Can I apply an upgrade code from a website that isn't Microsoft to the upgrade part of my Windows installation?
Can I apply an upgrade code from a website that isn't Microsoft to the upgrade part of my Windows installation?
I want to switch my Windows 11 Home (OEM) version to Professional. The prices on the official site seem too expensive, so I need a license from another company. Can I follow the exact same steps as if I bought it directly from Microsoft? Specifically, do I go to: System | Activation | Upgrade Windows Edition | Change Code Product Key? Thanks!
well, actually, I've been stuck trying to install Oracle DB Express for a few days. After checking the docs carefully, it turns out Windows Home Edition isn't supported by the Express installer. Honestly, I'm pretty sure just upgrading to Professional won't fix this issue. But I don't have any other choices. I can't check which vendors are trustworthy, but reading online, I found several sites that seem okay. So your advice is to not trust them?
You asked about another choice. You can find deals on Groupon for this software, but be careful because they use shady methods and it's not safe to buy without checking yourself. You should look at the official links instead of those Groupon sites since they might lead you to wrong places or even steal your data.
If you grab a really cheap version of Windows from a questionable website, it is likely been resold using a bulk license pack or an education package instead of your own copy. These big companies usually sell one Activation Key that covers hundreds or thousands of "seats" for computers in a school or office building. If you buy such a key, you are not getting a real legal license. An Activation Key just lets Windows start running during installation. It doesn't automatically make it a proper legal license to use Windows unless you work at a big company or go to school there. The key from a shady dealer will probably let you upgrade Windows Home to Professional and it is unlikely Microsoft will stop your copy of Windows if they see thousands of people using the same Activation Key but on different computers all over the world. If your key gets stopped, you can replace it with another bad key. I upgraded my Windows 10 Home version to Pro using a key I bought from a magazine I subscribe to (PCPro). The price was right in between the cheap $12 keys and the real upgrade to Professional on Amazon. I am glad I have a unique, valid, genuine key + license and not something from a shady company who might be trying to launder money. Even if they aren't laundering money, they are still breaking Microsoft's rules for selling and using computers. Ignore all the nonsense on those shady sites that claim they sell "real" copies of Windows. In most cases, what you buy is an Activation Key from a Volume/Education license pack, which may well have come from somewhere in the Philippines or other parts of the world. If you don't live in the country where the key was meant to be sold and you are not an employee or student, you probably do not have a real legal license according to Microsoft. Your purchase would have been okay if you followed all the rules before the big company broke up the pack and started selling it again. It is up to your own choices whether you buy from reputable places or shady ones. Real or fake. https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-your-wi...even-care/
The grey market is third-party sellers who buy things that are already sold through the official way. I used to get Hitachi RAM chips and WSI EPROMs which were just random numbers, so I went straight to wholesalers to save money. They could sell from non-franchised vendors but not enough in the right quantities or without a clear history. Traceability was really important for me. I never allowed myself to use those vendors even for just a few chips because if something broke, I wouldn't know where it came from anymore. I called Hitachi and WSI three times a month asking which official dealer had what stock on order or how long things were sitting there. Buying the grey market gives you no warranty and no help if anything goes wrong.
Go ahead and create a new Virtual Machine that comes with 11 Pro licenses, even if you don't activate them yet. Then try running the database inside of it to check how things work.