How to get genuine license key from machine

jk22 · 18 Feb 2019

f14tomcat said:

Ahhhhhh!! You can't get there from here. You are using a computer that is registered to whomever you work for, it would seem. Is this a Work Computer? Or a Personal at Home system with a Business License?

I used Pre-Activated Windows 10 Pro. Now I thought when I have Windows 8.1 Genuine License so why not use genuine Windows 10.

f14tomcat · 18 Feb 2019

jk22 said:

I used Pre-Activated Windows 10 Pro. Now I thought when I have Windows 8.1 Genuine License so why not use genuine Windows 10.

May I ask where and how you obtained a Pre-Activated Windows installation? Some Googling seems to indicate it may be a Builders License. I am not totally certain. Can you help with some details?

One pic that would be helpful is a WINVER. Just open a command prompt, and type WINVER, enter. Please post the entire image as seen. Example of mine (I personalized mine a bit).

How to get genuine license key from machine-2019-02-18_08h21_20.png

NavyLCDR · 18 Feb 2019

jk22 said:

I used Pre-Activated Windows 10 Pro. Now I thought when I have Windows 8.1 Genuine License so why not use genuine Windows 10.

"Pre-activated" is the term used to describe an illegal activation scheme with a local KMS server embedded in the Windows installation.

@jk22, this is what you need to do. Let the Microsoft Media Creation Tool create a genuine USB flash drive for you. Don't worry about Home or Pro, it will contain a whole bunch of different versions. Boot the computer from the flash drive. Select the custom install option. Delete the existing Windows 10 installation. Note if your user data files are on C: drive, this is going to erase them. Also delete all the system and recovery partitions associated with the current Windows installation. Then highlight the resulting unallocated space to install to and click next to let Windows set everything up.

Don't worry about activation or which edition is getting installed. After you connect to the internet you will find that you have a true, genuine, legally activated installation of Windows 10 Pro.

You won't need a product key.

jk22 · 18 Feb 2019

NavyLCDR said:

"Pre-activated" is the term used to describe an illegal activation scheme with a local KMS server embedded in the Windows installation.

@jk22, this is what you need to do. Let the Microsoft Media Creation Tool create a genuine USB flash drive for you. Don't worry about Home or Pro, it will contain a whole bunch of different versions. Boot the computer from the flash drive. Select the custom install option. Delete the existing Windows 10 installation. Note if your user data files are on C: drive, this is going to erase them. Also delete all the system and recovery partitions associated with the current Windows installation. Then highlight the resulting unallocated space to install to and click next to let Windows set everything up.

Don't worry about activation or which edition is getting installed. After you connect to the internet you will find that you have a true, genuine, legally activated installation of Windows 10 Pro.

You won't need a product key.

What do you mean by this:

Also delete all the system and recovery partitions associated with the current Windows installation.

I have 2 partitions. C and D drive. Windows is installed on C drive.

Moreover, are you sure I will have Windows 10 Pro as I had Windows 8.1 RTM Pro ?

NavyLCDR · 18 Feb 2019

jk22 said:

What do you mean by this:

Also delete all the system and recovery partitions associated with the current Windows installation.

I have 2 partitions. C and D drive. Windows is installed on C drive.

Moreover, are you sure I will have Windows 10 Pro as I had Windows 8.1 RTM Pro ?

1. Then you would just need to delete the C: drive partition.

2. You will get Windows 10 Pro because the product key for Windows 8.1 Pro is embedded in Bios.

Superfly · 18 Feb 2019

@jk22
You have genuine Win 8 Pro licence that can be upgraded to Win 10 Pro for free (AFAIK it's still working)

You also have this key installed: W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX = Win 10 RTM Professional Volume:GVLK = KMS activation (if not part of a corporate LAN = illegit)

So ... get rid of the exploit (search for all instances of KMS on C:\ drive and registry and delete them) or better still clean install Win 10 Pro and it will activate with the OEM key once internet connection is in place.

Remember: always use genuine MS downloads ... irrespective of the illegitimacy there may be malicious intent should you not ...

alphanumeric · 18 Feb 2019

I would wipe the drive / erase everything. Who knows what other nasties were bundled with your "pre-activated" install.

Download some safe install media via the Media Creation tool. Do a custom install and delete all the partitions. Then just install into the unallocated space. Windows will create the partitions it needs all on its own.
If you are prompted for a key try entering the Windows 8 Pro key. If won't accept it just click the I don't have one option, and select 10 Pro from the list.
Then try entering the 8 Pro key again in the activation window in settings.

f14tomcat · 18 Feb 2019

Thank you @NavyLCDR and @Superfly for your posts. I was hinting at the legitimacy in my last post above, but did not want to assume without further data.

The clean install with a genuine MS downloaded/created ISO deleting all of C: partition is the best choice, IMO.

jk22 · 18 Feb 2019

NavyLCDR said:

1. Then you would just need to delete the C: drive partition.

2. You will get Windows 10 Pro because the product key for Windows 8.1 Pro is embedded in Bios.

Superfly said:

@jk22
You have genuine Win 8 Pro licence that can be upgraded to Win 10 Pro for free (AFAIK it's still working)

You also have this key installed: W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX = Win 10 RTM Professional Volume:GVLK = KMS activation (if not part of a corporate LAN = illegit)

So ... get rid of the exploit (search for all instances of KMS on C:\ drive and registry and delete them) or better still clean install Win 10 Pro and it will activate with the OEM key once internet connection is in place.

Remember: always use genuine MS downloads ... irrespective of the illegitimacy there may be malicious intent should you not ...

alphanumeric said:

I would wipe the drive / erase everything. Who knows what other nasties were bundled with your "pre-activated" install.

Download some safe install media via the Media Creation tool. Do a custom install and delete all the partitions. Then just install into the unallocated space. Windows will create the partitions it needs all on its own.
If you are prompted for a key try entering the Windows 8 Pro key. If won't accept it just click the I don't have one option, and select 10 Pro from the list.
Then try entering the 8 Pro key again in the activation window in settings.

Thatswhy I asked for it to use Genuine Key.

jk22 · 18 Feb 2019

f14tomcat said:

Thank you @NavyLCDR and @Superfly for your posts. I was hinting at the legitimacy in my last post above, but did not want to assume without further data.

The clean install with a genuine MS downloaded/created ISO deleting all of C: partition is the best choice, IMO.

Okay I will do that!