Friday, October 23, 2015

Downgrading Windows 8.1 Enterprise to Windows 8.1 Professional with a Professional N ISO

If you want to downgrade Windows 8.1 Enterprise to take advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade then the following sources explain how to do this:

http://superuser.com/questions/479292/downgrading-windows-8-from-enterprise-to-pro
http://www.systemcenterdudes.com/change-windows-edition-from-enterprise-to-professional/

This will work if you have the Professional installation media, however if you want to do this with a Professional N ISO then there are two minor changes:

  • Change ProductName to Windows 8.1 ProfessionalN
  • Change EditionID to ProfessionalN
And then you'll be good to go. Without the 'N' addition you will not get the option to Keep Windows settings, personal files, and apps. It took a few iterations to figure this out so I hope this saves someone some time.

-(e)