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Surface Pro 11 (ARM64) upgrade Win11 Home to Pro Fails

AndyD-UK 0 Reputation points
2025-09-01T12:57:49.47+00:00

HI there,

I have a Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (ARM64 Copilot) running Window 11 Home (supplied direct from Microsoft). I purchased the Windows 11 upgrade from MS store and the install fails with code 0xc004f050 which indicates an incorrect licence key.

I have tried updating the product key to the generic Win 11 Pro key (VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T) and get the same failure.

I have run SLMGR.VBS /dlv and it states I have :

  • Windows Core Edition
  • Windows Operating System OEM_DM Channel

I have run ShowKeyPlus which states I have:

  • Windows 11 Home
  • Product ID: 00356-06300-54154-AAOEM
  • Build version: 26100.5074 (32bit os) < Even though this is ARM64 PC
  • Product key which matches OEM key
  • OEM Edition: Win 10 RTM Core OEM:DM < These PCs were not built for Win10 so not sure what this is about

FROM SYSINFO...

  • OS Name: Microsoft Windows 11 Home
  • Version: 10.0.26100 Build 26100
  • Other OS Description: Not Available
  • OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
  • System Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
  • System Model: Microsoft Surface Pro, 11th Edition
  • System Type: ARM64-based PC System SKU Surface_Pro_11th_Edition_2076 Processor Snapdragon(R) X 12-core X1E80100 @ 3.40 GHz, 3417 Mhz, 12 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
  • BIOS Version/Date: Microsoft Corporation 175.126.235, 13/06/2025
  • SMBIOS Version: 3.3

I am keen not to have to reinstall from a new ISO image but have it downloaded and will do if required. Can I do an update from the ISO image or is there anything else I can try before a rebuild?

Thanks - Andy

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Licensing and activation

3 answers

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  1. AndyD-UK 0 Reputation points
    2025-09-04T12:11:22.7766667+00:00

    Well I managed to fix my issue and get Win 11 Pro installed on my Surface Pro 11 (Snapdragon Elite/Copilot+) after enduring a bit of a faff.

    Anyway, I rebuilt the OS back to a Win11 Home base image and then updated from there. Re-enabling BitLocker on Win 11 pro also tripped me up for a little while as it seems you can re-enable it on the drive unless logged in with an account that is attached to a Microsoft personal account (to save the keys to an external file store, etc.)

    Unfortunately I did not have time to do more in-depth, root-cause investigation to find out what was actually obstructing the upgrade (driver, service, account issue, image corruption, etc.) however the net result was positive.

    These are the steps that I ended up taking, they might not all be strictly necessary, however I wanted to leave them here in case they help anyone else in the future:

    Notes before starting

    The Surface Pro was connected to a Surface Dock 2 with a Ethernet connection so I did not need to configure WIFI

    I had to use an external USB wireless keyboard/mouse as Windows Setup did not seem to work with the Surface Keyboard/Touchpad despite disconnecting, reconnecting, etc.

    I had purchased the "Upgrade Windows 10/11 Pro" from the Microsoft Store (digital licence) prior to starting.

    Steps:

    • Windows 11 Home (before starting)
      • Unencrypted my system partition
      • Encrypt Device/BitLocker settings - not sure if this step was necessary as I ended up deleting and re-creating partitions later on but I included the step just in case
    • Downloaded the Windows 11 Arm64 ISO image
    • Burn image to USB-C key using Rufus
      • Unchecked all the "extra options" (i.e. remove TPM, create user account, etc.) so it was the base Microsoft Image with no modifications
    • Boot into BIOS (power off, power on holding volume up) and adjust for USB bootup
      • Changed the boot order to go to USB key first as I couldn't find a keyboard shortcut that let me just select the boot device without going into BIOS.
      • Changed the secure boot from "Microsoft Only" to "all/disabled" - again not sure if strictly necessary but keeping as many steps in as possible.
      • Windows setup did not seem to support the Surface Pro keyboard/trackpad so plugged in an external USB which worked fine
    • Install Windows 11 Home (..again)
      • There appeared to be no options to change the edition of Windows being installed (home/pro/workstation) in this setup OR when using the "use previous version of setup" option. It was fixed to "Windows 11 Home".
      • I deleted all the partitions on the system drive and re-created them and agreed to the "all your files will be deleted"- not sure if this was necessary but decided to start as "clean" as possible
      • Installation proceeded as expected and eventually restarted to boot into Windows 11 Home and removed the USB stick.
    • BIOS to re-apply original security and boot configuration
      • Restarted back into BIOS to change secure boot back to "Microsoft Only" and return the boot order to its original settings (Microsoft Boot option first)~
    • Windows 11 Home - windows update and install surface pro app/drivers
      • Logged in with the personal Microsoft account (the one that I purchased the upgrade licence through) and ran through "Windows Update" a few times until there were no more updates to be installed.
      • Went into Microsoft Store and installed the Surface App to get the Surface keyboard and Mouse working. Once they were back in business, discarded the external USB Keyboard and mouse.
    • Update to Windows 11 Pro via Microsoft Store
      • Logged into store and went to the "Update to Windows 10/11 Pro" and clicked Install. This time it seemed to work absolutely fine without any hitch.
    • Windows 11 Pro - Re-enable BitLocker on OS drive
      • Login as my user that was attached to my personal Microsoft account - the one I purchased the licence with.
      • Switch BitLocker back on for system drive and backup key to external file store (had to save this to an external network drive first and then re-copy it back onto my OneDrive as it doesn't allow you to save these recovery keys to an encrypted drive)
    • Allowed the drive to re-encrypt

    Potential rabbit-hole - Issue re-enabling BitLocker

    I hit this message while trying to apply BItLocker to the OS drive:

    "This PC doesn’t support entering a BitLocker recovery password during start up. Ask your administrator to configure Windows Recovery Environment so that you can use BitLocker."

    I ended up finding some posts suggesting changing some local group policy. I am not sure if these are necessary or not but am leaving them here for completeness.

    The main factor in sorting that message was to re-enable BitLocker on the OS drive while being logged in as an account attached to a PERSONAL Microsoft account (which appeared to contain the keys that unlock the drive automatically on startup and thus allowed recovery keys to be generated from them. However, just in case i'm wrong (or have misunderstood how this works), the steps and location of the policies I changed are:

    NOTE: May not be needed

    • Press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
    • Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Operating System Drives.
    • Set "Require additional authentication at startup" to Enabled.
    • Set "Enable use of BitLocker authentication requring preboot keyboard input on slates" to Enabled

    Hope these steps helps someone in the future. Unfortunately it seems i cant accept this as the answer to my own question.

    Good luck

    Andy D

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  2. AndyD-UK 0 Reputation points
    2025-09-03T17:41:09.4133333+00:00

    Afraid this has not worked.

    I downloaded the ISO image from here (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11arm64) and ran the setup but it is not offering me the option to update to Windows 11 Pro.

    I have the option to keep all files or lose them all, but the section that says "you have opted to.." says Windows 11 Home and there doesnt seem to be a button or link to change it.

    Screenshots attached below.

    screen01

    When I click "change what to keep"

    screen02

    Any help appreciated.

    Thanks

    A

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  3. S.Sengupta 30,261 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-09-01T17:39:41.7466667+00:00

    Download the official Windows 11 ARM64 ISO

    Run the upgrade. Run setup.exe, and choose to keep your files...

    Select Windows 11 Pro

    After setup finishes, sign in with your Microsoft account — Windows will activate automatically.

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