Win 10 Full Version OEM License

OEM licenses are tied to the computer they are first installed on and used by the 'brands' such as HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc., may be branded and not usable on a different brand such as Dell can't be used on Lenovo, etc. A System Builder license would be used by shops building custom machines. If a computer running Home has been activated it has a Digital License. I've Upgrade from Home on a few computers by simply entering a previously unused Pro Product Key, usually from Win7 or once from Win8, leftover from a Microsoft Partners subscription which is now discontinued.

dagoldman said:

Greetings,
I am new to the OEM Licensing. I have 10 computers I am trying to upgrade from 10 Home to 10 Pro and unknowing the difference from OEM and Digital I purchased 10 OEM Licenses from a third party on the internet. Upon trying to use for activation, I received errors that a digital license wasn't found. In hopes to not be out this money is there a way to be able to use the OEMs? Is it possible to set up a deployment server to create a product key from the OEMs? This is for a business and want to be legitimate so I'm not looking for any illegal scenarios.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds like you have been scammed.

End users are only allowed to buy system builder OEM licences if they are legitimate system builders i.e. you sell pcs for a living.

As you clearly wish to have a legitimate business, you either have to set up a volume licence agreement, or buy individual retail licences per pc (best direct from MS where you can upgrade from Home to Pro at 50% cost of buying a full Pro licence). Nobody else sells upgrades to a Home licence.

For clarity - an oem licence is only valid on first pc you install it on and is not transferable
(basically like buying an economy flight ticket).

A full retail licence is fully transferable to new pcs (like a full fair flight ticket)

However, if you buy full pro retail licences, they are fully transferable to new pcs. An upgrade is fully transferable only if the original licence was full retail.

For full business flexibility, a volume licence agreement may be better but you have to pay an annual cost. It is debatable if it is worth it for a small company with only 10 pcs.

Sometimes you are lucky and the oem licences work but as a business, you run risk of audits that could damage company reputation if it is seen that you are not wholly legitimate (not exactly illegal but sady for sure). If it was my business, I would not risk it.

The cheapest way of being totally legit is to upgrade your existing Windows 10 Home licences from MS Store - approx £100 per licence.