How do I [re-]install Windows 10 using an unattend.xml file without a product key?

Question

Having seen various questions about unattend.xml installs, and experienced them first hand, I understand some of the unattended Windows install. However, I haven't seen the values to include which automate selecting "I don't have a product key" (the selection to make when reinstalling Windows 10 on a machine that has already had a Windows 10 install).

Bonus points for the value to include in the unattend.xml file that will allow me to target a specific partition, or "the free space" available on the disk at the time of install.

Use case: reinstalling Win10 on a future-dual-boot system, where the "Windows" partition is either left as free space, or previously formatted.

Answer 1

You can skip product key entry by specifying the generic, non-KMS, Win 10 product key that matches your version of Windows (home, pro, enterprise, etc.) in the <specialize> pass.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/microsoft-windows-shell-setup-productkey

Depending on your use case, Windows may automatically grab a digital entitlement or BIOS key and activate after OOBE. In other cases, it is necessary to programatically remove the product key and manually grab the BIOS key, or use a valid product key to activate after deployment.

You may, of course, also use a valid product key in your unattend for automatic activation as long as it is a Windows 10 key and not a Win 7 or 8 key.

Win 10 RTM generic keys:

• Generic Windows 10 Home: TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
• Generic Windows 10 Home Single Language: 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
• Generic Windows 10 Pro: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
• Generic Windows 10 Enterprise: NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43