Why does use of a COA product key always require phone activation?

alphanumeric said:

It's all changed now with embedded keys anyway. There is no key on the COA sticker. How often will you be doing a phone activation with an OEM PC that shipped with Windows 8 or 10? Desktop PC I guess if you swapped enough hardware to trigger it.

Windows 7 users still represent more than half of the installed base. Those are the COA keys I am playing with right now. Most of my computers date from 2012 and shipped with Windows 7. When I saw the Windows 8 preview I was one of the one's who said "oh-oh" and updated our hardware while 7 was still available. I didn't know then that OEMs would be able to continue to offer Windows 7 preinstalled after the first year of the new OS release, of course. In the past Microsoft has not allowed that.

alphanumeric said:

I hear you. I've moved on to Window 10 on all my PC's but I do understand there are a lot of Windows 7 PC's out there. Sooner or latter you'll have to clean install on a system that's so messed up it won't even boot up anymore. Just finding ISO's is an issue now if you don't already have them.

My point was though, now with Windows 8 and 10, it doesn't matter if you have branded OEM install media or not. Regular Microsoft Install media can be used on an OEM PC with no need to have to do a phone activation. It will read the OEM embedded keys just like the factory install media does. No bloatware either. And not all that hard to find, compared to Windows 7. Things are getting better.

I am not using OEM installation media. I am using standard Windows media and the media doesn't matter. ANY use of a COA key requires phone activation. It has been that way for a decade. Superfly provided a very enlightening link in his reply above that shows this has been the case for eleven years. Anyway I don't care about OEM embedded keys. It's only the COA wrinkle that has me a bit intrigued. None of this is about media. It's all about the key. Anyway it looks like this thread has explored what is there to explore so I am off now to explore a new twist; what works and what doesn't with refurbisher keys (the MAC, aka, Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program).

i havent switched any hardware but hard disk on my win7pro OEM. i have 2 similar computers. one went fine with the win7 pro clean install -> update to win10

second wont activate and keeps whining about not activated, despite the system accepted the key in the installation. been waiting couple weeks for it to activate but no, had to turn up the fast ring insider to that computer too and wait for better times, where you can feed the WIN7 key to WIN10 and get it activated via that. cba to phonecall, too lazy for that

batlhilz said:

i havent switched any hardware but hard disk on my win7pro OEM. i have 2 similar computers. one went fine with the win7 pro clean install -> update to win10

second wont activate and keeps whining about not activated, despite the system accepted the key in the installation. been waiting couple weeks for it to activate but no, had to turn up the fast ring insider to that computer too and wait for better times, where you can feed the WIN7 key to WIN10 and get it activated via that. cba to phonecall, too lazy for that

If you're waiting for a build to download that permits use of a legacy key then simply upgrade manually via the Media Creation Tool.

alphanumeric said:

Ah but if you were using the branded OEM install media, Windows 7 would activate with the original OEM-SLP activation. No having to use the key on the COA sticker and no having to activate by phone. But your not, your using stock media with the COA sticker and having to do a phone activation.

That will not happen with Windows 8 or 10. They both activate online with the OEM embedded key. No phone activation required. That's all I meant to point out. Microsoft is making it easier.

Not a solution. I am not restoring the computer to factory condition. You can't choose which drive to use when using the manufacturer's recovery media. And it does not matter about stock media. Use of a COA key requires phone activation. That is not my original question.

DustSailor said:

Repeated activations (clean installations) may trigger a required phone activation, I believe. I had to do that either with Windows 7 or 8 (don't remember which) after clean installing multiple times over a period of time.

That is not the original question. COA keys always require phone activation. The first time. Any time. The question was "What is it about COA pks that requires phone activation instead of automatic activation over the web?"

It is always the same. The automated agent has the user read off the Installation ID, then verifies something which takes about two seconds, and then reads back the activation string. No questions like "how many computers are you using this product key on?" Nothing. So what is in the Installation ID that could not have been transmitted with online activation? That is my question. As I said in my opening post, I am not having a problem, just a question.