Windows 10: Had to rebuy a digital copy of Windows 10 Pro, email didn't come with product key.

Title says it all, I had bought Windows 10 Pro a few months back and had a major hardware change which prompted me to buy another copy. I was expecting the confirmation email to have my product key but nope, nothing. I am very ticked off due to the fact that I basically spent an additional $200 just to get an email with no key and for the Microsoft Store to just say "Something happened and we couldn't make your copy of Windows Genuine."

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my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key

Dude, go to Newegg right now and read the questions and answers tab on Windows 10 OEM. The OEM copies that are listed there DO in fact, come on an optical disc. The flash drive ONLY comes on Retail copies.

 

my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key

indeed OEM's have embedded keys a OEM upgrade is for machines with OEM copies and DO NOT COME WITH A KEY! sadly many vendors confuse the two because pre-windows 10 'OEM" came with a key
a end user should always buy a Retail OR "System builder OEM" copy when it comes to windows 10 system builder is not `OEM` you can blame microsoft for the retarded terminology screw up

it sounds like the op bought a pirated copy with no key microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives

 

my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key

LOL yes they do. Legit OEM copies DO come with a key - on a sticker that you affix to the case. OEM and SLP (System Locked Preactivation) are NOT the same thing. SLP is what large OEMs like Dell, HP, etc do, where every system came out of the factory activated with the same "Manufacturer's Master" key in XP, Vista, and 7. Reinstalling with the factory image preserves this activation. However if you dig that key out with Magical Jellybean and try to do a clean install with it, activation will fail. That's why every machine that came out of a factory ALSO had a COA with a unique key. That is what you need to use for a clean install. Starting with 8, large OEMs began embedding the unique key into the BIOS, which is why they no longer come with a unique key sticker. However, you can still buy legit OEM versions of every version (the ones that small shops would use for their custom machines) - including 10 - which come with the sticker with a unique key.

The only differences between OEM and Retail versions is that the OEM version locks to the first motherboard it is activated on, while Retail can be moved to a different one. OEM also come with no support.