Trying to upgrade to Windows 10 today and it is already a nightmare.

Never in my life has this been easy.

Today, I buy a 10 Pro key from Amazon, go to Microsoft to get the upgrade tool, run the tool, and... NOPE. YOU CAN'T UPGRADE, INELIGIBLE VERSION.

I am running Windows 7 Enterprise N

This version of windows can't be upgraded to anything but Windows 10 Enterprise which is subscription only. #%&*$# that. I will not pay a subscription to use my PC.

So... my only choice is to downgrade Enterprise to Pro. BUT.... big problem here. I don't have a 7 Pro key.

I'm screwed.

I hate computers. This is why I got out of the programming/IT biz 15 years ago... sick of all the nonsense bs.

The reason I gave up years ago, found out the hard way same as you. I have the same operating system and bought the 10 upgrade from Microsoft website. Wound up installing it on a fresh drive keeping
the old system safe. Trouble was once the upgrade started it had to find the old and validate upgrade. This is where it all went downhill fast. Finding out that over half of the programs I use will not work
in windows 10 I gave the install upgrade. Rolled it all back to get rid of it all.

I have to upgrade for work. I have no choice.

But I need a 7 Pro key to downgrade...

MarkG; Nice!

Yah I really like Linux Mint. Using 18.3 and 19.2 Mate version on 2 Laptops. Really solid.





I sympathize but only so far. I wouldr just go to the second hand shop or whatnot and get a used Laptop with Win10 on it. For $200 you get the Laptop and the OS.
Or better yet, just tell your job you are leaving unless they pay for the OS.
Even better; quit serving bthe M$ eco-system of corporate slavery and take a serious Linux course for your new job and learn a career that will never go away~!




Having been a tech that wrangled with Windows since my Win95 upgrade to the 3.11 486DX2_66 PC I started with. I never paid for a single M$ product since a mentor bought me the Win95 upgrade disk and classes at School. Second hand products gave me all other until recent.
When XP went out I started switching to Linux.
I have slicked Win7, 8.1 from various machines. Now using Linux Mint here although I occasionally use other versions in the Ubuntu / Debian ecosystem.

Would I want a Win 10 or other version machine now? No, there is no use for me.
Even if I hack it to death there is always a new twist the latest M$ SOB's throw at one. From telemetry to Got-Ya! 's of all sorts.
I got off the un-merry-go-round.

I liked some M$ products for what they were useful for. But frankly they always throw you a weird curve ball at some point. Its like you have a nice car and then they want you to fork over $155,000 for a Tesla. F that! I don't need a Tesla. Tesla has nothing on what I can do with that money I can have 10 nicer and faster cars then you can by from Tesla.

I wish I hav never learned M$ products I would have like $MIllions now if I had stayed in the real geek world and learned Linux, its like 10x the salary now of M$ IT positions and hardly any cost by comparison.
Sadly I didn't.

Yes I'm a Linux installer now but the population is brainwashed by M$ and their manipulations. Hardly anyone will even try Linux now here in the U.S, Maybe in Europe they have better Intel?

I could hardly get anyone to use my services in the public sector because they are too stupid to actually know the power of a real computer.
That's actually the point of Android also btw. Nice that the general public can use a phone. But bad that everyone now becomes their corporate clone-drone cash-cows to milk the life-blood of freedom from.
Like the rest of the modern day trends is all disguised to 'making you smarter' when its the opposite objective they want.
Next the robots will be serving up everyone the automatically paid groceries their smart-fridge ordered to their cashless- society card and if there is a power outage they all starve.

And who need the buyers choiice anyway when an AI can make better decisions what you should eat on your diet or your doctor orders it for you, etc.?

Sorry for a bit of a rant, but its half true in reality from the sci-fi novel already!

Before I got into finance 15 years ago and began writing novels, I wrote code for UNIX variants such as Solaris, Tru64, AIX, Linux, BSD, etc. and automated AI between many systems as well as processing code for bank to bank transfers of money, etc. Preaching to the choir here. =)

My desktop that I use every day needs to be Windows 10 as I'm an independent advisor and I don't want to take the risk with client data that it could be exposed through Windows 7 nonsense. I have been stalling as long as I could because frankly I cringe at doing computer work anymore.

The reason I got out of the computer business can be summed up as I reasoned one day, "What's the point of learning new ways over and over, again and again, to do the same thing?" In that industry we'd always learn a new language to do the same thing. A vision of a ballpeen hammer bashing skulls in materialized in my mind, as Einstein once said something along the lines of, "Why memorize something when you can look it up?" The whole logical paradox of learning new languages or versions or whatever violated a core tenet of my inner self, which is "Keep things simple stupid."

Thus I left.

But right now, this is my own little hell again because I'm wrestling with nonsense that shouldn't even be.

I got Enterprise N downgraded to Pro N. Now I'm trying to get 10 to upgrade Pro to 10 Pro while retaining my apps. Microsoft makes very little simple.

Now I need a Windows 10 Pro N key, not a Pro key. Microsoft can go to hell. Awful company run by awful directors.