Query regarding Windows licensing?

[Tomsta]

I earlier in the year had to buy a PC from an SI due to my old one going bang and i need a replacement very quickly (I didn't have time to buy oall the components and build it myself, time was the main factor here not lack of skill), said replacement came with Windows 11 home

 

However my previous machine had Windows 10 Pro on it (I built that one myself). However when i tried to use the code for Windows 10 Pro to update to Windows 11 Pro it doesn't work, I did upgrade to W11 pro on my old machine before it broke, has that code now use used forever?

[manikyath]

i dont think you can upgrade win11 home to pro with a win10 pro key... i havent verified if the win11 installer will acccept win10 keys.

 

but, do you need pro? might not be worth the hassle of setting it up if you dont need the extra features anyways.

[Tomsta]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i dont think you can upgrade win11 home to pro with a win10 pro key... i havent verified if the win11 installer will acccept win10 keys.

 

but, do you need pro? might not be worth the hassle of setting it up if you dont need the extra features anyways.

The only thing i was gonna use it for was Hyper-V for a home lab learning setup. But i believe there are non Windows free alt's to Hyper-V

I was wanting to have a Linux VM to try and see if i could do GPU pass through (Call it a hobby)

[Kilrah]

Depends what the upgrade you bought back then was. If OEM then it's only for the one machine, if retail it's transferrable.

[Tomsta]

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

Depends what the upgrade you bought back then was. If OEM then it's only for the one machine, if retail it's transferrable.

I believe it was an OEM key

[leclod]

I believe you should have linked the W licence to your Microsoft account (could be wrong)

Also, it's not a big deal, you probably can find OEM keys for 20bucks

[SpookyCitrus]

1 hour ago, Tomsta said:

I believe it was an OEM key

An OEM license will be single use, activated to your motherboard in your old computer. You will need to purchase a new Windows 11 Professional key to upgrade from home. There is also an upgrade key available you can find it on Microsoft's Website or through google, it is solely an upgrade key and will not activate your Windows. You will still need to purchase a Pro key. I'd suggest purchasing the license/upgrade directly through the Microsoft store if you want it to be transferrable via your MS account in case you get a new computer or upgrade hardware in the future.

[OhioYJ]

2 hours ago, manikyath said:

i havent verified if the win11 installer will acccept win10 keys

I don't know about Pro, but I use my Win10 "Home" (non Pro) for Win 11 "Home" all the time. No issues (the installer recognizes them as valid keys)