Prevent Windows 10 installer from using the preinstalled serial key without disabling UEFI

My laptop (a Lenovo Flex 2 15) came preinstalled with Windows 8 Standard (with the serial key preinstalled into the BIOS), and I've since installed an SSD (a Samsung Evo 840 120GB) & upgraded to Windows 10.

When the laptop still had its hard drive, I upgraded it to Professional so I could use the resources provided by the domain on my homeserver; because of this, I can only use the Professional editions of Windows (Home can't join domains).

I bought Windows 10 Professional & completed a fresh-install (complete reinstallation) of Windows, only that it installed Windows 10 Home instead of Professional. I'm guessing this is due to the Windows 8 Standard Edition serial key preinstalled in the BIOS.

I then downloaded an All-In-One ISO image of Windows 10 from MSDN (of which I have limited access to), transferred the installer onto a USB stick, & reinstalled (a clean install again). However it's still installing Windows 10 Home.

If I try to install using the AIO image from within Windows, the installer does not present me with a list of options for the edition I want to install; instead, it assumes that I want to install Home Edition:

I am able to get Windows 10 Professional to install if I disable UEFI & use Legacy instead, but I feel that this is stepping around the issue rather than resolving it.

Is it possible to have the Windows 10 installer ignore any serial keys preinstalled in the BIOS/UEFI? If so, how? If not, is using Legacy mode really the only way around this?

AStopher

Posted 2016-01-02T21:06:32.953

Reputation: 2 123

1That's crazy, since you paid for Pro you would think setup would ask what version you want to install. – Moab – 2016-01-02T21:14:09.840

@Moab Dreamspark Premium (which uses the same ISOs as MSDN uses), but the first attempt at installing Windows 10 Professional was with a retail DVD. I am able to upgrade the edition once installed, but I experience the infamous 'start button stuck' bug where the start button doesn't work (I've tried everything for that, but the only concrete way to fix is reinstall, which obviously doesn't work here). – AStopher – 2016-01-02T21:15:48.323

Why did you buy Windows 10 if you already had Windows 8.1 Professional? Are you attempting to install Version 1511(we build) or RTM(10240) – Ramhound – 2016-01-02T21:21:56.287

@Ramhound I upgraded using Anytime Upgrade & forgot to back-up the key (it didn't cost much, so I'm not much out of pocket here). – AStopher – 2016-01-02T21:24:40.080

@cybermonkey - I am pretty sure they email you the key. The solution of course is use the Windows 10 Professional key to upgrade the Windows 10 Home installation. to Professional. – Ramhound – 2016-01-02T21:25:15.843

@Ramhound I only got the order receipt, which didn't include the serial key. – AStopher – 2016-01-02T21:25:59.203

1Hard to believe you have not received more up votes. – Moab – 2016-01-03T00:42:59.527

I was about to pop the same question. I have up-voted your question instead. As of this typing, Microsoft has issues with its Home to Pro upgrade installer. So it's always beneficial to be able to be able to install the desired Windows edition cleanly from WinPE environment. See my related question here: http://superuser.com/q/1118592/137165

– Samir – 2016-09-03T12:17:53.200

Answers

First of all, make sure you have a regular (single-architecture) Windows ISO. It seems you already have that covered.

Then, try this method:

Create a Setup USB drive
Create a file named PID.txt in the Sources directory, with the following contents:
```
[PID]
Value=YOURK-EYGOE-SHERE-XXXXX-XXXXX
```
Boot from this USB drive

Daniel B

Posted 2016-01-02T21:06:32.953

Reputation: 40 502

3If you don't want to add your own license key for some reason, you can use the generic keys to install Home or Pro edition of Windows 10. Use TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99 for Home and VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T for Pro. This way you get to install the edition you want while safeguarding your license key, for instance if you ever loose your USB drive. Just remember to change your license key to your own key once the installation is done. Remember, the generic keys cannot be used to activate Windows. – Samir – 2016-09-04T16:02:35.477

I have just completed a successful installation of Windows 10 Pro using Value=VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T so I can confirm that this method is working. – Samir – 2016-09-04T16:10:05.327

First of all if you download Windows 10 using media creation tool it contains 3 editions: Pro, Home and Education. Windows automatically chooses one according to your serial key in BIOS or already installed Windows OS. You can force it to let you choose what you want to install by creating one file on your installation disc/USB drive.

