Dear Hermann Strebel1,
Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.
To answer your question, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription does not include a full Windows 11 license. However, it does include the ability to upgrade Windows 10 Pro devices to Windows 11 Pro. If you have Windows devices running Windows 7 Pro, Windows 8 Pro, or Windows 8.1 Pro, your Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription entitles you upgrade those devices to Windows Pro 10. However, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium does not include free upgrade rights from Windows 10 or 11 Home to Windows 10 or 11 Pro. You can refer to Upgrade Windows devices to Windows 10 or 11 Pro - Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft Learn
Regarding the issue with the Windows 11 Home devices, it is possible that the generic Windows 11 Pro key you used to upgrade the devices is not valid or has been blocked by Microsoft. Also, the error code 0xC004C003 occurs when a licensing code component tries to access a registry hive without proper access. A resulting access denied error causes the product key not to be extracted correctly. This could be the reason why the devices are showing the error code. Therefore, to activate Windows 11 Pro on these devices, you will need to purchase a valid Windows 11 Pro license. Once you have a valid license, you can use it to activate Windows 11 Pro on the devices and then perform the Azure AD join via Entra ID.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Thank you for your precious time. Have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator
Dear Hermann Strebel1,
Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.
To answer your question, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription does not include a full Windows 11 license. However, it does include the ability to upgrade Windows 10 Pro devices to Windows 11 Pro. If you have Windows devices running Windows 7 Pro, Windows 8 Pro, or Windows 8.1 Pro, your Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription entitles you upgrade those devices to Windows Pro 10. However, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium does not include free upgrade rights from Windows 10 or 11 Home to Windows 10 or 11 Pro. You can refer to Upgrade Windows devices to Windows 10 or 11 Pro - Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft Learn
Regarding the issue with the Windows 11 Home devices, it is possible that the generic Windows 11 Pro key you used to upgrade the devices is not valid or has been blocked by Microsoft. Also, the error code 0xC004C003 occurs when a licensing code component tries to access a registry hive without proper access. A resulting access denied error causes the product key not to be extracted correctly. This could be the reason why the devices are showing the error code. Therefore, to activate Windows 11 Pro on these devices, you will need to purchase a valid Windows 11 Pro license. Once you have a valid license, you can use it to activate Windows 11 Pro on the devices and then perform the Azure AD join via Entra ID.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Thank you for your precious time. Have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator
Understood. Thank you!
Greetings,
I couldn't find any answers regarding this topic at MS Forums. I hope you guys can share your experience.
We have a customer with a mix of Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro Notebooks which they bought on their own. They're using M365 Business Premium subscription and decided that they want to perform an Azure Ad join via Entra-ID for all devices. From what I understand the M365 Business Premium subscription contains a full Windows 11 Business license.
Needles to say that everything works without any issues on the Windows 11 Pro devices. On the other hand we have 4-5 Windows 11 Home devices with strange behaviour after I performed the Azure AD join...
What I did: > I upgraded Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro with the generic Windows 11 Pro Key easily accesible on the internet (just to have the option to perform Azure AD join via Entra-ID)
Then I joind the devices to Azure AD via Entra ID and migrated all data and seetings from the old local account to the M365 account which the user is using now to log into Windows 11
If I check Windows System settings and it says that Windows 11 Business is active but it also says that Windows is not activated with the error code 0xC004C003.
After checking MS Forums and Reddit I still couldn't find the answer for my question:
Does the M365 Business Premium subscription contain a full Windows 11 License?
Is it possible to activate an unactivated Windows 11 Pro with the M365 Business Premium sub by performing Azure AD join via Entra ID or do I need to buy a Windows 11 Pro license?
The fun part is that I'm testing it right now with a virtual machine on my own PC. I installed a completely unlicensed Windows 11 Home, upgraded it with the Windows 11 Pro generic key and performed a Azure AD join with my own Entra-ID licensed with M365 Business Premium. I see no issue on my VM.
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What is Microsoft 365 Business Premium?
Business Premium is an integrated solution that brings together best-in-class productivity tools, security, and device management capabilities for small to medium-sized businesses. It's a comprehensive, cloud-based security solution that enables you to defend your business against advanced threats with sophisticated phishing and ransomware protection. Business Premium helps you safeguard your data, devices, and information.
Business Premium is fully integrated with Microsoft 365 Apps to provide you with a familiar location for administration, billing, and 24x7 support. It consists of enterprise-grade technology built for businesses with fewer than 300 users.
What's the difference between Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Enterprise?
Microsoft has productivity and security management offerings that bring increasingly powerful features and functionality to small to medium-sized businesses:
Microsoft 365 Business Standard includes the apps and services that businesses need for remote work and collaboration. It includes Microsoft Teams, secure cloud storage, business email, and premium Office applications across devices.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a comprehensive cloud productivity and security solution that's designed and built for small and medium-sized businesses (1-300 users). Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes everything in Microsoft 365 Business Standard, plus the following security products:
- Microsoft Defender for Business
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1.
