Windows 10 home serial key or number

In brief For the longest time Windows PCs came with a product key sticker that was placed outside of the machine or with your computer's manuals. But in recent years manufacturers started storing this license within the machine's UEFI/BIOS and the information is automatically retrieved and applied when reinstalling the operating system. Certainly a better approach overall. In other instances, for example if you built and installed your OS, your key is associated with your Microsoft account, so there is no way to "lose it" anymore. Read on for more details.

Microsoft has been changing and improving the way it handles Windows licenses. We'll cover all you need to know in this article, from old school ways to retrieve keys, to the more modern approaches to make good use of your licenses and what restrictions may apply depending on your type of license.

Windows 10 introduced a "Digital Entitlement" element to Microsoft's license which links your Windows key to an ID generated based on your PC's hardware. But because your hardware can significantly change if you upgrade your hardware, this entitlement was expanded to become a "Digital License" when 's Anniversary Update () arrived.

This means your Windows 10 license now ties Windows keys to Microsoft accounts, letting you activate a copy of the operating system simply by logging in with valid online credentials.

So, if you have a newer Windows PC or you already log in using your Microsoft account, you generally shouldn't have to search for your original Windows 10 key. We will explain that in better detail in a minute.

There may be other scenarios where you may still want to manually find a Windows key stored in your UEFI/BIOS, or prevent this key from automatically being applied during installation. Not to mention that different conditions apply for non-OEM retail keys, as well as those given to people who upgraded to Windows 10 for free. And in a worst case scenario, you might be trying to find the license for a copy of Windows that no longer boots.

Editor's Note: This feature was originally published on December 14, It's just as relevant today, so we've bumped it as part of our #ThrowbackThursday initiative.

Windows OEM keys vs. retail vs. free upgrade

There are many types of Windows licenses with varying terms of use. As a general rule of thumb:

• OEM keys are shipped with a specific computer and can't be transferred to another machine. Again, these should be auto-applied from your UEFI/BIOS when reinstalling Windows on a modern boxed PC, but you can also retrieve them manually.
• Retail keys are purchased directly from Microsoft, Amazon etc. -- these can be transferred to another machine and that process should happen automatically for a digital license, though you can also "uninstall" a Windows key from a given PC.
• Those who upgraded to Windows 10 for free from Windows 7 and 8 don't have a unique Windows 10 key. This can only be transferred to one other machine (not if you upgraded from an OEM key). Free upgrade licenses are a digital entitlement.

Do I have a digital license?

The Windows 10 Settings app has a page for displaying your activation information, including whether you have a digital license, though your key isn't shown here:

Go to: Settings > Update & Security > Activation

If you have a digital license, you should see "Windows is activated with a digital license" or "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account."

You can also link a Microsoft account to a Windows license by clicking "add a Microsoft Account" on the bottom of the same page and providing your login information.

Find your key from inside Windows

Entering the following lines into an admin Command Prompt or PowerShell worked to display the OEM key embedded in our system's UEFI/BIOS. However, these commands didn't return any keys on other two machines we used for testing despite Windows 10 being activated.

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

or

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey"

There's also a commonly cited Visual Basic script that retrieves registry-based Windows keys (not those stored in the UEFI/BIOS). You can download the script here. Copy this text and paste it into Notepad, saving it as a .vbs file. Then double-click to launch the file.

Third-party tools that find Windows keys

We downloaded a variety of utilities that can retrieve retail keys from the Windows registry as well as those that are UEFI/BIOS-bound. In testing, some of the applications found both the registry and UEFI/BIOS keys, while others only worked for one or the other:

Nirsoft ProduKey - Found both the embedded OEM key as well as the retail key from our currently running copy of Windows. Also includes keys for many other applications such as Microsoft Office and Adobe products (strangely, Internet Explorer was also included in our results, though no key was provided). As with some of the other tools on this list, ProduKey can load Windows keys from external sources/drives.

ShowKey Plus - This utility also found both our retail and OEM keys, and can load the SOFTWARE hive file from another Windows installation.

Windows 10 Product Key Tool - Made by the developer of EasyBCD, this tool located our UEFI OEM key but didn't find the retail license on our Windows To Go drive.

Winkeyfinder - Found our retail key but Dell's UEFI OEM key wasn't displayed.

Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder - Returned the retail key but not the UEFI OEM key. This software can also load registry keys from Windows installations on other drives (tools > Load Hive). Listed our Windows 10 Pro install as Enterprise.

