[SOLVED] Selling PC, want to install Win10 Pro but PC won't let me

[realnoize]

This been puzzling me for many hours now and I can't find the solution on the net. So maybe someone has an answer?

I have this PC that previously had a Windows 10 Home RETAIL license installed on it. It's a custom-built PC.
I'm now selling this PC to someone, but I'm installing a Windows 10 Pro license on it, as per the buyer's request.

I want to keep my Windows 10 Home license to myself, as it is tied to my Microsoft account.
So I deactivated the key on the PC prior to wiping the drive clean. I also reinstalled my retail Win10 license as a virtual machine on my other PC to have it registered to a different device, and it activated fine, and even in my Microsoft account, I can properly see the virtual machine in my devices. So I thought that it was all fine, and properly deactivated on my old PC.

But whenever I try to activate the Win10 pro on the PC I'm selling (after a clean install), it keeps telling me that it detected a Win10 Home account associated with that PC, and that I should reinstall home and then upgrade to Pro. Problem is, I DON'T WANT to upgrade my own home license to Pro. I'm installing another license for the guy I'm selling my PC to.

Anyone had a similar issue before? How did you solve the problem? Is my home license (RETAIL LICENSE) tied forever to my hardware with no way of installing a different license? How am I supposed to sell that PC if it is forever tied to my own retail copy of Win10?

 

[PrinceTexasLoaf]

This been puzzling me for many hours now and I can't find the solution on the net. So maybe someone has an answer?

I have this PC that previously had a Windows 10 Home RETAIL license installed on it. It's a custom-built PC.
I'm now selling this PC to someone, but I'm installing a Windows 10 Pro license on it, as per the buyer's request.

I want to keep my Windows 10 Home license to myself, as it is tied to my Microsoft account.
So I deactivated the key on the PC prior to wiping the drive clean. I also reinstalled my retail Win10 license as a virtual machine on my other PC to have it registered to a different device, and it activated fine, and even in my Microsoft account, I can properly see the virtual machine in my devices. So I thought that it was all fine, and properly deactivated on my old PC.

But whenever I try to activate the Win10 pro on the PC I'm selling (after a clean install), it keeps telling me that it detected a Win10 Home account associated with that PC, and that I should reinstall home and then upgrade to Pro. Problem is, I DON'T WANT to upgrade my own home license to Pro. I'm installing another license for the guy I'm selling my PC to.

Anyone had a similar issue before? How did you solve the problem? Is my home license (RETAIL LICENSE) tied forever to my hardware with no way of installing a different license? How am I supposed to sell that PC if it is forever tied to my own retail copy of Win10?

Hope this helps https://winaero.com/how-to-deactivate-windows-10-and-change-the-product-key/

 

[Colif]

That only deactivates it on the PC, it doesn't remove the activation record on servers.

op may need to remove machine from his account as well.
go here and logon to account if need be - https://account.microsoft.com/account?lang=en-us&refd=www.google.com
click on devices tab
logon again
click on the device that matches your old PC
in top section of next page, click manage
click remove this pc.

what that should do is remove PC from the licence and perhaps stop the activation servers from seeing the old activation.

 

[SkyNetRising]

it keeps telling me that it detected a Win10 Home account associated with that PC, and that I should reinstall home and then upgrade to Pro.
Problem is, I DON'T WANT to upgrade my own home license to Pro. I'm installing another license for the guy I'm selling my PC to.

Windows installation gets upgraded (not your windows home license).