2015 by NeverSure

[RichCor]

You're not saying which key you were trying to use. You can't use your 8.1 key, the upgrade process either injects its own generic key, or you furnish the correct windows 10 generic key for the "edition" being installed.

You shouldn't have to furnish a key for an upgrade. Something sounds off in the process you're using.

I wouldn't try upgrading via an ISO. If using the media creation tool then just select to upgrade this computer and let it do its thing.

I thought you said you had made images of all of your installs, including 8.1 (the way you liked it). Why didn't you use that?

[Pib]

Downloaded the Win 10 Pro 64 bit ISO and burned to DVD. Booted to that and tried to upgrade. I couldn't because it required a product key and mine didn't work.

What you may want to do is to just buy a Win 10 Pro license of Ebay...a couple of sellers have some deeply discounted prices...downaround Bt1,100 (approx $32) compared to the much higher retail price. See this Ebay search link the two Pro items listed at the top from sellers genuine_key and winsoft2015. And the first listing from genuine_key was going for around Bt800/$20/19.50Euro up until very recently...guess his sales was so good he rasied the price to be closer to the other seller. The sellers are in Spain but the license does include the English language (Ingles) as one of the language selections....I expect it's UK English.

I know, I know, are their licenses really genuine? Well, they are sure selling a lot and durn near 100% positive feedback...and the winsoft2015 ad is actually a new one because he was selling it under a different ad earlier and had sold around 525 of the Pro licenses with 100% feedback under than other ad...but I see in the new ad he's got one one negative and two neutral feedbacks and both of those feedbacks look like the buyer was mentally challenged/didn't know how to install Windows....really didn't appear to be a license problem.

Additionally, I sent both of the sellers two questions in two different emails several days ago asking can the license be used just to do a upgrade to Pro by just entering a new license number in your "currently installed Win 10 Home version"...both responded quickly....they couldn't say for sure it would work...but said the license would work for sure with a clean install using the ISO downloaded from the MS Windows site. Then I went back to both asking will the license install in any "region" of the world like Thailand where I was located or just in EU area only...both responded said it would work/activate in any part of the world....one seller even listed a bunch of buyers/countries all over the Earth where his license had installed/activated no problem...but Thailand was not on his list simply because no one from Thailand had bought from him yet.

Anyway I was impressed with their fast response each time (well under 24 hours), they responded in English, and all the positive feedback they were getting for the hundreds of Pro license they had sold over last X days/weeks.

I was checking this out because I just may buy another low end laptop (Bt10K-Bt15K ballpark) very soon which may or may not come with Windows factory installed and I would just buy the Windows license from one of the two sellers which is used with the ISO you download from the Windows site....when they email you the license they also include the link to the Windows site where you download the ISO "like the ISO you have already downloaded." You don't download the ISO from some doggy site...you download from the Microsoft Windows sites just like you did...I have done when reinstalling my Win 10 Home, etc.

Just buying a Pro license at around Bt1,100 from one of the two Ebay sellers would be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new laptop and possibly having the same issue you are having right now in trying to get that new computer to upgrade to Win 10 Pro. Just a suggestion.

[lostinisaan]

I wonder if I could download the 10 Pro update and install that now and have it work and validate... ?? Hmmmm.....

I think that would be your best option.. If that doesn't work, you can always roll back. Best of luck.

[NeverSure]

You're not saying which key you were trying to use. You can't use your 8.1 key, the upgrade process either injects its own generic key, or you furnish the correct windows 10 generic key for the "edition" being installed.

You shouldn't have to furnish a key for an upgrade. Something sounds off in the process you're using.

I wouldn't try upgrading via an ISO. If using the media creation tool then just select to upgrade this computer and let it do its thing.

I thought you said you had made images of all of your installs, including 8.1 (the way you liked it). Why didn't you use that?

I don't know how it works. This thing writes the product key to the registry during install and gets it from the bios. This is the latest in validation - tie the bios to the product key. Manufacturers are buying these bios with that already burned in. HERE'S a bunch of articles on that. I followed that to extract my product key. Win 10 wasn't seeing the upgrade as valid and I have no idea why.

