OEM key activated in 2 machines at the same time

This just goes to show (yet again) that product keys are superior than digital licences.

I'm gonna revert to the Generic Win10 Pro RETAIL key since I have a digital licence for HP Omen anyway which I bought recently from MS Store app.

Good experiment and discussion, I learned new things.

- - - Updated - - -

Back to retail channel for Omen:



I'm starting to get how this works.

MaloK said:

... I'm pretty sure a good W7 key will activate 11 but I've yet to try it.

It does, I've use the CoA key from an old dead W7 PC of mine to activate a clean install of 11 in a VM.

Bree said:

It does, I've use the CoA key from an old dead W7 PC of mine to activate a clean install of 11 in a VM.

Nice

krollo said:

This just goes to show (yet again) that product keys are superior than digital licences.

I'm gonna revert to the Generic Win10 Pro RETAIL key since I have a digital licence for HP Omen anyway which I bought recently from MS Store app.

Good experiment and discussion, I learned new things.

- - - Updated - - -

Back to retail channel for Omen:



I'm starting to get how this works.

Huh - superior?

That is just not true. The keys on W10 are only used to validate you have a legitimate licence. The key is not the licence, just an enabler to get a digital licence. The figital licence is definitely superior as you do not need to even prove you have a valid key upon reinstalls - it is fully automatic. If you were on Windows 8 and tried to activate it with a W7 key, it would not activate.

The free upgrade from W7/8 to W10 was officially only one year but MS never removed this.

If you upgrade to W11, you get activated automatically i.e. the upgrade is free due to the fact it uses the same digital licence.

I am betting if you bought a W1 key, you could use it to activate W10 (effectively giving free downgrade rights unlike W7/8) but this is speculation.

cereberus said:

Huh - superior?

That is just not true. The keys on W10 are only used to validate you have a legitimate licence. The key is not the licence, just an enabler to get a digital licence. The figital licence is definitely superior as you do not need to even prove you have a valid key upon reinstalls - it is fully automatic. If you were on Windows 8 and tried to activate it with a W7 key, it would not activate.

The free upgrade from W7/8 to W10 was officially only one year but MS never removed this.

If you upgrade to W11, you get activated automatically i.e. the upgrade is free due to the fact it uses the same digital licence.

I am betting if you bought a W1 key, you could use it to activate W10 (effectively giving free downgrade rights unlike W7/8) but this is speculation.

It is a known fact actual product keys are easier to move around machine to machine than digital licences via the MS account where you are to use the Activation Troubleshooter in certain cases. It's good on paper but never really works out as smoothly since I experienced this problem.

Issues activating digital licences purchased from the MS Store are documented and known - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ans...rprise-an.html

I have a Win7 Pro OEM product key from years ago that easily activated Win10 Pro OEM in this experiment. As confirmed by another, it will also be able to activate Win11 Pro OEM.

The next time I ever have to upgrade an OS again, it will be by the usual product keys. I just tried MS Store for once.

krollo said:

It is a known fact actual product keys are easier to move around machine to machine than digital licences via the MS account where you are to use the Activation Troubleshooter in certain cases. It's good on paper but never really works out as smoothly since I experienced this problem.

Issues activating digital licences purchased from the MS Store are documented and known - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ans...rprise-an.html

I have a Win7 Pro OEM product key from years ago that easily activated Win10 Pro OEM in this experiment. As confirmed by another, it will also be able to activate Win11 Pro OEM.

The next time I ever have to upgrade an OS again, it will be by the usual product keys. I just tried MS Store for once.

You do not fully comprehend. A key is not the licence. If you have a key it is checked by MS and if a valid key you get granted a digital licence. Key based licences no longer exist in same way as W7/8 (apart from volume licences).

If you have a retail key, it is easier to activate a new pcfor sure. If you have an oem key, it is hit or miss.

The digital licence transfer mechanism is not actually designed for actuating new pcs. It was introduced to enable people to reactivate pc e.g. if mobo had a hardware failure - typically most windows pcs are sold with embedded bios keys. Before Windows 10, a dead mobo meant licence was also dead.

cereberus said:

If you have a retail key, it is easier to activate a new pcfor sure. If you have an oem key, it is hit or miss.

This is what I meant on the 'product key' being better - retail product keys to be exact. The fact that OEM keys can sometimes be successful, is also added bonus.

I confirm I encountered this exact issue with the digital licencsing from Home to Pro (see article) - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ans...rprise-an.html

And is known to be a common occurence in this upgrade path if you specifically purchased from the MS Store app (which I actually did).

MaloK said:

In windows 10 a key is not required to have a digital license, But a valid key will grant you a digital license. Any of both methods of activation will result in the emission of a digital license associated with your device or your MS account.

Thanks @MaloK, I like this bit. I prefer to stick with having actual product keys whenever I can next time since it's just easier for me that way. Just purchasing a digital licence without the product key from MS Store was cumbersome based on experience.