Student Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Education Upgrade

Important Notes Regarding the Upgrading from Windows Home to Windows Education

  • Back up your personal data to an alternate location (example external drive). OU IT is not responsible for any data lost during the upgrade process.
  • Store your personal Windows Education Product Key in a secure location and always accessible location (not your OUHSC account). When upgrading from Windows Home to Windows Education you will be presented with a personal Windows Education Product Key. OU IT is not able to access your personally assigned key.

OU policy requires device encryption on laptop computers that may store sensitive or confidential information (e.g., SSN and financial information, patient information). For laptops used by OU Health Sciences Center, the presumption is that the device may be used for this purpose so it must therefore be encrypted. For this reason, students should backup and encrypt their laptops. The instructions below outline how to update your computer to Windows 10 Education, encrypt your device and then get it set up for encryption management.

These responsibilities apply to Approved Personal Devices:

  • You are responsible for any and all University data saved to this device. Using a personal device DOES NOT remove you from responsibility to protect University data.
  • In the event you believe your device might be compromised, you must immediately notify OU IT of the potential security risk.
  • If you lose or misplace your device, you must immediately notify OU IT of the potential security risk.
  • When you graduate, you must delete University data and notify OU IT that your device will no longer be used.

Windows Education Update

Follow this guide to upgrade your computer from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Education in preparation for encrypting your device.

  • Your computer must have at least the following hardware specifications:
    • Processor: Intel i5 or better
    • Memory: 8GB RAM or better (4GB minimum)
    • Storage: 256GB Solid State Drive (128GB minimum)
    • Screen size: 13" or higher
    • Connectivity: WiFi and Bluetooth
    • Expansion: USB 3 or higher
  • The below instructions are for those computers running Windows 10 Home. If your computer is running Windows 10 Enterprise or 10 Professional, do not upgrade to Education. You may proceed to our BitLocker encryption article.

 

 

Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Education

  1. To begin, please go to downloads.ou.edu and log in with HSC credentials. Home page of downloads site

  2. Select “Windows 10”.

  3. Click “Add to Cart”. Windows 10 Education product page

  4. Scroll down and click the “Check Out” button. Windows 10 checkout screen

  5. Read the Microsoft Student Option User Acceptance Form, enter your HSC user name and provide your First name and Last name for your signature. Now click “Accept”.
    Microsoft Student Option User Acceptance Form
     

  6. Fill out the Contact Information (Firstname, Lastname, email address); click “Proceed with Order”.
    Contact Information fields page

  7. Copy the provided Windows 10 Education Product Key.

  8. Click the Windows key in the lower left corner of your computer’s desktop, type Notepad and then press the Enter key.
    Windows Start Search menu with Notepad highlighted
     

  9. Paste the Product Key, click File, Save As.. and enter the file name as “Windows10ProductKey”.
    Notepad file with Windows 10 Product Key pasted
     

  10. Click “Hello, …” in the upper right corner and then click “Sign Out”.
    Downloads page with Sign Out highlighted

  11. In Windows, click the Windows start button in the lower left corner; click “Settings” (gear icon on the left). Windows 10 Start menu with Settings highlighted

  12. Click “System” (upper left corner). Windows Settings page with System highlighted
     

  13. Scroll down on the left; click “About”. Scroll down on the right to “Windows specifications”. If you’re running Windows 10 Home, click the option for “Change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows”. Windows System About page with Change product key highlighted 
     

  14. In the Activation window, click “Change product key”. Windows 10 Update Product Key page

  15. If you still have the product key copied, paste it in the field provided and click “Next” (If you don’t have the product key copied, navigate to where your saved it earlier, copy it, and paste it in the field provided and click “Next”). Windows Enter a product key pop up window

  16. Windows will now upgrade to Education edition; click “Start”. Windows 10 Upgrade your edition of Windows pop up window

  17. After preparing the upgrade, Windows will restart and add new features. Preparing for upgrade pop up window

  18. Once Windows has restarted again, sign back in.

  19. Click the Windows start button in the lower left corner; click “Settings” (gear icon on the left). Windows 10 Start menu with Settings highlighted

  20. Click “System” (upper left corner) Windows Settings page with System highlighted

  21. Scroll down on the left side; click “About.” scroll down on the right to “Windows specifications” and verify you’re now on Windows 10 Education.
    Windows 10 About page with Edition highlighted

  22. Click “Settings” in the upper left corner. Windows 10 About page with Settings option highlighted

  23. Click “Updates & Security”. Windows Settings main page
     

  24. Click “Advanced options”.

  25. Under “Update options,” turn ON updates for other Microsoft products. Under “Update notifications,” turn ON notifications for restarts (in some versions of Windows 10, notifications and options have merged to “Update Options”).
    Windows Update options with Give me updated for other Microsoft product highlighted

  26. Click “Settings” in the upper left corner.
    Windows 10 Advanced options page with Settings option highlighted

  27. You should be on the “Windows Update” window. Click “Check for updates”.
    Windows Update page with Check for Updates button highlighted

  28. Updates will install and Windows will probably need to restart.
    Windows Update with list of example updates

  29. Once Windows restarts, sign back in.

  30. Click the Windows start button in the lower left corner; click “Settings” (gear icon on the left).
    Windows 10 Start menu with Settings highlighted

  31. Click “Updates & Security”.
    Windows Settings page with Update and Security highlighted

  32. Click “Check for updates”.
    Windows Update page with Check for Updates button highlighted

  33. Repeat steps 32-35 until the message states, “You’re up to date”.

 

Next Steps - Encrypt Your Device

Now that your computer has updated to Windows 10 Education, you can encrypt your device with BitLocker. For instructions on enabling BitLocker on Windows 10 Professional or 10 Education, please see our guide for turning on BitLocker encryption.

Details

Article ID: 3012
Created
Wed 8/9/23 4:31 PM
Modified
Tue 8/22/23 3:36 PM