I do have an image of 8.1 but it's more than a month old and I was getting tired.I didn't want to catch that up. I pulled my Samsung SSD before I started after imaging to a new HDD and I just popped the SSD back in to get back to where I was. I might have a go with that 8.1 image but I'm sorta getting tired of it. I am going to buy a new laptop anyway.

Cheers.

[dageurreotype]

Here is my problem.

I registered for the free windows 10 upgrade.

When it was available I downloaded and up came windows 10.

Two weeks later I decided it was not for me and went back to windows 8.1.

All that appeared to work fine.

I am now running windows 8.1 again.

That appears fine.

However, I am still receiving message that my free upgrade to windows 10 is now available and I should download my "free" windows 10 upgrade

I have turned off automatic updates and selected 'let me manually chose the updates to download from Microsoft."

That works fine

But I am still receiving the notice that my 'free windows 10 update is available , and I should download it."

I want to download any valid updates for windows 8.1 and NOT the update to windows 10

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of this annoying Microsoft malware notice?

Microsoft apparently treats any windows 10 updates as more important than a windows 8.1 update and automatically installs that windows 10 update..... no matter what I tell them to do.

There must be a way to turn off....de-register my registration for the free windows 10 upgrade once and for all.

But where is that ?

I'm still getting that bloody 'Your free Windows 10 is ready for download' each and every day even though I never registered for it and never will. most 'updates' IMHO never actually are. You'll either have to simply give in or keep clicking the little cross at the top right hand corner. Like wot I do

[thedemon]

You're not saying which key you were trying to use. You can't use your 8.1 key, the upgrade process either injects its own generic key, or you furnish the correct windows 10 generic key for the "edition" being installed.

You shouldn't have to furnish a key for an upgrade. Something sounds off in the process you're using.

I wouldn't try upgrading via an ISO. If using the media creation tool then just select to upgrade this computer and let it do its thing.

I thought you said you had made images of all of your installs, including 8.1 (the way you liked it). Why didn't you use that?

I don't know how it works. This thing writes the product key to the registry during install and gets it from the bios. This is the latest in validation - tie the bios to the product key. Manufacturers are buying these bios with that already burned in. HERE'S a bunch of articles on that. I followed that to extract my product key. Win 10 wasn't seeing the upgrade as valid and I have no idea why.

Yes but this system of the product key being contained in the BIOS only applies to installing Win8/8.1 NOT to an upgrade to Win10

As RichCor has said, you can't use your Win8.1 key to either install or activate Win10. It simply won't be recognised.

You need to either select "skip" or (if that's not an option) use the Win10 Pro generic key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

[lostinisaan]

You're not saying which key you were trying to use. You can't use your 8.1 key, the upgrade process either injects its own generic key, or you furnish the correct windows 10 generic key for the "edition" being installed.

You shouldn't have to furnish a key for an upgrade. Something sounds off in the process you're using.

I wouldn't try upgrading via an ISO. If using the media creation tool then just select to upgrade this computer and let it do its thing.

I thought you said you had made images of all of your installs, including 8.1 (the way you liked it). Why didn't you use that?

I don't know how it works. This thing writes the product key to the registry during install and gets it from the bios. This is the latest in validation - tie the bios to the product key. Manufacturers are buying these bios with that already burned in. HERE'S a bunch of articles on that. I followed that to extract my product key. Win 10 wasn't seeing the upgrade as valid and I have no idea why.

Yes but this system of the product key being contained in the BIOS only applies to installing Win8/8.1 NOT to an upgrade to Win10

As RichCor has said, you can't use your Win8.1 key to either install or activate Win10. It simply won't be recognised.

You need to either select "skip" or (if that's not an option) use the Win10 Pro generic key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

A friend of a friend's friend installed pirated software on all machines and the upgrades from Windows 7 Ultimate to 10 Pro worked well.

Excluding an older DEL notebook. Maybe go for a swim soon?

