Windows 10: Go back to original product key after installing kms windows

hello, my oem key was windows 10 core single language and i installed windows 11 pro through KMS 2 years ago ,now i want to go back to my original key, i tried to change the product key to my oem key but it says ' the product key you entered didnt work' . i want to use core windows 11 what is the procedure.

:)

 

Windows 10 product keys and activation - and the KMS angle

I raised the same queries in the Seven Forum where I have long been a member and (thanks, Bree...) have had some useful advice over there. I also posted here as I realised I was making a transition, and maybe the Win10 experts would be able to assist.

I think the quote above describes almost exactly the situation with my (second hand, formerly corporate) ThinkPad.

It now emerges that my ThinkPad originally had Win 8 Pro (RTM...?) as OEM; probably had that replaced by a corporate OS image and/or Win 10 Pro.... hence the KMS activation problem; and according to Bree, I could now do a clean install of Win10 which would find and be activated by the embedded Win 8 key.

If that's so, then I have a clear route to follow. Just need a step-by-step set of instructions for that clean install. Is there a tutorial, and/or any pitfalls to be aware of?

 

Windows Product Key KMS

Worth reading why you shouldn't use illegal activation methods: Answers to common security questions - Best Practices - Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, and Privacy Software

>>how do i revert back to my old kms server

We will NEVER give answer for that.

From the Community CoC:

Things that will get you immediately banned from this community:

• Pirating Microsoft software or products, or offering pirated software or products for sale, including posting product keys.
  

We can however give you the steps to remove it:

Right-click Start button > choose Command Prompt as administrator > click Yes > paste this command and press Enter:

slmgr /upk

After it uninstalls successfully, paste this command and click Enter:

slmgr /cpky

 

Windows 10 product keys and activation - and the KMS angle

I ought at this stage to pause and say a big thankyou to Bree and NavyLCDR (and alphanumeric...) for hanging in there and trying to help.

As this process has gone on we seem now and again to have got diverted into trying to deal with subordinate or separate aspects of the problem. Just to recap:

- the original focus was on trying to do a clean (re)install of Win10, using the embedded OEM Win 8 key which ShowKey Plus indicated was in the firmware;

- I have tried a clean install, twice, using first a Rufus-created bootable USB then an MCT-created USB. Both booted and started the install (so were properly formatted and functional), but both brought up the product-key screen and the Win 8 embedded key wasn't recognised;

- Bree and I have just been grappling with the secondary problem - that IF I were to try to re-create a bootable USB for a clean install using Option 4, I needed to copy and paste the files from the Win10 .iso image. It has emerged that because i'm using a Win 7 machine for all this preparatory work, I can't open .iso files using Windows Explorer. Ok, we can park that as a side issue, as I can - if need be - open an .iso using 7-Zip;

- but, as NavyLCDR suggests, trying different ways to create a bootable USB seems to be missing the point: however formatted and created, the USB stick runs OK. The problem is that it is unable to find the embedded key nor is that key recognised when manually entered. So a differently-created or formatted USB stick won't help.....

- In theory when I get to the 'product key' screen I suppose I could simply say I don't have a key, and skip that step. The problem then - as I see it - is that Win 10 would clean-install, but I would not then be able to activate it (if the embedded key doesn't work during the install, why would it work afterwards?). I would end up worse off than I am at present, where I have the corporate Win 10 activated and working more-or-less normally, but because it's KMS, it will at some point in the next few months be de-activated;

- That rather leads me towards the alternative suggestion made by NavyLCDR: that instead of persisting with a clean install that seems not to be possible, I could try a different way of (re) activating the existing Win 10 by using the different key suggested. I hesitate to ask for an explanation of what that key is and why it might work. But right now I'm not sure there are any other possible ways forward.