Is there an inherent Microsoft-Exclusive way of obtaining Windows 10 Activation keys from existing installations? Even if this is not necessary with Windows 10 specifically, I want to emphasize my interest in non-3rd-party ways of getting such keys from prior versions of Windows too.  Unnecessary Background Info:  I've upgraded numerous workstation to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and Windows 8.  I want to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch on one of these workstation, but I don't want to have to install windows 7 (or 8) first.  Before doing this, I'd like to obtain the activation key from the current installation of Windows 10.  In the past, I've always resorted to using 3rd Party software to obtain keys, but have never liked doing so.  Is there an inherent Microsoft-Exclusive way of obtaining Windows 10 Activation keys from existing installations?
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I have not found any information from MS - only speculations from people like me, so I hope someone here has had better findings.  When I upgrade a qualified version of Windows to Windows 10 and then want to do a clean install, I've heard that the installer won't ask for a key. But what if my HDD is formatted before I attempt the clean install? How does Windows 10 try to detect the valid "upgraded" status? It seems that it doesn't in such a case, at least as far as I've tested.  So my question is: In that (or a similar) scenario: How do you clean install Windows 10?  In my case it's actually even more complicated. I'm from Germany so I can re-use OEM-licenses due to law. I have two qualified Windows OEM licenses which I both installed in a VM on my Linux installation and upgraded both to Windows 10.  Now I want to install one of them onto my bare physical machine - how would that be possible? Is there an official way of doing this or do I need to wait for those unofficial "backup license"-tools being updated to work with Windows 10?
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Without a product key being labelled, is there is any way to identify what Microsoft software product a given product key is meant to activate?   Let's say for example I had the product key ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-PQRST-UVWXY, but I had no clue if was meant for Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, Vista Ultimate, or even Office 2010. Is there a way I could identify the software product the key is meant for (or at least get a good estimate)?     Note: I have searched and searched many times on the Internet, but the only results I ever find are how to recover a lost product key by using something like . This is not what I am looking for.
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I just bought a serial for Windows 7 on-line from the Microsoft store (the most painful shopping experience EVER!). I selected that I wanted to download my version of Windows 7 after purchase. After payment, I have listed a Product Key but no download link in sight.   Where do I download my Windows 7 ISO to burn to disk?  Note: I'm not a Technet or MSDN subscriber.
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Where can one find the key of the installed windows 10 operating system on the surface book?  I tried to find it on the case and asked google but couldn't find an answer.
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One of our remote Windows 7 Professional users just reported that he received an Upgrade Reservation Offer for Windows 10. It appears the  running in his system tray is legit. So far, this is only seems to be hitting  devices that are not domain-joined.  Short of uninstalling/hiding the Windows Update that enabled the upgrade, is there any way to disable the Upgrade App (and of course the upgrade itself)?
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I have upgraded my Windows 8 to Windows 10 recently. After that, I bought a SSD drive for my notebook and removed the regular HDD drive from it and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 (Home edition). The HDD was put in a external USB case, so I can access my old files and old Windows installation partition as well.  The problem is now I'm having some issues to activate my fresh installation of Windows. I'm not really sure that I should've installed Windows 10 Home or another version.  How can I determine which Windows version is in the old HDD, given that all files are still accessible, but the system itself is not running?  I could just swap the SSD and the HDD again and boot the old system, but it'll be better to find a "software" way of doing that.  addresses what I'm looking for, but for Windows XP. The proposed file doesn't exists in my old installation.
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I have a Windows machine (laptop) that needs fixing. The current installation is really badly broken (e.g. the taskbar is unresponsive, but the Explorer windows work, booting takes literally half an hour) and when I try to access the settings app and click on the tile to access the reset settings it instantly crashes. The same happens in Safe Mode.  I have created a USB install medium using the tool offered by Windows on my own Windows desktop machine. I've ensured that both the laptop and the USB tool have the same version of Windows (Home, 64-bit, NL). When I want to reinstall Windows on the laptop with this stick I am asked to enter a serial number which I obviously don't have. I don't want to try and see if I can phone activate it, because if it fails the install is gone.  I need to reinstall this Windows machine from a USB stick. There are a few problems I can't find an immediate solution for on the .   If I use a tool such as  to extract the serial number, will this work? If the above does not work, how can I reinstall this Windows machine?
