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Is it possible to have two separate Windows 10 licenses (digital entitlements)--one for Home, one for Pro--co-exist on one computer?

My Dell 2 in 1 comes with a Windows 10 Home license that is tied to the hardware (digital entitlement). I'd like to use my Windows 10 Pro license on this machine instead of the Home that Dell provides (primarily for BitLocker).

Does using a Windows 10 Pro license with this laptop cause it to lose the digital entitlement to the Windows 10 Home license that's tied to the hardware?

user2021355
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2 Answers2

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  1. Yes, you can have both Home and Pro licenses on one computer. I'm not sure how it will work if you install both Win 10 Home and Pro in separate drives in your computer, but I'm guessing it will still work.

  2. No, you won't lose the Home license after you upgrade to Pro. You will still have an OEM Home license (in your device) and your Pro license.

You have a notebook come with Windows 10 Home license, means the product key should be stored in UEFI and still available in your device (and cannot be transferred) after you upgrade to Pro.

Vylix
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To answer my own question:

Yes, I recently confirmed that it is possible to have two licenses to Windows 10 active on one machine and that you won't lose the Windows 10 Home license when you use a second license. However, it's not 100% seamless (i.e. the premium license doesn't become the default license).

I upgraded the SSD in my laptop and did a complete fresh install. The fresh install latched on to the Windows 10 Home license that the machine came with. I had to manually enter the product key for Windows 10 Pro that I'd used earlier, but, I didn't have to jump through any hoops with Microsoft (i.e. calling them) to get it activated. It just activated.

PS I was panicking when I saw Windows 10 Home. It's such an awful operating system without the modifications that Windows 10 Pro allows you to make (you can eliminate Cortana and web searches in Pro) that I couldn't fathom living with it.

user2021355
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