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)

Posted by Sweetlilmre at 6:49 AM
Labels: , , , , ,

5 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 6, 2015 at 4:22 AM

    Hi, I have Windows 8.1 Enterprise 32bits and I need to downgrade to Pro... for later I do upgrade to windows 10 pro. I follow your steps and de link show me that I need to change "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE→SOFTWARE→WOW6432Node→Microsoft→ Windows NT→ CurrentVersion"

    the problem is that: I don't have WOW6432Node and I don't know why.

    Can you help me?

    thx

    ps: I have a serial for windows 8.1 pro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SweetlilmreNovember 7, 2015 at 10:43 PM

      Hi

      You won't have that node on 32 bit windows, that is the 32 bit part of the 64 bit registry. So you should only have to change the main node. Let me know if it works!

      Delete
    2. UnknownNovember 9, 2015 at 3:33 AM

      It doesn't work. I try with 'N' and without 'N'. I think the version Enterprise is not genuine. Maybe this is the reason.
      I have a genuine key for Pro, but format HDD is not option for me. I have too many complex apps.

      Any suggestions?

      Thx

      Delete
    3. SweetlilmreNovember 12, 2015 at 11:09 AM

      I'm not sure, I think you are going to have to bite the bullet. Perhaps do a dual boot install and get the new system up gradually so it is not so painful?
      Certainly install the 64-bit version this time.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJune 7, 2018 at 9:25 PM

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    ReplyDelete

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