Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

alphanumeric said:

That's as good an explanation as any.

slmgr /dlv just shows me the info for the currently installed OS. Not sure what you mean by multiple licenses on the activation screen? Which activation screen? I may not reply to this until tomorrow. My chronic pain has spiked and it won't be long before I have to call it quits for the night.

I might have mis-read post# 23 ... I thought you were saying that you see information about multiple editions for one machine. You were probably just enumerating the digital licenses that have been on the machine at one time or another.

Bill
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lx07 said:

Not for me - I just tried it.

Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". Change to local and it just drops the words "linked to your Microsoft account". Change back and they come back again.

What are MS trying to do, make a totally monopolised OS. They are saying in quite a few apps, log in with your microsoft log in - even when installing it asks you for your microsoft log in and password. NO! I select the sign in without ............

I do have a MS log in via outlook but I do not use it as default and do not require password log ins. Default mail in windows took me quite a while to get it to accept gmail!! They dont make it easy. Leave us alone MS, its my pc, not yours.

There are supposedly various advantages tied to loging in with a Microsoft ID, The main one is the ability to move the digital licence between hardware or hardware changed that much that it would fail activation and need you to contact Microsoft and go through hoops to get the OS working.

Yes it helps Microsoft to have their IDs in use but, as the OS is licensed not owned, they could if they wished make the use of a Microsoft ID for login Compulsary

Slartybart said:

I might have mis-read post# 23 ... I thought you were saying that you see information about multiple editions for one machine. You were probably just enumerating the digital licenses that have been on the machine at one time or another.

Bill
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Yes, I was just listing the entitlements each PC has based on installation history for that PC. Right now you would never know this PC has entitlements for Home or Pro. Other than the fact that I know it does from past experience. Info for the Device listed under my Microsoft Account online just shows the currently installed OS. Apologies if that was confusing.

I like the changes. For me, it's one less OS that I have to keep track of what key was used on what PC. And I always use a Microsoft ID anyway.

Barman58 said:

There are supposedly various advantages tied to loging in with a Microsoft ID, The main one is the ability to move the digital licence between hardware or hardware changed that much that it would fail activation and need you to contact Microsoft and go through hoops to get the OS working.

Yes it helps Microsoft to have their IDs in use but, as the OS is licensed not owned, they could if they wished make the use of a Microsoft ID for login Compulsary

Many thanks. As I understand it, use of a MS ID makes a password to open pc compulsory, am I correct? Like when installing it insists on a password when installing with MS ID?

edit: I just saw a sign in with mS Account, so to see what happens I entered my email and password, it said to do password again, then I would be prompted to sign in when I use pc - no thanks, I do not want password opening, I want to open pc and go to desktop.

NavyLCDR said:

And here's a twist. What if a second user logs into the computer with their Microsoft Account? . I'll bet the activation screen says that the computer is activated with a digital license associated with that users Microsoft Account.

I have 3 users on my pc - I have digital too

Activation helps verify that your copy of Windows is genuine and hasn’t been used on more devices than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow. Depending on how you got your copy of Windows 10, activation will use either a digital license or a 25-character product key.


Digital license (called a digital entitlement in Windows 10 Version 1511) is a method of activation in Windows 10 that doesn't require you to enter a product key.

How you got Windows 10	Activation method
You upgraded to Windows 10 for free from an eligible device running a genuine copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.	Digital license
You bought genuine Windows 10 from the Windows Store and successfully activated Windows 10.	Digital license
You bought a Windows 10 Pro upgrade from the Windows Store and successfully activated Windows 10.	Digital license
You’re a Windows Insider and upgraded to the newest Windows 10 Insider Preview build on an eligible device that was running an activated previous version of Windows and Windows 10 Preview.	Digital license
You bought a copy of Windows 10 from an authorized retailer.	Product key (On a label inside the Windows 10 box. A digital license will be given to your device for Windows 10 based on the valid product key you entered.)
You bought a digital copy of Windows 10 from an authorized retailer.	Product key (In the confirmation email you received after buying Windows 10 or in a digital locker accessible through the retailer’s website. A digital license will be given to your device for Windows 10 based on the valid product key you entered.)
You have a Volume Licensing agreement for Windows 10 or MSDN subscription.	Product key (Available through the web portal for your program.)
You bought a new device running Windows 10.	Product key (Pre–installed on your device, included with the device packaging, or included as a card or on the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) attached to the device.)

alphanumeric said:

Info for the Device listed under my Microsoft Account online just shows the currently installed OS. Apologies if that was confusing.

I believe this is very significant. I have a dual boot home/pro setup with both on RS1 and activated, and each linked to my MSA.

I had an old netbook with XP gathering dust (I had forgotten about it), and I clean installed windows 10 home on it (worked first time and pretty good performance!).

I found I could not see 10 Home with the activation tool (it showed the 10 pro but as "others" not valid for use with 10 home install). This was because the MSA only lists the last installed OS as a device (I installed PRO later). I am not sure if I boot main PC back to Home if the device manager will change to showing the Home, or if it is a function of which was the last to be installed.

The crucial point is that you can only transfer or reactivate a digital licence with the tool, if it can see it.

The implication here is that if you got a mobo failure with two or more editions of windows, you will only be able to reactivate the last one!

Thus the system is not clever enough to list the same device with different versions of windows!

The only way I can see round this is to install Home say with one MSA, and Pro with another MSA. It may also be necessary to ALWAYS login with MSA 1 for Home, and MSA 2 for Pro if logging in with other changes device on MSA (I need to test this further).

cereberus said:

I believe this is very significant. I have a dual boot home/pro setup with both on RS1 and activated, and each linked to my MSA.

I had an old netbook with XP gathering dust (I had forgotten about it), and I clean installed windows 10 home on it (worked first time and pretty good performance!).

I found I could not see 10 Home with the activation tool (it showed the 10 pro but as "others" not valid for use with 10 home install). This was because the MSA only lists the last installed OS as a device (I installed PRO later). I am not sure if I boot main PC back to Home if the device manager will change to showing the Home, or if it is a function of which was the last to be installed.

The crucial point is that you can only transfer or reactivate a digital licence with the tool, if it can see it.

The implication here is that if you got a mobo failure with two or more editions of windows, you will only be able to reactivate the last one!

Thus the system is not clever enough to list the same device with different versions of windows!

The only way I can see round this is to install Home say with one MSA, and Pro with another MSA. It may also be necessary to ALWAYS login with MSA 1 for Home, and MSA 2 for Pro if logging in with other changes device on MSA (I need to test this further).

For the casual PC user that's likely not an issue, how many would be using more than one version of Windows 10 on a device? I'm not dismissing what your saying, it is an issue.. For me, I have enough MSDN keys to reinstall whichever OS I want to run. Most of my entitlements were via the free upgrade. The only keys I've had to use are some Education and Enterprise. And Enterprise doesn't count in this scenario anyway. It wouldn't be that big a deal (license wise) if my PC died and I couldn't recover them all. What seems to be very simple can end up being very complicated if you test different version, and or dual boot.