Windows 10 Pro 1511 erroneously upgraded to Windows 10 Pro Education 1607

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I manually updated my Windows 10 Pro 1511 to 1607 on September 5th. My memory of the upgrade procedure is a little vague but I believe I went to and was given the option to download the anniversary edition, which I did. The file was named Win10_English_x64.iso. The upgrade was successful but it wasn’t long before I noticed that Cortana was missing from my Start menu. It wasn’t until a few days ago that I noticed that my windows edition that shows on the System panel is Windows 10 Pro Education instead of Windows 10 Pro. I also learned that Cortana is not included with the educational edition. My original copy of Windows 10 Pro was an OEM version that I acquired from BargainValley.com. I wonder what could have happened to have downgraded me to the educational version, and will I have problems re-installing my original version and upgrading again. I just downloaded a new version of the iso and notice that it is named Win10_1607_English_x64.iso which is different from the one that I downloaded.

No, I didn’t do an image backup before installing. I do use Crashplan and and File History to do regular incremental backups.

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Go Start – Settings – Update & Security – Update history – Recovery options where you get the option to go back to a previous build, providing you do it within 10 days of the update.

Go Start – type winver and press enter then you’ll see which version the bought install disk gave you.

Create a system image and a system repair disk.

Press and hold F2 while going Start – Power – Restart and hold F2 until you get into the BIOS then change the Boot order so that it checks the DVD drive before the hard drive.

F10 to Save and Exit – press enter.

After the reboot, open Windows Explorer – This PC – stick the new ISO disk in and click on the Setup.exe

If you have any problems then retry with your antivirus disabled or fully uninstalled.

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I manually updated my Windows 10 Pro 1511 to 1607 on September 5th

Sudo, I think he is past the 10 days. If winver tells him that it is the education version, he may be stuck with it if that is what the original 1511 disk was.
When you go to BargainValley. com, this is what you get ( although it looks like support continues ):

BargainValley.com has Closed.

Ongoing Order Support will Continue.

Thank you very much for all of our past customers! We truly have appreciated your business and hope that you enjoyed our service. Our close to perfect 5 star rating on review sites tells us that we did a good job, and we can’t cry home about that.

But, we are moving on to different pastures. Not a worry, though. We’ll be answering your questions or will provide ongoing support to any past customers. Just a little patience is all we ask. We will be reviewing our email box every weekday.

Service@BargainValley.com

Just like we have always said on our homepage – We treat you like we treat our own neighbor, and with that guiding principle, everything works out.

Thanks again for your support.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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It does depend upon what the original was but I was wondering if a clean install would put things right – after creating a system image first.

Wonder why they closed ?

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Thanks. I could re-install from the iso I downloaded from BargainValley. I’ve rebuilt my computer many times and although I have a lot of python programming environment stuff to restore, it just takes time. One concern is that although I was supplied with a product key from BargainValley it didn’t take and I had to go through some process and getting a new/different product key through Microsoft. I don’t understand much about the MS licensing process so didn’t know why this was necessary but since it ultimately succeeded I didn’t pursue it further. That piece does concern me for a re-install though. Next time I guess I had better pay full price for a full license! On the other hand, it may have nothing to do with the fact that I bought my license through BargainValley.

Thanks for looking at BargainValley. Maybe I should drop them a line out of curiosity.

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But, we are moving on to different pastures

That’s the only explanation :confused:

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I would not use an ISO from a third party. Get it from Microsoft. Use the Download Windows 10.

--Joe

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I would not use an ISO from a third party. Get it from Microsoft. Use the Download Windows 10.

I sent an email to BargainValley but haven’t heard back yet although I did receive a ticket so maybe there is some hope. I tried downloading the Windows Media Creation Tool but it wouldn’t accept the product key that I received from BargainValley. It says “This product key didn’t work.”

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If MS gave you a key to activate your OEM install then if it is on the computer, the free version of Speccy will display it – I assume when the tech activated your install, there wasn’t any user input from you ?

https://www.piriform.com/speccy

Expand Operating System and it will be listed as the Serial No.

When I’ve emailed for support, it has taken up to three days, but it depends how busy they are in restructuring.

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If MS gave you a key to activate your OEM install then if it is on the computer, the free version of Speccy will display it – I assume when the tech activated your install, there wasn’t any user input from you ?

https://www.piriform.com/speccy

Expand Operating System and it will be listed as the Serial No.

When I’ve emailed for support, it has taken up to three days, but it depends how busy they are in restructuring.

Thank you. Just to be clear, my computer is home built so there was never any tech involved except me. I built it when I was working for a university and at the time I used a group license for Windows 7 and then Windows 8. When I upgraded to Windows 10 I first used a preview version which I re-installed twice. Finally I bought the discounted Windows 10 Pro OEM version from BargainValley.

