![]() ![]() How to Get the Windows Product Key via cmd in Windows Anyway, assuming you have an authorized version of Windows running somewhere and you need the product key, read on to discover three ways to retrieve it. And no, you do not need to activate in order to install Windows 10 from the ISO, nor do you need a product key, but of course there are some limitations with running Windows without activation, of which you can always activate later if needed. Nonetheless, it’s worth remembering that you can download the Windows 10 ISO directly from Microsoft for free, and you can then use that ISO to create a Windows 10 installer drive for Boot Camp, install Windows 10 into VirtualBox (also free), into Parallels or VMWare, or even for installing on PC hardware. This article is obviously aimed at users who need their Windows product key for whatever reason. ![]() And yes if you’re running Windows in Boot Camp on a Mac or in a VM, these tricks work there too. So if you lost or misplaced any of those, don’t worry, the methods covered will work to retrieve the Windows product key directly from Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, or even Linux. Note that it does this (install "wrong" edition) even if it later in the process shows that Microsoft will find and use the license for the other edition without logging in on an MS account, it does it by looking up various hardware serial numbers but this happens much later in the install process and only works if you've forced it to the right edition.This article will show you three different ways for how to find a Windows product key directly from Windows itself on the computer, without having to rely on tracking down the Windows product key card from a box, email, or COA. Windows install bypass the Edition selection when it finds that key in BIOS storage, the workaround for this is to edit one of the file on the install media which forces it to always ask. OTOH this stored BIOS license key can be a problem if you're trying to do a clean install of a DIFFERENT edition of Windows (like Pro while the machine came with Home). If it does have the stored key it goes up to 100%. So you might as well use the most well-known one, Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder.Īnd in my experience Microsoft will 99 times out of 100 automatically detect and apply the correct key (as long as you select the right Windows Edition) even when doing clean installs on existing hardware even if you don't use a MS account for login and it doesn't have a BIOS stored license key. So really, only the first method should ever be used, there are other programs and tools that will work but there's no reliable methods that doesn't use tools! If there's no Windows OEM key in the BIOS it will be empty and if you've reinstalled using a different key it will give you the wrong key! It is useful as a way to access the key that comes with the hardware on most newer OEM machines but is no substitute for actually checking what license key Windows actually use.Īnd the third method usually? sometimes? returns a "digital key" that's only valid for the specific install - there's no real use for this since it can't be used even on the same hardware after a reinstall! The OA3xOriginalProductKey method returns the Windows OEM license key stored in the BIOS for pre-installed machines where they used that method to store it - most OEMs do this because this is the only way where they DON'T need to physically affix a sticker with the key on the machine which saves them time. ![]()
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