w'7 home -> w'7 Pro

[bojan]

I have w'7 Home edition pre-installed on my lap, and w'7 Pro installation disk..
Is it possible to do upgrade from installation disk instead of clean installation?

[sil (Steve)]

Should be able to , boot from the disc at see the options. Upgrading is not an option I ever recommend, you don't get a clean OS from it. The garbage slowing your system is still there so dont expect a performance gain.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Is there a reason you want to upgrade it? From memory the difference to Pro was more languages installed and drive encryption abilities.

[sil (Steve)]

There's some networking stuff I think.

[astro744]

I think it depends on your version of W7 pro; Upgrade, OEM, Retail Pack as the licence key may not work and most likely wont for all three unless you re-install with a retail pack version.

What you really need is a Windows Anytime Upgrade key and then run 'Start', 'Windows Anytime Upgrade' and enter the key. The procedure takes 10 minutes whilst Windows unlocks the hidden Pro features. We did this on two notebooks at work a few years ago because they came with Home only and we needed Pro for work to connect to a domain. The keys were available on the shelf at retail stores or via download but I think no longer.

You could try using Windows Anytime Upgrade with your pro key and see if it accepts it. You could also try and change the key in Control Panel, System & Security, System, Change Product Key but I'm not sure what this will do for your install and whether it will unlock Windows 7 Pro. I would ask Microsoft or try and get the answer from their knowledgebase before attempting this one.

[bojan]

ACAD and Solidworks require pro version.
I tried Upgrade anytime, it's not available for us in Oz

[Exfso (Peter)]

When I got my laptop around 3 yrs ago, it had home installed and from memory I used the anytime to upgrade to pro. However that may no longer be the case.