Find your key from outside Windows

If you can't boot into Windows and want to retrieve that key, you can still access this data from an external environment such as a Windows To Go drive, or by attaching your non-booting Windows drive to another machine.

Note that if you're recovering the key from a Windows To Go workspace, the non-booting drive with your Windows key is offline by default and will have to be enabled in Disk Management (cromwellpsi.com). Right-click the drive and set it as "online." As mentioned above, several of the third-party tools that we already listed will let you load the registry hive file from another Windows installation.

You can also navigate to your license directly from the Windows registry (regedit via Start) though the key is not in plain text. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ and look for "DigitalProductId" in the right panel.

This registry hive is stored in a file on your OS drive at Windows\System32\Config -- look for the file named SOFTWARE.

In testing, both ProduKey and ShowKey Plus loaded the SOFTWARE hive file and displayed the key for an external Windows installation via Windows To Go. Also note that ProduKey can search for Windows keys on computers at remote domains among other locations, and that the Windows Registry Editor can load hive files from other installations:

• Open the Windows Registry Editor (enter regedit via Start)
• Click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE so it's selected
• Click File > Load Hive and navigate to the SOFTWARE file in Windows\System32\Config on your other drive
• Enter a name for this external hive file
• The hive should appear as a sub-entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• To unload the hive, select the name you chose and go to File > Unload Hive

Retrieving the UEFI/BIOS-bound Windows key via Linux was as simple as entering the following line in a terminal, though we couldn't find any GUI applications like ProduKey or ShowKey Plus that would retrieve the license from a registry hive file:

sudo strings /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM | tail -1

The command-line tool Chntpw can be installed on Linux and is able to load Windows registry files. This software didn't return a valid key when decoding the product ID within the tool, though if you had to you could extract the hex data and decode that elsewhere.

If you have a boot disc around, Chntpw (also known as Offline NT Password & Registry Editor) is part of many all-in-one recovery solutions such as Ultimate Boot CD and Hiren's Boot CD.

Here's how to load a Windows registry file in Chntpw from a Linux terminal and then display the hex value for the key in that hive (use dpi instead of hex to decode the key within chntpw, though again, this didn't give us a valid key):

chntpw -e YourDrive/Windows/System32/config/SOFTWARE

hex Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId

Additional resources

Although it's convenient to have your Windows key automatically detected from the UEFI/BIOS, you'll have to tweak the Windows installation media if you want to use another license.

Open the installation media in File Explorer, browse to the Sources folder and create a new text file named cromwellpsi.com in the Sources folder. In cromwellpsi.com, you want the following text, where the Xs correspond to your license key.

[PID]
Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Uninstalling a retail key from a given machine is also possible and while this doesn't automatically update the information on Microsoft's servers, it will prevent future conflicts from multiple machines using the same key.

Enter the following line in an administrator Command Prompt to uninstall the currently active product license and clear that key from the Windows registry (here are more slmgr commands):

cromwellpsi.com /upk

slmgr /cpky

As a final anecdote from testing, when we uninstalled and cleared the key from our Windows installation, we were able to reactivate that copy of Windows simply by clicking "Troubleshoot" on the activation page.

One click and that wizard retrieved our digital license, despite not being linked to a Microsoft account. And again, this was for a retail key that was originally used on a desktop which was cloned as a Windows To Go drive and plugged into another machine with a different hardware profile. In other words, with luck, Microsoft's activation is forgiving enough and you should have no issues validating your OS license on a new machine or after several hardware changes.

More Useful Tips

Windows 10 has now become the world’s most popular operating system as million users. Windows 10 was released on July 29, , and it comes with great new features that let you do things easily and fast.

To activate Windows 10, you need a digital license or a product key. If you&#;re ready to activate, select Open Activation in Settings. Click Change product key to enter a Windows 10 product key. If Windows 10 was previously activated on your device, your copy of Windows 10 should be activated automatically.

A digital license (called a digital entitlement in Windows 10, Version ) is a method of activation in Windows 10 that doesn&#;t require you to enter a product key. If you upgraded to Windows 10 for free from an activated copy of Windows 7 or Windows , you should have a digital license instead of a product key

What Makes Windows 10 Unique?

The best windows operating system brings you the most innovative tools and security features that will not only make your device secure but also enables you to perform your daily task in the most creative and productive way. Windows 10 uses and combines some cool features of windows 7 and windows 8 which make it stand out from other Microsoft Operating Systems.

Windows 10 Iso Download here.

After download Windows 10 iso, you can read this article to know How to Install Windows 10 from USB.

