Windows 10: New Product Key not working

I bought a used laptop from a guy 6 mos ago, thought it had Office. Got the "license will expire soon" message a dozen times a day, then it said it expired. Must've been a volume license, and I am obviously no longer connected to their server. Went to Office Max and purchased 2021 Home & Business today for $249. Went online to activate - all went fine. Tried to change it on my laptop, and it is telling me I have 1 too many characters in the product key. Tried to upload a screenshot and it said "failed to upload," so there's that, too. I am using Windows 10 Pro 21h2. I am signed into my Mi

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New DELL laptop- Windows Product Key

Hi and thanks DaveM121 for the prompt reply.

I followed the instructions supplied by the DELL email but in the end Windows would not automatically activate. I just found an answer by following this below google result instructions:

Find Windows 10 Product Key on a New Computer

1. Press Windows key + X.
2. Click Command Prompt (Admin)
3. At the command prompt, type: wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey. This will reveal the product key. Volume License Product Key Activation.

I copied the key and entered it into the option to change product key (not that one was entered as it said it was inactive in red text). FWIW, I never got a product key in any form suggested by the problem solving suggestions
wormhole link I found in Settings. Apologies if this is a basic newbie issue. It has been doing my head in for the last couple of hours.

Anyway, greatly appreciate your time. Thanks again DaveM121.

 

Convert a Windows 8pro product key to a Windows 10pro produkt key

Hi Andre,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft community.

I suggest you to Uninstall the license using the following steps.

• Press Windows key + X
• Click Command Prompt (Admin)
• At the command prompt, type: slmgr.vbs -upk
• Press Enter, this will uninstall the product key from the computer.

Further on, install Windows 8.1 activate the copy with the product key on the new machine. Then again upgrade the same to Windows 10 using Window Update or Media Creation Tool.

Hope this information was helpful and do let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to assist.

 

Cannot upgrade to Windows 10 - Unique Product Key situation

No... let me try again.

• Old computer is running Win7 Pro (SP1) with a Product key I have from a few years ago. The Product is activated already, but I do NOT use this computer at this point, so I didn't worry about using the Product key when moving to the new computer (see below).
  
• New computer is running Win10 Pro, with data and OS migrated from the Old computer, (same Product key as above), then Upgraded to Win10 (without getting a new Product Key).

What I am trying to do now...

• I want to upgrade the OLD computer (Win7 Pro) to Windows 10... using a new Product Key I just purchased.
• I have tried to do this internally, and also using the ISO burned to a thumb drive. But it does not want to work.
• Steps:
  • Start from USB drive.
  • Enter New Product Key (or click "I don't have one").
  • Install initiates and then tells me to restart from Windows and then open the installer again to continue.
    • At this point, I actually need to Quit the installation to restart the machine.
  • When restarted, I go to the USB drive and restart/resume the installation process.
  • I have tried to download and not to download updates, but when the installation fails, I see the message, "Something happened" and "Setup has failed to validate the product key".
  • NOTE This happens if I enter the NEW Windows 10 Product Key, or if I skip that step (which I assume means that it will use the old Windows 7 Key for the upgrade).