Win10 Pro Product Key on old machine needed for new one

I think it happens as soon as you get a Digital License. Once the PC does that final reboot and activates online.

In the early builds, if you installed with a Product code, it showed "activated with a product code". And if you did the free upgrade it would show "activated with a digital license". The Digital License install was the generic key.
Then latter on, don't remember what build exactly, everybody got a Digital Licence. I remember it happening because I was running Windows 10 Education with one of my MSDN keys and it showed as activated with a product code. There was no free upgrade to Education so no Digital license. Then after the upgrade to the new build it changed to activated with a Digital License and the product code changed to a generic one.
Now I think its as I posted above. Even if you install with a retail key, as soon as it activates with a Digital License you get the generic key.

alphanumeric said:

In the early builds, if you installed with a Product code, it showed "activated with a product code". And if you did the free upgrade it would show "activated with a digital license". The Digital License install was the generic key.
Then latter on, don't remember what build exactly, everybody got a Digital Licence. I remember it happening because I was running Windows 10 Education with one of my MSDN keys and it showed as activated with a product code. There was no free upgrade to Education so no Digital license. Then after the upgrade to the new build it changed to activated with a Digital License and the product code changed to a generic one.
Now I think its as I posted above. Even if you install with a retail key, as soon as it activates with a Digital License you get the generic key.

It changed with AU version 1607.

With 1507/1511, you only got digital picences with upgrades from 7/8 (or purchases of W10 from MS Store).

This meant if you had installed 10 via a product key e.g. a retail key, you had to reuse it to reinstall.

From 1607, all (non vlk) installs got a digital licence. Thus even if you lost your install key, it will reactivate upon installation on same hardware.

Another change is that up to 1703, you could upgrade fron home to pro by entering the generic 3v66t key but the update would not be activated.

Many did this and iirc were less concerned about personalisation as they had personalised it in home first.

MS blocked this from 1709, so you can only use the generic key if you have a digital pro licence first.

On OPs case, they had a Pro digital licence from a previous installation, so it worked.

cereberus said:

It changed with AU version 1607.

With 1507/1511, you only got digital picences with upgrades from 7/8 (or purchases of W10 from MS Store).

This meant if you had installed 10 via a product key e.g. a retail key, you had to reuse it to reinstall.

From 1607, all (non vlk) installs got a digital licence. Thus even if you lost your install key, it will reactivate upon installation on same hardware.

Another change is that up to 1703, you could upgrade fron home to pro by entering the generic 3v66t key but the update would not be activated.

Many did this and iirc were less concerned about personalisation as they had personalised it in home first.

MS blocked this from 1709, so you can only use the generic key if you have a digital pro licence first.

On OPs case, they had a Pro digital licence from a previous installation, so it worked.

Yeah, I have a text file with a long list of what keys were used to install what Edition on what PC. Mainly so I didn't accidentally use the same key on two different PC's. Don't really need it anymore as far as Windows 10 goes. I can do a skip key and install pretty well any Edition I want and activate with a DL. With all the testing I've done my PC's all have multiple DL's for pretty well every edition. Even Enterprise.
When that switch to everybody gets a DL happened, My Enterprise installs done with my MAK keys, all got DL's. Before that they showed as activated with a product code. IMHO that should never have happened, Enterprise installs should not get a DL. MAK keys are a special key though and must have be treated like a Retail key or something. Not really complaining, just think it was an error by Microsoft letting it happen. I can install and activate Enterprise with a DL with a skip entering a key.

alphanumeric said:

Yeah, I have a text file with a long list of what keys were used to install what Edition on what PC. Mainly so I didn't accidentally use the same key on two different PC's. Don't really need it anymore as far as Windows 10 goes. I can do a skip key and install pretty well any Edition I want and activate with a DL. With all the testing I've done my PC's all have multiple DL's for pretty well every edition. Even Enterprise.
When that switch to everybody gets a DL happened, My Enterprise installs done with my MAK keys, all got DL's. Before that they showed as activated with a product code. IMHO that should never have happened, Enterprise installs should not get a DL. MAK keys are a special key though and must have be treated like a Retail key or something. Not really complaining, just think it was an error by Microsoft letting it happen. I can install and activate Enterprise with a DL with a skip entering a key.

Yeah - it is odd giving MAK keys a digital licence, treating them like retail, but tbh there are flaws in the whole digital licence system anyway.

The EULA requires you to wipe Windows from old pc if you reuse a retail key on a new pc, but you cannot remove the digital licence from old PC.

So you get the absurd situation that you comply with EULA and wipe pc, sell it fully complying with EULA and new owner of pc installs same version of Windows on a trial basis, it activates automatically.

So is old owner guilty of encouraging piracy? Obviously not as owner complied with EULA.

However, if old owner gave it to a friend knowing it would activate that is probably piracy but proving it......

Is new owner guilty of piracy? Obviously not if he bought pc in good faith i.e. no Windows

I have come to the conclusion MS does really not care but just wants as many devices activated as it can which means even if you sold your PC wiping it completely new owner gets a "bonus".

They were prepared to give a billion free upgrades and only got just over half of that, so a few extra activations as above is just chicken shit in the scheme of things, and the cost of policing such cases probably far exceeds any lost revenue by two orders of magnitude.

Just did a test in a vm with Home activated with 1703. I personalised the various settings in Home, then upgraded to Pro using the generic key and it retained all my personalisations. Interestingly not even a watermark.


So apart from inability to further personalise (which I rarely do once setup), I cannot even tell it is unactivated apart from the messages in start menu.


I can now see why MS removed ability to upgrade to Pro just via generic key from 1709 onwards.

cereberus said:

Just did a test in a vm with Home activated with 1703. I personalised the various settings in Home, then upgraded to Pro using the generic key and it retained all my personalisations. Interestingly not even a watermark.


So apart from inability to further personalise (which I rarely do once setup), I cannot even tell it is unactivated apart from the messages in start menu.


I can now see why MS removed ability to upgrade to Pro just via generic key from 1709 onwards.

You will eventually get a windows is not activated or similar message. Yeah, before that change, it would upgrade "then" try to activate. Any body that had used an illegal key was stuck on Pro with no easy way to get back to their legal Home. Now it validates the key first, and if its good, then does the upgrade. Much better way to do it IMHO. If you use the generic keys it looks for a matching DL first. If non is found it doesn't upgrade. No harm no foul.

alphanumeric said:

You will eventually get a windows is not activated or similar message. Yeah, before that change, it would upgrade "then" try to activate. Any body that had used an illegal key was stuck on Pro with no easy way to get back to their legal Home. Now it validates the key first, and if its good, then does the upgrade. Much better way to do it IMHO. If you use the generic keys it looks for a matching DL first. If non is found it doesn't upgrade. No harm no foul.

Agreed but I think the reason MS stopped it was too many were running PRO free of charge?

cereberus said:

Agreed but I think the reason MS stopped it was too many were running PRO free of charge?

That too, once the generic keys leaked out. At one time MVP's were advised to only post partial keys, the last 5 etc.