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CompTIA A+ Core 2

Windows 11 Home vs Pro features for A+ Core 2

Windows Pro adds BitLocker Drive Encryption, Remote Desktop hosting, the ability to join a domain or Microsoft Entra ID, and the Local Group Policy Editor. Windows Home can still be a Remote Desktop client and can use Device Encryption. When a Home PC needs one of the Pro features, the fix is an edition upgrade to Pro.

What Pro adds over Home

Microsoft lists three business features that Pro editions add: BitLocker Drive Encryption, Remote Desktop, and the ability to join a domain or Microsoft Entra ID.

Domain join: the client must run one of the listed editions, which include Pro, Pro for Workstations, Pro Education and Enterprise. Home is not on the list. The user account doing the join also needs administrative privileges on the local machine.

Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc): Microsoft notes it is not available on Windows Home. On Pro, administrators use it to set policies for a local computer that is not part of a domain.

Remote Desktop: host vs client

Pro, Enterprise, Education and Windows Server editions can act as hosts for incoming Remote Desktop connections. Home editions cannot be hosts, but they can connect to other PCs as clients.

So only the PC being connected to must run Pro. If a user wants to reach a Home desktop from a Home laptop, upgrading the desktop alone is enough. The laptop connects with Remote Desktop Connection as it is.

Encryption on Home: Device Encryption

BitLocker Drive Encryption, with its full management options, is available on Pro, Enterprise and Education. Device Encryption is available on a wider range of devices, including Home. It turns on BitLocker encryption automatically for the operating system drive and fixed drives.

Device Encryption turns on by itself when the user first signs in with a Microsoft account or a work or school account, and the recovery key is attached to that account. With a local account it is not turned on automatically. An administrator can turn it on in Settings > Privacy & security > Device encryption.

If the option does not appear, the device may not meet the requirements, for example no usable TPM, no Windows Recovery Environment, or Secure Boot disabled.

Upgrading Home to Pro

Check the edition and activation state in Settings > System > Activation. With a Pro product key, select Change product key and enter it. Without one, use Upgrade your edition of Windows to buy Pro from the Microsoft Store. The device restarts to finish the upgrade.

After the upgrade, a domain join from Settings still ends with a restart before the domain membership takes effect.

Where the exam catches people

  • Believing a Home PC can join a domain after a DNS or firewall change: Home is not a supported edition for domain join, so it must be upgraded to Pro first.
  • Believing both ends of a Remote Desktop session need Pro: only the host must run Pro, and a Home PC can connect as the client.
  • Believing a missing gpedit.msc means corrupt system files: the Local Group Policy Editor is not part of Windows Home.
  • Believing a Home laptop cannot be encrypted without buying Pro: Device Encryption is available on Home, though it is not turned on automatically for a local account.
  • Believing an edition upgrade is enough to join a domain with any account: the account doing the join needs local administrative privileges.

Written from CompTIA's documentation

Try 3 questions on this

Pick an answer to see why each option is right or wrong.

  1. A small office bought new laptops running Windows 11 Home. When a technician tries to add them to the office's Active Directory domain, the option to join a domain is not available. Which of the following should the technician do?

    Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Operating Systems building.

    Not that one: D is right. In the game your Operating Systems building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

    Written from support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/install-upgrade/upgrade-windows-home-to-windows-pro

  2. A user's home desktop and laptop both run Windows 11 Home. The user wants to connect from the laptop to the desktop using Remote Desktop. Which of the following is the least change that makes this possible?

    Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Operating Systems building.

    Not that one: A is right. In the game your Operating Systems building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

    Written from support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/experience/connectivity-networking/how-to-use-remote-desktop

  3. A small-office owner asks a technician to configure a local security policy on a standalone Windows 11 Home laptop. When the technician runs gpedit.msc, Windows reports that it cannot find it. Which of the following should the technician do?

    Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Operating Systems building.

    Not that one: D is right. In the game your Operating Systems building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

    Written from support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/experience/system-configuration-tools-in-windows