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So, I'm having big trouble trying to fix my friend's computer. She stopped a Window's update shutting down the computer (I know, it hurts just to read).
Now the PC is not booting. I tried everything to fix Windows, but not succeeding. So I copied the two partitions (Data & OS) onto another hard disk, so I have a copy of everything. I wiped down the hard drive and clean installed a copy of Windows 10, using the ISO downloaded from the Microsoft official site.
And here the problem arrives: there isn't any sticker with Window's activation key on. And the key is not anywhere else.
So I'll have to bring it out from the backup. And here I'm needing help: where do I find this key? It is even findable or is encrypted and not decryptable?
Fly_7113
Posted 2018-03-03T20:09:22.133
Reputation: 11
5It’s stored in the ACPI table. You don’t need to know the license key to install or activate Windows 10 – Ramhound – 2018-03-03T20:17:20.880
1Just install Windows 10. It’s literally that easy. – Ramhound – 2018-03-03T20:18:14.680
Granted, you'll have a watermark in the bottom-right of your screen but otherwise, you don't need the product key to install windows. – Ultrasonic54321 – 2018-03-03T20:20:42.903
@Ultrasonic54321 What type of watermark are you talking about? – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T20:27:46.143
1For next time know that you should have used System Restore to revert the machine back to its pre-failed update state instead of reinstalling Windows. – I say Reinstate Monica – 2018-03-03T20:50:52.420
@TwistyImpersonator It is an external program or a feature of Window's recovery? – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T20:55:46.550
@Fly_7113 its a built-in capability. – I say Reinstate Monica – 2018-03-03T20:56:45.310
@TwistyImpersonator If so, I tried even that, without succeeded though – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T20:57:34.257
@Fly_7113 Here's an example. Example
– Ultrasonic54321 – 2018-03-03T21:12:35.987Did you try to use produkey ? I had good success even with licence keys entered in the bios – Fluffy Destroyer – 2018-03-03T21:15:47.390
@Ultrasonic54321 Oh, I got it. I thought you were meaning something like a sticker or similar. Didn't had the idea you were talking about the actual screen – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T21:34:07.190
@FluffyDestroyer I'll try this out, and I'll let you know if it works or not – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T21:37:59.077
@Ultrasonic54321 you only get a watermark if windows can't activate. With windows 10, you can run the setup, skip entering a license key and usually windows is still activated automatically. If that is the case, no watermark will show up, so your information is false. – LPChip – 2018-03-03T23:15:11.300
Also, the product key can be extracted from an older backup. You will need the SOFTWARE hyve which is located in C:\Windows\System32\Config. Copy all files that begin with SOFTWARE. Once you have these, download NirSoft ProduKey and open the SOFTWARE file and it will show you the license key that was used on the previous install. – LPChip – 2018-03-03T23:17:21.263
@LPChip I had a bit of research on the internet and found something similar to what you're suggesting, so I'll definitely try this (and let you know) – Fly_7113 – 2018-03-03T23:26:18.140
An activated Windows 10 system will reactivate after reinstall automatically if the same version was installed. This question should not be, where is my product key? But, why didn’t windows activate? In which case the answer is likely that you installed the wrong version of Windows 10. I.e. if the system came with home, install home edition. If it came with pro, install pro. Otherwise the system wasn’t activated to begin with. Come to think of it, we haven’t actually answered the question if Windows is or is not activated? – Appleoddity – 2018-03-04T01:43:46.793
@LPChip Evidence to support this? – Ultrasonic54321 – 2018-03-04T08:18:57.467
@Ultrasonic54321 How about dozens of installations as experience? But yeah, google it, its pretty known. Even written here on SuperUser. – LPChip – 2018-03-04T13:01:11.743
Well, you get no watermark for 30 days... If you have digital entitlement then you'll have no watermark forever... If it's an install on a new system, you'll get a watermark. Sorry for not clarifying my statement. – Ultrasonic54321 – 2018-03-04T13:06:50.593