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We get a lot of questions on Super User about Windows activation and licensing. This question is an attempt to answer the most common questions in one place with a .   When reinstalling Windows, the following questions often come up:   Can I transfer the copy of Windows from my old computer to a new one? Does the license key on the sticker on my computer work on any computer? If I have a 32-bit version, can I install a 64-bit version? I have an OEM version of Windows, but only a retail disk. Can I still use it? I want to install Windows with a different language. Do I need a new license in that language? I changed some hardware. Will I be able to reactivate my computer? Can I back up my activation before doing a reinstall? How many computers can I install my license on? Do I have to deactivate my old installation before transferring a license? If so, how? How does licensing work in Windows ? What are the restrictions on transferring, reinstalling, and changing versions of Windows?
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I have a laptop in which the internal drive bay has been destroyed, but the rest of the laptop works fine. I was wondering if it's possible to do a full installation of Windows 10 on a USB flash drive.  I'm aware of Windows To Go, but I'm not sure if it's what I want. I don't need a "portable" installation of Windows, I intend for the flash drive to be permanently connected to the computer. I would prefer for the system to function as normally as possible.  If I can't figure out how to do this, I'll probably just install Linux onto the flash drive instead.
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I recently purchased an ASUS laptop with Windows 8 installed. The hard disk capacity is 750 GB. I checked the C drive and could see that they have used almost 40/50 GB for installing Windows 8, including all the graphics drivers and other drivers.   I would like to format my machine and reinstall Windows 8 from scratch. I don't want to use the recovery drive or any other means. Is it possible to install only Windows 8 with the existing product key?   The rest of the software or drivers for my computer will be installed manually.
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I have a laptop with Windows 10 Enterprise edition installed (64bit).  I haven't got the Windows 10 Anniversary Update from the normal Windows Update (I have clicked Check for updates). So I want to install it manually.  I have downloaded the the update from . However when I run it, the Update Assistant says     But I'm my own system administrator. I've installed Enterprise Edition from MSDN Subscriber downloads.  How do I update to the Anniversary Edition?
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I am currently running Windows 8.1 Pro, with BitLocker enabled (the hardware has no TPM, though).  I am curious as to whether I will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 when it is rolled out without having to disable BitLocker/decrypt the hard drive.  Windows Updates obviously work fine with BitLocker, but as I have not beta tested Windows 10 I have no idea whether I will need to decrypt the drive before upgrading the system to Windows 10 or not.  Any and all information is appreciated!
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I want to get Windows 10, but I do not see this icon in the notification area (tray):    How do I get the icon to get Windows 10?
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I have my CD-key sticker with me but don't have the CD anymore. Is there anywhere I can download Windows XP SP3 installation disc from?
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I recently did a clean install of Windows 10, overwriting Ubuntu. How did Windows find out that I had activated Windows 10 before on my computer? It didn't ask me for a product key, but it is activated.
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I am trying to upgrade my Win7 system to Windows 10 (because I am, apparently, masochistic). It's not working, locking up at about 30 to 35%, requiring me to reset, which then backs out the upgrade.  The whole process takes about three to four hours. A large part of this is having to download 3.5GB of upgrade every time, because Microsoft's tool doesn't cache the install files.  The tool has an option to create a bootable USB stick, which I can use to do an install. This should be way faster.  However, Microsoft seem really firm that if I want to get my free upgrade, I need to pick to 'Upgrade this PC' option from the upgrade tool. This seems peculiar. Can anyone confirm (i.e. who actually knows from first hand knowledge) whether upgrading from a USB stick actually works?
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I purchased a laptop with with Windows 7. The OEM did not provide the disc, but there is a Windows installation with a recovery partition. The Windows 7 machine has not been setup or activated.  I need to install a different operating system for testing. Installing the new operating system side-by-side will cause more trouble than its are worth, so I am going to install the new operating system over Windows 7. That is, I am going to "blow out" the existing Windows 7 installation.  Later, I may want to be able to revert to Windows 7. My question is, how do I backup the current Windows 7 installation, without setup or activation, so I can use it again in the future, if desired?    Many existing questions and answers, like ,  and , presume the machine is setup. (I don't have an HP but I expect the process is similar).  I am trying to avoid the setup process because I want the "cleanest" untainted image as possible.    And so I am clear on what I am asking: I am looking for specific instructions, and not vague advice. For example, call out a tool you have used, and provide the two or three steps needed.  Sorry about this item. Without it, its seems like (1) the question could be vague or broad; and (2) I might create a useless backup image that does not restore (and I won't find out until sometime in the future). And testing a broken backup image will blow out things without a way to restore.