You get more cybersecurity and productivity capabilities, including advanced security protection, next-generation protection, endpoint detection and response, and threat & vulnerability management.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise is a complete, intelligent solution that empowers everyone to be creative and work together securely. Microsoft 365 for enterprise is designed for large organizations, but it's also available to small to medium-sized businesses who need the most advanced security and productivity capabilities.
For more information, see:
- Microsoft 365 User Subscription Suites for Small and Medium-sized Businesses
- Microsoft 365 for enterprise overview
Can I switch my Microsoft 365 plan to Microsoft 365 Business Premium?
Yes.
You can switch from a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan to Business Premium, which might increase or decrease the monthly charges.
Currently Ms365 Business premium includes a W10/11 Bussiness License
From our experience, if I deploy a windows 10/11 pro without any product key (tested in MANY labs), using a Business Premium and joining the device to Entra ID/Intune. Windows WILL activate on Windows Business license included in business premium.
The documentation may say otherwise, but in practice it is as I described. You can test and see for yourself....
Hi, I’m looking to move our users to Azure Virtual Desktops, but have a question about Windows licensing. I don’t think a Windows license is included when you create Virtual Desktops in Azure. But, it seems that a windows license is included in the Business Premium package. Can this license be applied to my Virtual Desktops to make them fully functional Windows 11 desktops?
The answer given by @S.Sengupta is incorrect. You can't upgrade from Windows Home to Windows Business for free with just a Microsoft 365 Business Premium license. You have to first pay for a Windows Pro upgrade license. Once the computer is running Windows Pro, you can then join it to Azure AD and sign in with your Microsoft account that has the Microsoft 365 Business Premium license assigned to it. This will change the SKU from Windows Pro to Windows Business.
Windows Business requires the computer to first have Windows Pro as a prerequisite, because Windows Business essentially is just Windows Pro with a set of cloud services and device management capabilities added to it.
For this reason, you can't use an account with a Microsoft 365 Business Premium license on a computer running Window Home, because Windows Home devices can't be Azure AD-joined.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Windows 11 Business, which allows you to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro without purchasing a separate Pro license. This is achieved by signing into the device with a Microsoft 365 account that has the subscription.
Setup a new machine today, it doesn't have any windows license at all. Expecting to use the included Win 11 license that comes with Business Premium. I've not done this before so I installed Pro without a product key, logged in and joined to Entra and added my work account. Both show up under "Access work or school". At first it showed no product key was installed but there was an active subscription. "activate windows" shows up at bottom right a few hours later. I followed some guides using slmgr to add a generic pro key, that didn't help. Now I'm stuck with it saying "windows 11 Enterprise" and no subscription is showing. How the heck do I get this thing registered correctly and activated with my Business Premium license?
This seems like a simple question so there is a sku available for purchase to upgrade Windows 11 home to pro for Microsoft 365 Business.
Just wondering if anyone knows what the catch is, does the computer have to be AzureAD joined or is it just that the license is stored and redeemed in the 365 portal?
We are a partner and reseller but haven’t found much in the way of documentation on this and hoping to avoid spending hours with our distributor support.
Thx, J
I didn’t upgrade my windows yet. Still I am on the Windows 10.
Hello, Ajay Patel4
Welcome to the Microsoft community.
Thank you for your feedback.Microsoft Office 365 Premium licenses (such as Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 E3/E5) are primarily subscription services for activating and managing Office applications and do not include the ability to directly activate Windows 11 Pro. Activation of Windows 11 Pro requires a valid Windows product key or digital license.
Please let me know if my understanding is wrong.
You can purchase a license for Windows 11 pro from the Microsoft Store.
Upgrade Windows Home to Windows Pro - Microsoft Support
I look forward to your feedback.
Best Regards,
Aaron| Microsoft Community Support Specialist
Hello Team,
Is there any update of my above issue ?
I'm finding some contradictory information about this - the possibility of using an M365 Business Premium License to upgrade a Win10 Home PC to Pro.
I promise- I know the difference between Office and Windows licensing, and I never would have started chasing this if I hadn't kept running across this and things like it:
2.8 Purchase Eligibility for Windows 10 Home to Pro Upgrade for Microsoft 365 Business
Customers in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, USA, or any country in the European Union may license the Windows 10 Home to Pro Upgrade for Microsoft 365 Business in any quantity up to the number of its Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions. Notwithstanding Section 2.2 Qualifying Operating Systems, Customer may install Windows 10 Home to Pro Upgrade for Microsoft 365 Business software on devices licensed with Windows Home version 7 or later.
and this answer in the Community:
Windows 10 Home & M365 Business Premium - Microsoft Community
I just haven't been able to find any instructions for how.
I'm sure that it's possible I'm just misunderstanding something, so if anyone can set me straight, I appreciate it.
Just noticed now after testing a test machine (VM) that's never been activated before, fresh VM, that when i signed in via OOBE (user with a B.Premium License) it activates the machine's Windows and shows Windows 11 Business and Windows is Activated.
I'm bit confused as I though B.Premium does not included a Windows license but only a way to upgrade from Win Pro to Win Business?
Am i missing something here?