Windows 10 Pro

Before you start

• Back up your data. A clean installation erases the drive.
• You need a USB stick with at least 8 GB. Everything on the stick will be lost.
• You need an internet connection for the download and the activation.
• Have the licence key from our email at hand.

1Download the installation tool

Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool downloads Windows and writes it to a USB stick or an ISO file. You choose the language and the edition inside the tool.

2 Download

Download the tool here – you will start it in the next step.

Get it from Microsoft Download the Media Creation Tool

The first button opens Microsoft’s own download page in your language – always the latest build. The second one is our mirrored copy, in case Microsoft’s page is unreachable.

Language, edition and 32-bit or 64-bit are all asked inside the tool – there is no separate download per language.

3 Installation

1. Plug in the USB stick first (at least 8 GB – everything on it will be erased). Then start the downloaded Media Creation Tool as an administrator and accept the licence terms.
2. Choose “Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC”, then language, edition and architecture. The suggested settings are right in most cases.
3. When the tool asks which media to use, choose “USB flash drive” and pick your stick from the list. The tool downloads Windows and writes it onto the stick – depending on your connection this takes a while.
4. Put the finished stick into the PC where Windows is to be installed – it can be this very computer. Switch it on and immediately tap the boot-menu key several times – F12, F11, F9 or Esc, depending on the device. Pick the USB stick from the list.
5. From here Windows Setup guides you. When it asks for a product key, enter the licence key from our email – or click “I don’t have a product key” and add it afterwards (step 4). Important: select exactly the edition you bought, for example Windows 11 Pro – otherwise the key cannot be redeemed at the end.

4 Activation

1. Press the Windows key together with I. Settings opens. Click on “System” and then on “Activation”.
2. Open “Windows is not activated” and click “Change” next to “Change product key”. Enter the 25-character licence key from our email – copying it is safest, and you do not need to type the hyphens. Then “Next” and “Activate”.
3. If you get an error message, use the command prompt. To open it: press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click “Command Prompt”, choose “Run as administrator” and confirm the prompt. Type these two commands there one after the other, pressing Enter each time. Replace the five blocks of X with your own key: slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX slmgr /ato
4. After the second command Windows reports that the product has been activated. Under Settings › System › Activation it now says “Windows is activated”.

If the error stays, activation also works over the phone – no queue, an automated voice service. The step-by-step route is right below.

Phone activation

If activation over the internet does not go through, the phone route is still there. It works the same for Office, Windows and Windows Server: your computer shows a long installation ID, you read it out and get a confirmation ID back.

1. Press the Windows key and R, type the following command and confirm: slui 4
2. Pick your country. The wizard now shows the installation ID – several blocks of digits.
3. Call the number shown, or open Microsoft’s support portal below, and read out the installation ID.
4. Type the confirmation ID into the wizard’s fields and click “Activate”.

Open Microsoft’s support portal

Keep the computer on and the wizard open during the call – the installation ID changes as soon as you close the window. If you get stuck, we are happy to do it for you.