Windows 10: How do I see my product key?

I've been told that if I want to use an ISO of Windows 10 which I have burned to a DVD in the future after a hard drive failure, I would need to provide a product key. I was told to look in BIOS for that. What I found instead was a line of x's in place of the product key. Only the last 5 digits were there. Is there a way to see the entire product key so I can use it when I need it? I think the product key is usually on a sticker on the computer or on the box it came in but mine doesn't have that.

:)

 

how do I see my yahoo.com email acct? how do I get to Turbox Tax in Win 10?

In response to YOU, it is NOT "the same you always did". Apparently, you never used Windows 7 and Internet Explorer.

HOWEVER, my Son who has Windows show me what to do to use my Yahoo account, Internet Explorer and email. Thank goodness for an Electrical Engineer, as my Son, who knows Windows 10 isn't used "the same way you always did" -

Bruce Hagen, Imperial Beach, CA your answer is rude!

 

how do I see my yahoo.com email acct? how do I get to Turbox Tax in Win 10?

You sir, are the rude one. You provided very little detail about your issue.

IE11 in Windows 10 is the same as in Windows 7. I asked you to elaborate and you chose not to.

If you accessed Yahoo mail in IE11 in any version, I don't know why you had an issue.
Obviously you would rather bash me instead of letting the other users of this forum what your "fix" was.


There is no difference in accessing any website it IE 11 whether it is in Win7 or Win10. There might be if you are using Edge and not IE11, and it does not take an electrical engineer to figure that out.

Please realize we are only users like yourself and not employees of Microsoft.

Have a nice day.

 

There is a couple of apps that will let you see your keys, this is one of them

ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server

 

You were told incorrectly. You only need to know the key if you installed a clean, full edition of windows 10. If you upgraded from a previous OS then there is no key for you to need. You simply skip entering the key when you re-install and it will automatically activate as long as it's the same hardware.

 

Run showkeyplus from this forum:
Showkey - Windows 10 Forums

 

Your entitlement is stored on a Microsoft server. You can install the same version of Windows 10 (Home or Pro) as often as you need and it will be activated automatically. This entitlement happens when Windows 10 is activated for the first time.

 

Mystere
That's actually what I was asking about. I would need it if I was going to reinstall Windows 10 in case of a hard drive failure and I had to reload the operating system as a clean install.
Also I would not be reinstalling after upgrading from a previous version of Windows the computer I have started with Windows 10.

 

Thank you Sonicblue. I still have to wonder why Microsoft makes it difficult for people to see it in the first place.

 

A hard drive failure would not be an issue. You would still activate. If you replaced your motherboard, then your digital entitlement is no longer valid (only valid on the pc you upgraded, a new motherboard is a new PC, you would need to get a new digital entitlement).

As I said, there are no keys if you upgraded. The only key you will see is the generic key (ending in 3V66T for Pro or 8HVX7/6F4BT for Home) that cannot be used to activate. Although you will see your original Windows key, that won't be usable to upgrade again after July 29th.

 

If your computer came with Windows 10 installed from the factory then the product key is stored in bios/UEFI and Windows setup will not ask you for a product key because it will retrieve it from bios/UEFI. That's why it is not important for you to know it - you won't be asked to enter it.

 

I missed that. Yes, you're correct. If your PC came with Windows 10, and it was from a major OEM then the key will be stored in the firmware and Windows won't even ask you for it. If it's from a small vendor (or you built your own with a full Windows FPP license) then you should have a COA with a product key. If you've lost it somehow, then the showkeyplus app will help.

 

Well, someone told me that I'd have to provide it (not sure how) if I did a clean install. I have a DVD with the Win10 .iso file on it for just that purpose. Seemed a lot simpler to use that after a failure than trying to save a system image then trying to restore it with that.

 

The advantage of a system image is that you don't have to restore any of your settings, reload any drivers that Windows does not supply, and don't have to re-install any of your applications/programs.

 

I know. But I'm having so many problems trying to do it that I just want to go the simpler route. I've started many threads on 2 different websites to get answers about what I'm doing wrong, and it seems like every way I turn leads to another roadblock. I originally intended to create a system image backup and I bought a 64GB flash drive for that purpose. But when I look at the backup options, it gives the option of "Hard drive", but doesn't recognize the flash drive when it's plugged in. Then I'm told I need a product key if I were to simply do a clean install using an .iso file, which means having to download another program in order to see what it is. Then after seeing in the "Backup" section of my computer that I can use a system repair disc from Win7 to do a backup, I thought I was all set since I already have that. Now I'm told I probably can't. All I want to do now is use my computer, but I'm holding off on that in order to keep the size of the image backup down, but yet I have to keep downloading things such as Macrium Reflect just to create any backup media. Macrium takes up over 500MB of space, which is far more than all the bloatware I managed to uninstall.

To tell you the truth, I'm contemplating not even having a backup anymore. It's already been too much of a hassle.