Does my current Win7Pro have to be installed on my machine at time of upgrade to be given Win 10 Pro

[Scotty1940]

I need some questions answered before I will know how to go on installing Win 10.

1. Do I need the OS’s I will be using to upgrade from installed on my machines at the time of running the upgrade in order to get the Professional versions I’m entitled to rather than the Home version that was installed with non-prof OS’s running at the time.

2. Or, will MS Support be able to give me Keys to convert Home to Pro.

3. Do the Win 10 upgrade files already have all the file upgrades for Pro as well as Home – or will we need to spend lots of time downloading and installing more updates to 10 Pro once we figure out how to get MS servers to recognize and validate?

4. I assumed that the Win 10 upgrade process would have a place to specify and allow us to justify the choice of either Professional or Home Editions, not just look at what’s on the hard drive now and bake it into a link between the motherboard and MS’s servers.

5. How does one contact a live person at MS Support’s validation division to get answers to questions like this?

 

[davehc]

The upgrade will only accept OS to OS, ie.. Home to Home or Pro to Pro.
Your Pro has to be recognised as legit, and must be installed. There is no way that the upgrade can convert your Home to Pro.
Maybe this covers your first four questions?
The fifth. You will get answers to most queries from members on sites such as this.

 

[wrathofwinds2]

Live person at Microsoft? Hahahahahaahahahaha.
That was great.
Here's the number for activating windows but it's not a live person unless maybe you could just start mashing the zero key or screaming "Customer Service!"...
The Activate Windows number: 1-888-725-1047
Good luck trooper, give em hell.

 

[davehc]

The number given, is for activation only. These are the help numbers for Microsoft Customer Service and Support They are available from Monday to Friday, 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM Pacific Time and Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pacific Time:

• In the USA, (800) MICROSOFT (642-7676)
• In Canada, call (877)568-2495
• In India, contact 0008004402130
• In UK, contact 0800 026 03 30
• If none of these apply to you, you can find your country specific number here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/gp/esd-support-phone-numbers

As I said, previously. You will get more positive help by staying on these help forums.

 

[Scotty1940]

The upgrade will only accept OS to OS, ie.. Home to Home or Pro to Pro.
Your Pro has to be recognised as legit, and must be installed. There is no way that the upgrade can convert your Home to Pro.
Maybe this covers your first four questions?
The fifth. You will get answers to most queries from members on sites such as this.

 

[Scotty1940]

Thanks, Davehc.

1. I think I remember the instructions saying that your qualifying Win7/8/8.1 not only had to be installed but also fully updated from Windows Update.

2. Also, I think TH2/Nov Win10 Update is supposed to contain all the Win 10 updates since the July Release. So, there shouldn't be much updated needed to TH2?

3. My Toshiba Portege came with Win 8.1 Home and I upgraded to Win 8.1 Pro which I registered and vailidated with MS. My wife is unable to find my license paperwork but MS should be able to confirm I had a licensed copy from that earlier registration/validation. Since those Win 7/8/8.1 [except for the 8.1Pro Upgrade] were OEM copies of Windows, am I supposed to deal with my OEM about these things, or with MS?

4. I think I have two Win7 licenses, at least one an upgrade from Vista Business, so I guess I will need to clean install that, then upgrade to Win7Pro, install sp3 [and all the updates since then?], then upgrade to Win10? And probably do something similar with the other Win7; find a clean install starting point, then upgrade until I get to Win10?

5. What parts of this am I not yet understanding? I have the two ISO files for doing a clean install downloaded, but it sounds like, since the earlier qualifying system MUST be installed in order to be recognized as a Pro edition, I can't use those to do a clean install until after MS has validated my Pro installation. Then a clean install would require reinstalling all my other programs [Office2007Pro, ESET Smart Security, RoboForm, Quicken, etc, etc.

?

The upgrade will only accept OS to OS, ie.. Home to Home or Pro to Pro.
Your Pro has to be recognised as legit, and must be installed. There is no way that the upgrade can convert your Home to Pro.
Maybe this covers your first four questions?
The fifth. You will get answers to most queries from members on sites such as this.

 

[Bif]

As davehc says...stay here for the "real" poop..
As MS customer service is as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike..

 

[jmccleary50]

As davehc says...stay here for the "real" poop..
As MS customer service is as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike

Take it from one who has done the chat with help desk thing.
The advice above is gospel.