ARCHIVED: How do I migrate to Windows 8 Pro or Windows 7 Ultimate from a lesser edition?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Note: Use the instructions here to upgrade from a lesser version of Windows 8 or 7 to a more feature-rich variety of the same version of Windows, e.g., from Windows 8.x to Windows 8.x Pro or from Windows 7 Home Basic to Windows 7 Ultimate. If you're doing a major version upgrade (e.g., Windows 7 to Windows 8), do a clean installation instead; see Install Windows at IU or ARCHIVED: How do I install (or reinstall) Windows 7? You should also perform a clean installation if your computer has been infected with malware.

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Pre-installation notes

  • These instructions presume you are at Indiana University, installing Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 8.x Pro from the DVD available through the IU/Microsoft Campus Agreement. If you are not an IU user or you are installing Windows from a different source, you may have to make small adjustments to the directions below.

  • By the terms of the IU/Microsoft Campus Agreement, each license key for Windows 7 or Windows 8.x Pro is capable of installing the software on only one computer. If you need to purchase a second copy, contact your campus Support Center for help.

Add Features (Windows 8.x)

If you already have an edition of Windows 8.x on your computer, you can add features to upgrade to Windows 8.x Pro:

  1. While connected to the Internet, press the Start key and start typing add features.
  2. Click Add features to Windows 8.x. (If you do not see it, you may need to click settings first.)
  3. Click I already have a product key, and then enter your product key from the back of the Windows 8.x DVD sleeve that you got from IU.

The system will upgrade to the full Pro edition, and your computer will restart. Necessary system updates may follow, potentially requiring another system restart.

Windows Anytime Upgrade (Windows 7)

If you already have an edition of Windows 7 on your computer (except Enterprise), you can perform a Windows Anytime Upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate:

  1. While connected to the Internet, from the Start menu, run a search for "Anytime Upgrade" and open the search utility's result.
  2. In the following screen, select Enter an upgrade key and enter the 25-character code from the back of the Windows DVD sleeve that you got from IU.

The system will upgrade to the full Ultimate edition, and your computer will restart. Necessary system updates may follow, potentially requiring another system restart.

Warning: Some OEM versions of Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, and Professional will not allow the Windows Anytime Upgrade to work with retail or IU-provided versions of Windows 7 Ultimate. If you run into this problem, complete a ARCHIVED: clean installation, or attempt to run an Upgrade installation by booting directly from the Windows 7 Ultimate DVD. Keep in mind that Upgrade installations often fail, or result in unusable instances of Windows 7.

After installation

For security reasons and to increase performance, follow the steps in What you should do immediately after installing Windows

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Last modified on 2018-01-18 17:52:17.