Some backstory will follow: I own multiple computers at home. The one computer I want to apply the license to was a Linux computer, a Dell XPS 13 9333, now dual-booted with Windows/Arch Linux. On the previous Manjaro Linux installation, I had a VM set up in KVM running Windows 10 Pro, however I didn’t use it too much before I removed my SSD due to some setting I broke with memory ballooning, notably causing it to completely fill both the vm and computer CPU usage. I have activated this VM with Windows 10 Pro.
Upon removing Manjaro Linux and dual-booting Windows 10 and Arch Linux, I made the grave mistake of not getting all my data off of my Windows 10 VM. Aside from some small files I used for testing, which didn’t matter to me anymore as much, I lost access to the license key. Currently, my copy of Windows is installed using a Home license (Windows Setup completely ignored the fact that the ISO I used to install Windows 10 was the Professional ISO).
I’ve been trying to fix this problem for a while now. Upon frantically realizing that I broke the, or at least my, number one rule, to always make backups, I immediately made a futile attempt to activate my computer through the “I Changed My Hardware” wizard. However, this option wasn’t there; instead, I saw the dreaded Windows 10 Home license (seemingly, Microsoft recognized this computer off of my account, as this computer was initially a Windows 10 Home computer, which I now wanted to promote to my main computer). I tried some other Windows 10 Pro computers I owned, yet strangely, none of them seemed to contain their licenses despite being activated. I attempted to use the backup registry key, to no avail. At one point, I even contacted Microsoft Support, which made them go through multiple representatives (transferring me 4 times) before no other representative picked up after multiple hours of wait.
How do I transfer my inaccessible Pro license onto an already activated Home computer?