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Thank you. Just to be clear, my computer is home built so there was never any tech involved except me. I built it when I was working for a university and at the time I used a group license for Windows 7 and then Windows 8. When I upgraded to Windows 10 I first used a preview version which I re-installed twice. Finally I bought the discounted Windows 10 Pro OEM version from BargainValley.

That “Group license” from the University was probably an educational version so that’s what W10 see’s when it “Upgrades”. It sounds to me like BargainValley sold you a W10 that they downloaded with the MCT, which you could have done yourself for free.
The point is that W10 will upgrade the version that is originally installed, hence the educational version. The only way around that is to start with a clean slate. Obviously I am just making an assumption from the info you have given.

Yes. Speccy calls it a serial number. It isn’t the one that I got from BargainValley.

Once W10 upgrades, it has it’s own number.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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That “Group license” from the University was probably an educational version so that’s what W10 see’s when it “Upgrades”. It sounds to me like BargainValley sold you a W10 that they downloaded with the MCT, which you could have done yourself for free.
The point is that W10 will upgrade the version that is originally installed, hence the educational version. The only way around that is to start with a clean slate. Obviously I am just making an assumption from the info you have given.

Once W10 upgrades, it has it’s own number.

I did not, and you can not upgrade the Windows 7 Enterprise version provided by the Campus License Agreement (at least the one in place at that time). And don’t forget, I installed two preview versions of Win 10 before I paid for a license. I did a fresh install and there was never an OEM partition on my machine. I’ve re-installed my OS many times. I always begin by erasing my c: partition as I did before installing after I received my license from BargainValley. I have most of my data on a data partition although I restore a certain amount of data backed up from c: but everything (all applications are restored from scratch). Wouldn’t that preclude any data from my campus installation trickling down to my fresh Windows 10 install and subsequent upgrade to the anniversary edition. I’m not saying that I know, it just seems unlikely but there is a lot that I’m not aware of.

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If you are positive that nothing previous was the education version ( including BargainValley ), then something really strange happened to make the 1607 update turn into an education version especially since you did the update from within W10.
Have you heard any specifics from BargainValley yet?

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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If you are positive that nothing previous was the education version ( including BargainValley ), then something really strange happened to make the 1607 update turn into an education version especially since you did the update from within W10.
Have you heard any specifics from BargainValley yet?

I didn’t want to deal with BargainValley if possible so I downloaded MediaCreationTool.exe and installed the iso image on a USB drive (much faster and more reliable than burning to CD, especially with a 15 year old DVD burner). When I ran the installation I followed the sequence for re-installing Windows 10 on the same machine. It gave me the option of installing several different Windows versions including Windows 10 Pro Educational. Of course I chose plain Windows 10 Pro. I was prompted not to provide a product key. The rest of the installation was uneventful.

My Windows edition in the system overview now reads Window 10 Pro and the Windows activation section says Windows is activated. The version is 1607 so I’ve no need to upgrade to the anniversary version–I’m already there.

Of course I’ve had to re-install all of my applications. The most time consuming and tricky part was re-installing my python programming environment, a combination of anaconda, PyCharm community edition and SQLiteStudio. My use of PyQt4 and PyQt5 made that a bit more complex but the whole process only took a few hours.

I’m actually happy that I had to do this as my system is now leaner and faster.

I want to thank everyone for the help and suggestions.

Kor

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It looks like you’re stuck with waiting for a reply from Bargain Valley then – perhaps rename them Bargain Pits

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Sudo, from korkiley’s post I would guess that his “Ticket” is with BargainValley.
From the original post, it looks as though the install (1511) and upgrade to AU (1607) went ok, but the educational version is a mystery.
I wonder whether cloning the current drive and then doing a clean install would help?

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Sudo, from korkiley’s post I would guess that his “Ticket” is with BargainValley.
From the original post, it looks as though the install (1511) and upgrade to AU (1607) went ok, but the educational version is a mystery.
I wonder whether cloning the current drive and then doing a clean install would help?

That is correct. The ticket is with BargainValley. The only thing I can think of with the educational version is that I did something carelessly to get the wrong version. It still seems odd though.

What do you mean by cloning the current drive?

Thanks.

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Have you checked with Speccy to see if you have a product key and try that with the ISO you have downloaded – it may mean a clean install so creating a system image of what you have as well as a system repair disk first would be prudent.

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Have you checked with Speccy to see if you have a product key and try that with the ISO you have downloaded – it may mean a clean install so creating a system image of what you have as well as a system repair disk first would be prudent.

Yes. Speccy calls it a serial number. It isn’t the one that I got from BargainValley.

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What do you mean by cloning the current drive?

Making a bit for bit copy of the existing drive to an external or second drive, so that if anything goes wrong with an upgrade you have a complete backup copy to boot/run on your computer.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Making a bit for bit copy of the existing drive to an external or second drive, so that if anything goes wrong with an upgrade you have a complete backup copy to boot/run on your computer.

In other words, creating a drive image? I will definitely do that.

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