Swap Home/Pro licenses between my 2 PCs

[Raul Balda]

Hi. I'm trying to switch the Pro license from my HTPC (got the license from my college) to my main PC's Home Premium license (had to buy this one). But I want to do it without uninstalling windows from both machines. What should I do??

 

[USAFRet]

File Explorer
This PC - Right click
Select Properties

What happens when you select "Change product key"?

 

[Raul Balda]

It asks me to enter a product key. I do have both keys at hand but I'm already using the Pro key in my HTPC.

 

[USAFRet]

It asks me to enter a product key. I do have both keys at hand but I'm already using the Pro key in my HTPC.

Is this just different versions of Windows 8? You stated "Home Premium" for your main PC. There is no 'Home Premium' for Win 8/8.1, only Windows 7.

If one is Win 7 and the other is Win 8, there is no 'switch'. You must reinstall.

 

[Raul Balda]

Yeah sorry I got confused with the naming. I have Windows 8 in my main PC and Windows 8 Pro in my HTPC. Btw both have been updated to 8.1.

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah sorry I got confused with the naming. I have Windows 8 in my main PC and Windows 8 Pro in my HTPC. Btw both have been updated to 8.1.

So...discover the license key on both systems. Write them down.
Change, as per the above image. See what happens.

 

[Raul Balda]

Yeah I'll try that. Just don't want to mess anything up. I'll let you know what happens

 

[Raul Balda]

Tried the Pro key in my main PC. It said that the key cannot be used to activate this version of Windows. Please try another key

 

[USAFRet]

Tried the Pro key in my main PC. It said that the key cannot be used to activate this version of Windows. Please try another key

Well...you might have to do a full install on both systems...🙁

There is no real performance difference between Pro and Regular. More RAM, and added corporate level features.
Other than that, they both run the same.

 

[Raul Balda]

Yeah I just needed a couple of things for work that are only in the Pro version. Thank you for your help. I'll try and see what else I can do. If not then I'll just reinstall both

 

[Raul Balda]

ok I did it!! I had to follow a guide to uninstall both licenses using the command prompt so the licenses can be used later. Then used add features of win 8.1 to upgrade my main pc to win 8.1 pro using the pro key. The htpc downgrade was more problematic at first but then found a little program called updown8 that changes some registry values which allows the use of a windows 8 key from any version. Here I had to use an installation media (I used usb) to "reinstall" windows 8.1. This time the installer accepted my key since it was not being used anymore.

 

[Dan2005]

ok I did it!! I had to follow a guide to uninstall both licenses using the command prompt so the licenses can be used later. Then used add features of win 8.1 to upgrade my main pc to win 8.1 pro using the pro key. The htpc downgrade was more problematic at first but then found a little program called updown8 that changes some registry values which allows the use of a windows 8 key from any version. Here I had to use an installation media (I used usb) to "reinstall" windows 8.1. This time the installer accepted my key since it was not being used anymore.

can you provide procedure details please