Windows 10 Pro Licence Expiring - looking for help

aradne · 12 Mar 2018

I have an HP Elitebook Folio 9470m purchased from a private seller about 6 months ago in late September or early October of 2017. Within the last week I have been getting a pop-up saying that the Windows Licence is about to expire.

The seller had Windows 7 Pro running on it when I bought it and there is a Windows 7 Pro product key in the battery compartment. The seller told me that he had been running Windows 10 for a short period, but did not like it and had rolled the laptop back to Windows 7.

When I purchased it, I immediately updated it to Windows 10 Pro from the Microsoft website. There were no issues and it has been running Windows 10 Pro without any problem for the last 6 months. I do vaguely remember however that when updating to Windows 10, the process seemed just slightly different than when I updated another laptop earlier in the year.

When I checked the Settings>Activation page now, it says "Windows is activated using your organization's activation service" and not a digital licence as on my other laptop. I had assumed that when updating 6 months ago, I had moved to a digital licence for Windows 10. That doesn't appear to be the case.
I downloaded the activation download tool in the first post of this thread, but it's not running properly. I can try getting it to run if you think it's necessary, but in the meantime I used Jellybean Keyfinder to look for the current Windows 10 product key. It's different from the one listed in the battery compartment for the original Windows 7 install. Keyfinder also lists the registered owner as HP and gives a blank for registered organization. It also states that Windows 10 Pro was "Installed from Volume Media".

I want to continue to run Windows 10 Pro and I would like to know my options. These are the ones I'm considering.

1. On the Settings>Activation page, go to Change Product Key and enter the Windows 7 Pro key that is listed in the battery compartment. I don't know if that will work or if it might also worsen the situation in some way.

2. Purchase a Windows 10 Pro product key from a UK ebay seller for a nominal cost and enter that product key. The seller has over 2000 highly positive reviews over several years so appears legitimate enough that it's been working for people.

3. Is there any way to convert to a Windows 10 Pro Digital Licence at this stage?
I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

cereberus · 12 Mar 2018

That message appears when it is activated with a volume licence key. I suspect previous owner had illegally activated windows 7 with illegal kms activation methods. For some reason, this also fools the upgrade mechanism but the illegal method does not get carried over, and eventually the licence expires.

So first, try using the 7 PRO keyto activate it but I am puzzled why original owner did not use that key if genuine.

If not, you can try a cheap key but be warned, many are scams and may not work or will later get deactivated, although if it works at least once and is not a vlk, pc should remain activated.

You can check validity of the 7 PRO key using showkeyplus and entering key in "check product key" option. Post an image if you like clicking on key to hide it first.

Superfly · 12 Mar 2018

aradne said:

I downloaded the activation download tool in the first post of this thread, but it's not running properly.

I have seen a few say ADT does not work... does it hang at "Please wait..." or give an error?

To answer your question see this thread Can't activate Windows no matter what I do Solved - Windows 10 Forums.

Superfly · 16 Mar 2018

A 1st-time poster asking for help... having problems with my app ... asked for feedback, gave advice but still..nada!
Geez help me to help others rather than me, myself, I...

Go figure!