

Initially, the status showed it couldn't connect to organization's activation servers. It rebooted, I completed the setup, connected to Wifi, and went to activation. This time it was completed without any problems. So I disabled my network connection and launched setup again. Looking for a fix, I found some articles explaining there's a Windows Setup problem with integrating updates during installation, and I should install with Internet disconnected.

Should I keep them to ensure the activation upgrade? No error code, nothing. I opted for a clean install removing personal data and applications.

It accepted the license key and activated it without any problems, so we can assume the key itself is good. So, I decided to step back and do an in-place upgrade. This was my mistake, I should perform an in-place upgrade, as suggested. According to some articles, I should be able to install the update for free because: "During the life of a LTSC release, you can upgrade your devices to the next or latest LTSC release free of charge using an in-place upgrade. Also, I was able to extract the product key. Its activation status says it's a "digital license" not linked to a Microsoft account.
