A. If you've used the method discussed in the previous FAQ on a mounted VHD and ascertained that it can be set to a higher version, use the /set-edition:<edition> switch to upgrade the VHD to a higher version of the OS. In the example below, I change from Home Basic to Ultimate.
D:\Documents\Scripts>dism /image:w:\ /get-targeteditions
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Editions that can be upgraded to:
Target Edition : Ultimate
Target Edition : Professional
The operation completed successfully.
D:\Documents\Scripts>dism /image:w:\ /set-edition:Ultimate
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Pended operations ignored. When this image is next booted, these operations will
be processed.
Starting to update components...
Removing package Microsoft-Windows-ProfessionalEdition~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6
.1.7600.16385
\\[=====================100.0%
=====================\\]
Finished updating components.
Starting to apply edition-specific settings...
Finished applying edition-specific settings.
The operation completed successfully.
D:\Documents\Scripts>dism /image:w:\ /get-currentedition
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Current edition is:
Current Edition : Ultimate
The operation completed successfully.
You can't downgrade to a lower version—for example, you can't go from Ultimate down to Home Premium. Note that if you upgrade a Server OS, you also need to pass the new SKU product key using the /ProductKey:<new key> switch.
If you want to pass an unattended answer file into your image, just use the /Apply-Unattend:<unattend.xml name and location> switch.