Edited September 1, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Pib]

You're not saying which key you were trying to use. You can't use your 8.1 key, the upgrade process either injects its own generic key, or you furnish the correct windows 10 generic key for the "edition" being installed.

You shouldn't have to furnish a key for an upgrade. Something sounds off in the process you're using.

I wouldn't try upgrading via an ISO. If using the media creation tool then just select to upgrade this computer and let it do its thing.

I thought you said you had made images of all of your installs, including 8.1 (the way you liked it). Why didn't you use that?

I don't know how it works. This thing writes the product key to the registry during install and gets it from the bios. This is the latest in validation - tie the bios to the product key. Manufacturers are buying these bios with that already burned in. HERE'S a bunch of articles on that. I followed that to extract my product key. Win 10 wasn't seeing the upgrade as valid and I have no idea why.

Yes but this system of the product key being contained in the BIOS only applies to installing Win8/8.1 NOT to an upgrade to Win10

As RichCor has said, you can't use your Win8.1 key to either install or activate Win10. It simply won't be recognised.

You need to either select "skip" or (if that's not an option) use the Win10 Pro generic key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Just as FYI and being the inquisitive type person I thought I would see if changing the product key in my Win 10 Home SL (Eng) to above generic Pro key might result in my Win 10 Home being upgraded to Pro "and also being activated." Fully knowing my chances are close to zero since the fingerprint of my computer is now activated/registered from the Win 8.1 to Win 10 upgrade I did on 29 July and knowing these generic keys are really just place holders so to speak when your system is properly upgraded/digital fingerprint taken. But I thought to myself, maybe there will be a glitch in the MS activation servers and "by mistake" it will activate...save the cost of buying a Pro key. So, I just had to give it a try.

First I did an image backup of my current Win 10 Home install. OK, now I have an image backup if this Pro upgrade attempt don't pan out. I then go into into the Change Product/License Key Change menu (remember my Win 10 Home is activated) and enter above Pro generic key. It's accepted and the computer immediately starts to upgrade by first downloading some files, preparing those files, and then rebooting a couple of times....took around 5 to 7 minutes to do all of this. When it was done I was indeed upgraded to Win 10 Pro....unfortunately it was not activated and it had some remarks in the activation area as to why not...like the license key didn't match/wasn't correct. I stopped at that point and reloaded my Win 10 Home image...and now posting this little FYI story.

But I now know if I ever decide to upgrade to Pro with a valid key it will take about 5 to 7 minutes...very easy and quick....assuming it not a key requiring a clean install. And I have satisfied my curiosity wondering "what if a simple entry of a generic Win 10 Pro key might upgrade my Win 10 Home...maybe the MS activation servers will make a mistake and activate me....my lucky day...etc...etc...etc."

Curiosity satisfied (at least for a little while) and I learned something....awesome...time to go jog.

[NeverSure]

Yes but this system of the product key being contained in the BIOS only applies to installing Win8/8.1 NOT to an upgrade to Win10

As RichCor has said, you can't use your Win8.1 key to either install or activate Win10. It simply won't be recognised.

You need to either select "skip" or (if that's not an option) use the Win10 Pro generic key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Thank you for your effort. The "skip" button was grayed out and the 10 product keys didn't work. They were rejected as invalid. For now I either use the Home which I got through update, or I revert to 8.1 Pro. I've proven that I can revert to 8.1 Pro by either using an image I have from just more than a month ago, or by using the image I got from Toshiba - brand new computer image.

Right now I'm using the 10 Home upgrade install I had just before I tried any of this "upgrade to Pro" stuff and I don't know another answer. I will buy a brand new laptop which I want anyway, and if it won't upgrade to 10 Pro I'll return it. I'm in the US and I can get money back without a problem. I would of course reset the new laptop to factory before returning it if I failed, just because...

Thanks again.

[NeverSure]

PS If anyone sees a way to stop auto updates in 10 Home I'd love to know about it. It's annoying to have it start installing them without permission right when I'm trying to do something, during a shutdown or startup. It runs as a service and I stopped that service, it continues to show as stopped even after multiple reboots, but it still installs updates!

Edited September 1, 2015 by NeverSure