I also sell cheap Windows 10 Pro product key ($20/ key). If you want to buy it you can visit: cromwellpsi.com

Windows 10 Product Key Free

• Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview build , , and 6P99N-YF42M-TPGBG-9VMJP-YKHCF
• Windows 10 Core Insider Preview build , , , and KTNPV-KTRKRRRX6W-W44T3
• Windows 10 Technical Preview: NKJFK-GPHP7-G8C3J-P6JXR-HQRJR
• Windows 10 Enterprise Insider Preview build and VTNMT-2FMYP-QCYQR9VK-WTVCK
• Windows 10 Professional Insider Preview build , , , and 8N67H-M3CY9-QT7CTR7M-TXYCV
• Windows 10 Professional build YTYG9-FR8RD-QBQC8-HC7JJJFF

If these keys don’t work, you can find a new method in this article. I tested on

This method is legal. You can read these articles to know:

How to activate Windows 10 without product key

Step 1: You select the right key for your Windows.

Here is the list of Windows 10 volume license keys:

Windows 10 Pro Key: WN-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX

Home: TX9XDN7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
Home N: 3KHY7-WNTDGQKR-F7HPRBM
Home Single Language: 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
Home Country Specific: PVMJN-6DFYCCPBKTT-D3WVR
Professional N: MH37W-N47XK-V7XM9-CGCQG9

Professional Workstations: NRG8B-VKK3Q-CXVCJ-9G2XF-6Q84J

Professional Workstations N: 9FNHH-K3HBT-3W4TDH-6XYWF

Professional Education: 6TP4R-GNPTD-KYYHQ-7B7DP-JY
Education: NW6C2-QMPVW-D7KKK-3GKT6-VCFB2
Education N: 2WH4N-8QGBV-H22JP-CT43Q-MDWWJ
Enterprise: NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-HK-2YT43
Enterprise N: DPH2V-TTNVB-4X9Q3-TJR4H-KHJW4

Enterprise G: YYVX9-NTFWV-6MDMPT4T-4M68B

Enterprise G N: 44RPN-FTYVTTB-MP9BX-T84FV

Enterprise LTSC M7XTQ-FN8P6-TTKYV-9D4CC-JD

Enterprise N LTSC 92NFX-8DJQP-P6BBQ-THF9C-7CG2H

Enterprise LTSB DCPHK-NFMTC-H88MJ-PFHPY-QJ4BJ

Enterprise N LTSB QFFDN-GRT3P-VKWWX-X7T3R-8B

Windows 10 Core: 33QT6-RCNYF-DXB4F-DGP7B-7MHX9

Windows 10 S (Lean): NBTWJ-3DRC4V8-C26MC-GQ9M6

Windows 10 Pro build  VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

If you don&#;t know which Windows 10 edition you use, you can read this article to know it: cromwellpsi.com

Step 2: You right-click on the start button and open Command Prompt (Admin).

Step 3: You use the command “slmgr /ipk yourlicensekey” to install a license key (yourlicensekey is the activation key you got at step 1).

(*Note*: You need to hit [Enter] key to execute commands.)

Step 4: You use the command “slmgr /skms cromwellpsi.com” to connect to my KMS server.

Step 5: The last step is to activate your Windows using the command “slmgr /ato”.

You check the activation status again.

You can watch this video to know how to use Windows 10 product key to activate Windows 10

You can use this method to remove activate Windows 10 watermark

If this method doesn&#;t work, you can try the new method here: How to activate windows 10 without product key free

I hope you will find the right Windows 10 serial keys for your pc.

Tag: how to find windows 10 product key, windows 10 pro product key, windows 10 product key free , windows 10 home key, windows 10 license key, how to find windows 10 product key, windows 10 activation key, windows 10 product key bit, windows 10 product key bit, windows 10 enterprise product key, windows 10 home product key, activate windows 10

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Unfortunately I have not purchased a Windows 10 OEM device to do full testing with.

So maybe I can help you by asking more questions. 

1. It also seems like there is no sticker to identify the Edition? Does the F2 Dell UEFI BIOS setup mention anything about the preinstalled Edition? Power down your computer. Wait 10 seconds and power it up. Press F2 at the Dell BIOS Screen.

2. Does the product ID have the words OEM?

3. For the upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7/ OEM the activation was device based but this activation mechanism means Dell have to complete Windows installation and connect every device to the internetso its more likely a unique key will be embedded in the UEFI BIOS:

cromwellpsi.com

4. Can you tell me if RW-Everything reports a MSDM tab?

cromwellpsi.com#OEMKey