Windows 10: Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

Discus and support Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License" in Windows 10 Updates and Activation to solve the problem; Exactly. Things have changed with 1607. I have one PC here that has never been upgraded to 1607 and activated. If I install Education 1511 on it and... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Updates and Activation' started by alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016.

  1. cereberus Win User

    Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"


    The acid test now is to activate using new key and reinstalling 10586 and 14393 and see if both or only 14393 activates ie is digital licence backwards compatible?
     
    cereberus, Aug 7, 2016
    #16

  2. In the past, if I did a change product code on my 10 Pro install, and entered my Education key. Activation switched from activated with a digital license to activated with a product code. And it would list the last 5 digits of the code.
    Now when I do that it stays as activated with a digital license. The DL is upwards compatible, as far as I know. I can clean install 1511 Pro or 1607 Pro on this PC with a skip key and they will both activate. I do believe its edition specific (Home, Pro, etc) but not build specific. I've installed an older insider build on a PC that never had an insider build on it and it activated just fine on the 10 Pro DL that PC had gotten with the free upgrade.

    Right now, I only have the one PC that doesn't have a DL for the education version. I've delayed activating it in 1607 so I can do more tests. Once its activated in 1607 there is no going back.
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016
    #17
  3. cereberus Win User
    Yeah - it is interesting there does not seem to be anyway of removing a digital licence once established. Without going into details, for obvious reasons, this has serious implications eg when selling PC.
     
    cereberus, Aug 7, 2016
    #18
  4. Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

    Yes and no. I do believe with this new "digital license linked to your Microsoft Account", you can unlink it and or transfer it to another PC? There was a thread on it, can't find it at the moment though.
    You can remove a device from the list of devices in your Microsoft Account.
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016
    #19
  5. cereberus Win User
    There is a huge public misconception on many sites that the digital licence is linked with the account, so if you login with an MS account, it activates. This is not the case.

    All the link does is "remember" where your digital licence is on the current activation servers (maybe makes a copy on your MS account?), so if it FAILS to activate due a hardware changes (new mobo id does not match record), you can activate it manually as the link tells pc where to find your digital licence.


    Thus removing device from the MSA account does not remove the digital licence, only the pointer to it on the activation servers (or maybe just a copy).

    I have tested this - I logged in with MS account in VM with a digital licence, deleted device from VM. the reinstalled clean using a local login account (so device does not reappear on MS account), and it still activates ok.
     
    cereberus, Aug 7, 2016
    #20
  6. I'll have to read up on it, from an official source so I don't end up putting my foot in my mouth. I've been doing so many test installs lately I haven't had a chance to catch up on things.

    Yes, just deleting the device doesn't remove the digital license. It would be one way (I think) to remove it from your account if you resold the PC with Windows 10 installed and activated with the digital entitlement. Its what I was thinking when I posted it. I could have worded it better. I've done countless clean installs and deleted the device, wash rinse and repeat. I usually change the name of the PC so I can tell at a glance which one is which in my devices list. Some times when I do that the new name shows up and the old one stays put too. I just delete the old one to clean things up.
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016
    #21
  7. As I understand these new licensing:

    The term Digital Entitlement was changed to Digital Licensing

    Using a MSA to sign-in associates the licensing information with your MSA. How it does that is unimportant, but the implications are important - clean installing Win10 after hardware changes will be activated using the Digital License tied to your Microsoft account.

    If you install different editions on the same machine and sign-in with a MSA, there is a Digital License tied to your Microsoft account license for each edition.

    I have not tested this, but there are statements re: MSA and Local accounts: Change the sign-in to a local account and the digital license is gone. It doesn't make sense to me, but I've seen it in a few places (sorry, no citation). It would make more sense if the machine was installed with a Local account (no way to associate anything on your MSA), but once the license is tied to your MSA ????

    Always interesting to read your posts.
     
    Slartybart, Aug 7, 2016
    #22
  8. lx07 Win User

    Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

    Not for me - I just tried it.

    With MSA it says "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". Change to local and it just drops the words "linked to your Microsoft account". Change back and they come back again.

    My understanding is linking to MSA helps with moving you license that is all (as you said).

    I actually just did a clean install (using a local account) after being activated using a MSA and it activated fine so I'm pretty sure changing to local account doesn't mean you lose your license.

    Perhaps the original machine would lose the license if you transferred it to a new machine but I don't know as I've not tried that.
     
  9. Thanks for testing that ... it makes sense.

    Windows is activated with a digital license
    or
    Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account
    I'll look (but not too hard) for a reference - it might be what I read was Insider comments before 2 August.
     
    Slartybart, Aug 7, 2016
    #24
  10. My understanding is the Digital Entitlement is the mechanism that gives you your Digital License. I think they are one in the same.

    I have run 10 Home, 10 Pro, 10 Education and 10 Enterprise on my laptop and main desktop PC. Home and Pro were upgrades via the free upgrade offer and showed as licensed with a digital license. I'm pretty sure it said "license", not 100% sure though. Education and Enterprise would always show activated with a product code. I had to enter key to activate those two versions.

    After the Anniversary update Education switched to activated with a digital license. Now I can install it with a skip key and it will activate. Before the Anniversary update that was not possible.
    Enterprise can never be activated with a digital license. MAK and VL keys are the only options for it.

    My laptop has a Windows 8.0 core key. On a clean install, 10 Home is automatically installed with no choice in the matter. That's how it got a Home entitlement. It was originally upgraded from 8.1 Pro to 10 Pro via the free upgrade and got a Pro entitlement. I hadn't planed for it to have both. It wasn't intentional.

    My desktop ended up that way due to testing an upgrade from an Windows 7 OEM Home Premium install. It was done after the free upgrade had officially ended, but upgraded anyway to 10 Home. That PC was originally upgraded from 8.1 Pro to 10 Pro so now it has Home, Pro and Education Entitlements.

    Both PC's only ever have one OS installed and running on them at any one time so they are only ever using one license each. I have no idea how Microsoft keeps track of that?
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016
    #25
  11. NavyLCDR New Member
    And here's a twist. What if a second user logs into the computer with their Microsoft Account? Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License" :). I'll bet the activation screen says that the computer is activated with a digital license associated with that users Microsoft Account.
     
    NavyLCDR, Aug 7, 2016
    #26
  12. I wondered about that too. The only PC here that might have two accounts on it is my wife's laptop? I can't remember if I actually setup my account on it? Would be easy enough to add it. Then see what happens when I upgrade it to 1607. That won't happen until early tomorrow morning. She's a late riser so that's when I'll play with it. She's off and on Facebook during the day and stays up late. I'll post back what I uncover in the process.
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 7, 2016
    #27
  13. Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

    MS simply changed Entitlement to License in their terminology. Entitlement was used during the free upgrade period, but now that's over and you're not entitled to Win10 any more, you have to license it. *Wink

    What does slmgr /dlv tell you about the licensing on machines that show multiple licenses on the activation screen?
     
    Slartybart, Aug 8, 2016
    #28
  14. bfunke Win User
    I've gotten the impression this is normal and simply means your system info is stored on MS servers so you can install Win10 again in the future without needing a product key. All three of my systems now show digital license.
     
    bfunke, Aug 8, 2016
    #29
  15. That's as good an explanation as any.

    slmgr /dlv just shows me the info for the currently installed OS. Not sure what you mean by multiple licenses on the activation screen? Which activation screen? I may not reply to this until tomorrow. My chronic pain has spiked and it won't be long before I have to call it quits for the night.
     
    alphanumeric, Aug 8, 2016
    #30
Thema:

Activation switched from "with product key" to "with Digital License"

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