Anyone Surprised Windows 10 Pro Is Downgrading To Home

Only days after I wrote about the file association cock-up that won’t allow users to choose their own default programs, Microsoft has done it again. There are a growing number of reports appearing that Windows 10 Pro is downgrading to Windows 10 Home.

Windows 10 Pro is downgrading to Windows 10 Home

Matt Wadley was among the first to complain about this issue. He tweeted this comment:

This is the first Reddit comment that started the ‘Windows 10 Pro is downgrading…’ thread.

After updating to Insider Build 18277 my Windows 10 digital license became invalid. I don’t understand! I’ve always installed Insider builds and retail builds on this machine and never had an activation problems. No hardware changes, nothing has changed. I don’t know what to do.

Windows 10 Pro Downgrading Issue Solved

However, it should be pointed out here that there is now an edit stating:

All of a sudden after years of having this key which was from windows 8 pro then migrated to windows 10 for free, I got a notification saying my key is Windows 10 home version and that I need to install it.. wtf is going on?

Edit: The issue might be resolved for many by using the Troubleshoot option under Update & Security > Settings > Activation.

READ ALSO: How to block Windows 10 October Update install

On Microsoft’s forum, a few hours later came this:

Then came this:

We are aware of reports that some customers’ Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise machines are not recognizing their licenses as activated. Users may receive the following notification: “Error: you are running Windows 10 Pro, but you have valid digital license for Windows 10 Home,” or one of the following error codes 0X803F8001, 0xC004C003. We are actively working to resolve this within 24 hours. You can still use your PC; however, the watermark will appear until activation is restored. Thank you for your patience.

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What to Make of All This?

Well, it certainly seems to becoming the norm that Microsoft’s updates are unreliable, to say the least. Like I said, is anyone that surprised to read headlines like Windows 10 Pro is downgrading?

Edit 1: Users report that Windows activation troubleshooter might say You have a Windows 10 Home license but you are running Windows 10 Pro. You are advised to ignore that message and wait for the fix.

Edit 2: Users are reporting that it is fixed. Affected users should run the activation troubleshooter and see if it fixes the issue.

I remember being more than happy to have automatic updates turned on in the good ol’ days, and not thinking twice about it. Those days are well and truly gone.

I read in a forum thread that it is all the fault of Bill Gates leaving the company, but I think this is a little unfair and simplistic. Personally, I think the problem is a culture where shareholders come before customers (I sound like my Dad). It seems that companies are using some sort of equation.

Shareholders get as much money as possible PLUS only annoy a small amount of customers (considering most of those annoyed customers won’t move to another OS) EQUALS companies don’t care about customers. Of course, this isn’t just a Microsoft issue; most companies seem to be using this formula.

Anyway, it would seem that this particular problem has been sorted, which is good news for users. Whether this latest mess will blow over for Microsoft so quickly is not yet apparent.

Has Microsoft’s latest upgrade mess affected you? Let us know in the comments below.

Windows 10 Pro is downgrading to Windows 10 Home#

Windows 10 Pro Downgrading Issue Solved#

What to Make of All This?#

Windows 10 Pro is downgrading to Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Pro Downgrading Issue Solved

What to Make of All This?