Create ei.cfg file in sources directory on installation disc/USB drive, open it in any text editor (for example notepad) and paste this:

[Channel]
Retail

Result:

IMHO this solution is better because you are not limited to one serial key and you can have both 32 and 64 bit systems. Media creation tool allows you to download both as one installer. So you end up with 6 editions to select. :)

Tithen-Firion

Posted 2016-01-02T21:06:32.953

Reputation: 297

I thought the good old ei.cfg trick was outdated. I will have to test this. If it works then I agree with you that this would provide a better solution since it would give you more options. I am all for options! :-) – Samir – 2016-09-03T18:08:56.660

Well screenshot you see in my answer comes from ISO downloaded two days ago so yeach, ei.cfg trick still works. ;) Funny thing: to officially download Education version you need to enter serial key in media creation tool (this one). IDK how long Microsoft will let us download those three editions together with normal MCT. Hope as long as they update Windows 10. ;D

– Tithen-Firion – 2016-09-03T18:21:15.707

What kind of PC is this? Is it BIOS or UEFI system? – Samir – 2016-09-03T19:49:44.087

I just tried this and the installation started immediately after selecting target disk and clicking on Next. (It jumped immediately to step 2 on your screenshot.) So it doesn't appear to be working, at least not for me. But that may be because I used a different ISO file. I did not follow the link to download Windows 10 using the media creation tool. I just downloaded the straight MSDN/DreamSpark ISO file, named Win10_1607_English_x64.iso. – Samir – 2016-09-03T20:00:33.300

You mean you didn't want to do a real install, nor a VM install, so you just ran sources/setup.exe straight from Windows in normal user mode of your current install? I made a real install, using a bootable USB I created using the Rufus tool and the ISO file I named above. – Samir – 2016-09-03T20:39:16.843

Yeah, that's what I did just to take screenshot. It worked too when I made real install. Had to check BIOS now and I have boot set to legacy mode, not EFI. So it works for BIOS boot and not (U)EFI? Gotta test that. – Tithen-Firion – 2016-09-03T20:41:14.600

Yes, please do check that if and when you have time. That would be much appreciated. I don't have the luxury of legacy mode on my PC. The old BIOS systems worked much smoother for the techies. :-) – Samir – 2016-09-03T20:47:30.983

@sammyg Hmm, did you check for PID.txt file in sources? – Tithen-Firion – 2016-09-03T20:48:07.430

FYI, I checked the WIM file on my USB drive with the DISM command and it sure contains Windows 10 Home as well as Pro edition. – Samir – 2016-09-03T20:48:50.737

I did not have the PID.txt file on my USB drive. So there could not have been any conflict with that. That was going to be my next step. But I have done this all over again a second time and I can confirm that it works! I used my own ISO file from MSDN with Home and Pro edition. I don't know why it didn't work the first time. So yeah, the good old ei.cfg trick still works. :-) – Samir – 2016-09-04T15:48:26.923

Using the Media Creation Tool to download Windows 10 and create a new ISO file is not essential for this to work. It works just as well with MSDN or DreamSpark ISO files. – Samir – 2016-09-04T16:00:15.763

Your solution is elegant ;) – Navier_Stokes – 2019-05-07T03:56:33.873

I can confirm that this method works for version 1903. I have just modified a GPT version of the 1903 Windows 10 installer USB and the Dell laptop is now asking which edition to install rather than going straight past that step like it did before the modification. Thanks for the solution! – Reece – 2019-09-18T22:51:36.423

-2

I have tried many suggestions to this including the ones listed in this questions an here but none of these answers was working for me with Windows 10 Anniversary Edition. I ended up doing the following to have a complete clean Windows 10 Pro installation with all components with a system that has an embedded UEFI Windows Home key:

Download the Windows Media Creation Tool. You could also create this from an ISO.
Use the tool to create a USB drive for the Windows 10 installation. Do not worry that you cannot select the Pro version in the Edition pull down.
Use the USB to wipe the drives and do a clean install of Windows 10
After the restart you may have a Windows 10 Home edition instead of Windows 10 Pro. If so, go into Settings --> System --> About --> Change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows
Enter in your Windows 10 Pro key
The system will update and after a restart Settings --> System --> About you will see Windows 10 Professional. If you are using a Microsoft Account you can also login via the web and see the device now displays Windows 10 Professional. However, if you reformat the machine again it will once more set itself up as Windows 10 Home instead of Windows 10 Pro (assuming it is finding this information from the embedded UEFI key).

At this point it appears you are all set. You might start working, try install Docker, etc. and think everything is fine. However, you will find that some important Windows 10 Pro components are missing. An easy way to see if this did not upgrade correctly is to search for "Computer Management" and then you should see System Tools --> Local Users and Groups. If you do not see that item but your System --> About reports Windows 10 Professional something is not correct. Trying to restore these missing components with DSIM or other options did not work for me.
7. To fix this you need to Reset your PC. I know this is not what you want to do after just setting everything up but if you have tried using the PID.txt option suggested in another answer here by @daniel-b and it does not work for some reason this solution will solve this issue and it take less than an hour on a modern PC. You are working with a new empty installation now anyway so just go to Settings --> Update and Security --> Recovery --> and select Reset this PC. You do not need to select the option that says it will take hours and clean the drives.

After this is done it will be a new installation of Windows 10 again and you will need to setup your Wi-Fi, login with your Microsoft Account, setup a pin if desired, etc.

This time around, when you go to Settings --> System --> About you will see Windows 10 Pro from the start. You can also go to Computer Management --> System Tools and you will now be able to access your Local Users and Groups and you will have access to other features of Windows 10 Pro.

Snap Shot

Posted 2016-01-02T21:06:32.953

Reputation: 1 308