Share via

How to convert Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Enterprise using ICD

  • Article

Windows 10 makes life easier and brings a lot of benefits in the enterprise world. Converting Windows 10 without an ISO image or DVD is one such benefit. My name is Amrik and in this blog, we’ll take an example of upgrading Windows 10 Professional edition to Windows 10 Enterprise edition.

Let’s consider a scenario wherein you purchase a few computers. These computers come pre-installed with Windows 10 Pro and you would like to convert it to Windows 10 Enterprise.

The simpler way is to use DISM servicing option:

Dism /online /Set-Edition:Enterprise / AcceptEula /ProductKey:12345-67890-12345-67890-12345

For more information on DISM Servicing, please review:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825157.aspx

The above may be a good option if you have single or few computers. But, what if you’ve got hundreds of computers to convert.

To make your life easier, you may want to use the Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD). You can get the Windows ICD as part of the Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK), which is available for download here.

With the help of ICD, admins can create a provisioning packages (.ppkg) which can help configuring Wi-Fi networks, adding certificates, connecting to Active Directory, enrolling a device in Mobile Device Management aka MDM, and even updating Windows 10 Editions - all without the need to format the drive and reinstall Windows.

Install Windows ICD from The Windows 10 ADK

The Windows ICD relies on some other tools in the ADK kit, so you need to select the options to install the following:

  • Deployment Tools,
  • Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
  • Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD),

Before proceeding any further, let’s ensure you understand the prerequisite:

  • You have the required licenses to install Windows 10 Enterprise.

The below steps require KMS license keys. You cannot use MAK license keys to convert. Since you are using KMS keys to do the convert, you need to have a KMS host capable of activating Windows 10 computers or you will need to change to a MAK key after the upgrade is complete.

Follow below steps to convert:

image

Click on File menu and select New Project.

It will ask to enter the following details. You may name the package as per your convenience and save it to a different location if you would like to.

image

Navigate to the path Runtime Settings –> EditionUpgrade –>UpgradeEditionWithProductKey

image

Once you enter the product key (Use the KMS client key for Windows 10 Enterprise available here.)

Click on File –> Save.

Click on Export –> Provisioning Package.

The above step will build the provisioning package.

image

In the screenshot below, if anyone wants to keep a password or a certificate, then he may set it up.

image

Select any location to save the provisioning package.

image

Once complete, it will give the summary of all the choices selected. Now, we just need to click the button BUILD.

image

image

Navigating to the above folder will open the location below and note the .ppkg file has been created which we will use to upgrade Windows 10 Professional.

image

We now need to connect the Windows 10 Professional machine to the above share and run the .ppkg file.

Here is the screenshot before I ran the package which shows that the machine is installed with Windows 10 Professional version:

image

Run the file “Upgrade_Win10Pro_To_Win10Ent.ppkg” to complete the upgrade process.

image

After double clicking the .ppkg file, we will get the warning or a prompt similar to UAC below:

image

Just select “Yes, add it” and proceed. After this we need to wait and the system is getting prepared for upgrade.

image

image

After the upgrade is complete, the machine will reboot and the OS is going to be Windows 10 Enterprise and we get the below screen as confirmation:

image

And this is where we confirm that the upgrade is successful:

image

The .ppkg file can be sent to the user through an email. The package can be on located on an internal share and run from there or copied to a USB drive and used on that drive.

A couple of ways to automate the above process:

  • Use MDT by adding the option to Install Applications under Add –> General tab.
  • Use SCCM by following steps mentioned in the blog below:

Apply a provisioning package from a SCCM Task Sequence
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/beanexpert/archive/2015/09/29/apply-a-provisioning-package-from-a-sccm-task-sequence.aspx

Amrik Kalsi
Senior Support Engineer

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 16, 2015
    Windows 10 makes life easier and brings a lot of benefits in the enterprise world. Converting Windows