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In a system with an Original Equipment Manufacturer license tied to the motherboard, it's not possible to freely choose what edition of Windows to install.

Changing from say, Windows 11 Home Single Language to something as a purchased Windows 11 Pro edition, used to be possible by adding some files to the installer Pen Drive or media.

Starting with 24H2 version of Windows 11, ei.cfg and PID.txt files seem to get ignored and using them is no longer a working solution to choose different Windows editions freely during the installation process.

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  • Where are you getting your installation media from? Media downloaded from Microsoft should contain all editions, entering a valid product key should select the correct edition for that key, or skipping the key will allow you to manually select the edition and you can then supply a key during activation.
    – NickSlash
    Commented Jul 10 at 23:15

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Using a Windows install automation tool such as Ventoy does the trick, allowing selection of whichever Windows edition to install by specifying the appropriate generic license key.

Instructions for the procedure I did:

  1. Download the desired Windows ISO
    (most editions come included in the same ISO by default)
  2. Connect an ≥8GB USB drive to the PC and backup its contents
    (Ventoy will format it, erasing all contents)
  3. Download Ventoy:
    1. Run: Ventoy2Disk.exe → Select: USB drive from the dropdown menu → Install
    2. Drop downloaded Windows .iso inside USB drive named Ventoy
    3. Within the directory the .iso was dropped:
      1. Create file script.xml with a text editor containing: 
        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
  <settings pass="windowsPE">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <UserData>
        <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
        <ProductKey>
          <Key>VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T</Key>
        </ProductKey>
      </UserData>
    </component>
  </settings>
</unattend>
        Replace with a generic key of the Windows edition to install:
        (Generic keys force the install of their Windows edition, but won't activate) 
        # Generic key: Windows 11 Pro
  VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
      2. Create folder ventoy → Within it, create file ventoy.json containing: 
        {
  "auto_install":[
    {
      "image": "/Windows11_InsiderPreview_Client_x64_en-us_26100.iso",
      "template":[
        "/script.xml"
      ]
    }
  ]
}
        Replace with name of the Windows .iso: 
        Windows11_InsiderPreview_Client_x64_en-us_26100.iso

  4. Boot the USB drive
    (the edition selection will be skipped according to the generic key chosen in Step 3.3.1)

Extra tips:

  • Remember to save files as .xml, .json, etc., as a file saved as text file script.xml will end up being text file script.xml.txt
  • Running VentoyPlugson.exe gives you a GUI to easily create and customize a ventoy.json with the preferred options
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  • 1
    It is extremely unwise to create or edit an answer file outside of Windows System Image Manager [WSIM], as it's too easy to corrupt an answer file with a missing character, an extra character, the wrong character, etc., and when this occurs, the install fails at the point the error exists. Windows SIM checks an answer file for errors and will not allow the answer file to be saved until the errors are resolved. If an error occurs within an answer file in the generalize, specialize, offlineServicing, or windowsPE configuration passes, Windows won't boot and the installer will boot loop
    – JW0914
    Commented Jul 10 at 13:40
  • @JW0914 interesting. I did experience the installer boot loop before addressing my windowsPE edits. I had to go through the logs to see what was wrong in my configuration. I'll take a deeper look into WSIM later and see how could the Pro edition key be added safely to update my answer.
    – Juan Manuel López Manzano
    Commented Jul 10 at 14:32
  • I cover the bare minimum WSIM steps under Configuring a ZTI: Step 5 for Automating Windows Setup (for your answer, additional answer file components within the linked to answer aren't needed, but those under 5.4.2 - .3 may be desired). Although that answer is for the native way to do this via the Windows ADK, the installation of the Windows ADK is required (Steps 1 - 2) since Windows SIM is a part of the ADK, and the export command within Step 4 is required with WSIM since install ISOs use an install.esd, whereas a .wim is required for WSIM
    – JW0914
    Commented Jul 10 at 15:39

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