You installed Windows Server Evaluation for evaluating, testing, or training purposes. Now you want to apply a license key, but it’s not activating, and an error appears. That’s because you have to convert from Evaluation to Full Version first. After that, you can insert your license key. In this article, you will learn how to upgrade from Windows Server Evaluation license to Full Version
Find Windows Server edition
You can find the Windows Server edition in the right corner and the days remaining before the grace period expires.
The Windows License evaluation period begins and runs for 180 days.
Note: You can Extend the Windows Server Evaluation Period 6 times and run a trial version for a total of 3 years.
Check the current Windows Server edition with the DISM PowerShell command.
DISM /Online /Get-CurrentEdition
The below output appears.
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.17763.3406
Image Version: 10.0.17763.5696
Current edition is:
Current Edition : ServerStandardEval
Run the Get-ComputerInfo cmdlet to list the Windows Server OS name and edition.
The below output shows that Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Standard Evaluation is running.
WindowsProductName WindowsEditionId
----------------------------------
Windows Server 2019 Standard Evaluation ServerStandardEval
Now that you have the Windows Server edition, let’s go to the next step.
Get Windows Server target editions
Check to which Windows Server versions you can upgrade.
DISM /Online /Get-TargetEditions
The below output shows that you can upgrade to one of the following editions: Server Standard or Server Datacenter.
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.17763.3406
Image Version: 10.0.17763.5696
Editions that can be upgraded to:
Target Edition : ServerStandard
Target Edition : ServerDatacenter
Note: After you run the command, it will take some time, and you have to wait for it to finish. It’s completely normal if you see the progress hang on 10% for a while.
The below output appears. Press Y to restart the computer.
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.17763.3406
Image Version: 10.0.17763.5696
Starting to update components...
Starting to install product key...
Finished installing product key.
Removing package Microsoft-Windows-ServerStandardEvalEdition~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.17763.1
[==========================100.0%==========================]
Finished updating components.
Starting to apply edition-specific settings...
Finished applying edition-specific settings.
The operation completed successfully.
Restart Windows to complete this operation.Do you want to restart the computer now? (Y/N)
Verify Windows Server version
After the computer restarts, run the command to verify the Windows Server version.
A Windows and Office activator using HWID / Ohook / KMS38 / Online KMS activation methods, with a focus on open-source code and fewer antivirus detections.
Download / How to use it?
Method 1 - PowerShell (Windows 8 and later) ❤️
Open PowerShell (Not CMD). To do that, right-click on the Windows start menu and select PowerShell or Terminal.
Copy and paste the code below and press enter
irm https://get.activated.win | iex
or (deprecated, will be retired on Dec 31 2024, use above instead)
irm https://massgrave.dev/get | iex
You will see the activation options. Choose [1] HWID for Windows activation. Choose [2] Ohook for Office activation.
