Windows 10: Clean install after upgrade and now not activated: troubleshooting

Exactly.

Smart minds think alike *Smile

 

If the above methods do not work to get the licensing information see if these steps work:

1) Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

This tool I have not yet used but it is available to find lost licensing information:

SoftKey Revealer - The Official Site


This link has additional methods:

How To Find Windows Key Using CMD, PowerShell, And Windows Registry
How to find all windows version serial key - Microsoft Community

 

But what information do you expect him to find with that ?

He`s already reinstalled W7 and he said he has no key for it.

 

The OP has clean installed at least once so the original Windows 7 key that was used to do the free upgrade is lost. It would have been an OEM-SLP key anyway. You can't use those keys to activate Windows 10 via manual key entry. They are blocked. Clean installing Windows 7 with stock install media will just get a generic "place holder" key, if you don't enter one manually. That key is also of no use. The key you need is the OEM-COA key, which is unreadable. Factory recovery media will restore the original factory OEM-SLP activation. They will charge you a fee for it though, "if" its still available.

EDIT: Not that we don't appreciate the effort. *Wink In this case though, you can't get there from here.

 

Thanks for the clarification.......This link has similar information:

Why you can't find your product key after upgrading to Windows 10 | PCWorld

 

On an upgrade the original key is stored in the registry. This utility will find it, ShowKeyPlus. Once you clean install after that its MIA though.

 

I only watched the beginning of that video and saw errors right away. If you upgrade to Windows 10, you do get a new product key, and it is retrievable. Contrary to what she says. showkey will show you that key. It's a generic key though and of no real use to anybody. There is a Home key and a Pro key, etc. Those keys only work if that PC already has a Digital License for that Edition. You can't use them to cheat and get Windows 10 for free, or a free upgrade to Pro etc. They do have uses but going into any more detail is just off topic for this thread.

 

@alphanumeric, I'll do a clean install again (with diskpart scrubbing) and report back.

slmgr /dlv gives an activation id and a notification reason, the latter is the same as the error code on the activation screen.

The good news is that the watermark has disappeared for now!

Update:
@alphanumeric ... I can't believe that I've never noticed this sticker under the battery! I'm a little embarrassed. I'll do a clean install anyway and should sail through without a hitch with this COA.

 

Windows 10 Pro is now activated. Thank you very much for all your help!

 

Please post all of your troubleshooting steps so that others viewing the thread can learn from your experience