Trouble with Windows 10 Pro Clean Install
Trouble with Windows 10 Pro Clean Install
This gaming ultrabook comes with an OEM Windows 8 Home setup. I own a Windows 7 Ultimate license and installed it on the machine, then ran the Windows 10 upgrade tool. Everything functioned properly and the system was activated. However, when attempting a clean installation of Windows 10 (the laptop’s SSD is only 128GB), it detects the OEM Windows 8 key in the BIOS and fails to activate. It can’t locate the Windows 10 Pro digital key. I’m hoping to perform a clean install of Windows 10, but I’m unsure how to bypass the embedded Windows 8 Home key. I’ve tried reinstalling and upgrading from Windows 7 Ultimate twice already. Is there a method to export the Windows 10 Pro key now so I can enter it during the clean install? Or is there a way to remove the existing Windows 10 Pro installation (the upgraded version) so that only the new files remain? (I still like a clean install if possible). I recently set up Windows 7 Ultimate on an older laptop with a different key and upgraded to Windows 10/clean install, which worked well. The previous machine had Windows 7 Home originally.
Threshold 2 might resolve the issue. After installing 10 Pro, the installer failed to detect the 10 Pro upgrade key, so updating it didn’t seem necessary until you figured out why it couldn’t locate the Windows 10 Pro digital key provided by the upgrade tool.
They modified it to enable activation with keys 7, 8 and 8.1. Update Windows and let it install; activation should follow within days at most (often immediate). You can also set up or link an MS account for automatic activation.
Updated to Threshold 2 but it didn’t activate the key. The system stated it hadn’t been upgraded to Windows 10 Pro before. It’s been running for roughly three times now. I reinstalled Windows 7 and upgraded to Windows 10 Pro, skipping a clean install—just kept it as an upgrade. Everything worked fine previously. After reaching Threshold 2 about ten minutes later, the key deactivated and the laptop reported missing digital entitlements. It seemed normal then, but now it’s acting differently. I’m considering trying the Microsoft account option next.