Windows 10: PDF Pro license gone when win 11 preview updates. Activation Key gone

After win 11 Win Pro preview build updates it deletes Activation Key and when I open PDF PRO it says need to be activated but will not accept License provided. Have to delete. PDF PRO program and reinstall to be able use it again until the next update.

:)

 

Windows won't activate a digital license but will with a product key?

Pardon my jumping in...

On the first point: Once you have a digital license on a machine, you don't really need the key again. You could simply reinstall Windows using the generic key. Windows then creates a hash that is unique to your computer. It will look on the Windows activation servers to see if that machine has ever been activated before with the same edition of Windows. If it has, it will auto activate. There is no need to transfer any sort of license or even take any action whatsoever. It's just magic *Smile.

One the final point, regarding usage of license keys for Win 10 and 11. Just to take that point one step further - If you activate a system with Win 10, you can at any time install Windows 11 as well. You can also go the other way around. If you use a license to install Win 11, you could later decide to install Win 10 instead. Even the generic keys are the same for Win 10 and 11. So, those licenses are truly interchangeable because they are one and the same.

Just to illustrate a scenario that is common for me:

Let's say that I have a new computer. I typically like to install by doing a fully automated, unattended install. With an unattended install you use a generic key. For example, I will use the Win 10 / 11 Pro generic key. Because generic keys are NOT activation keys, Windows will not activate automatically after installation. I will have to provide a real Win 10 / 11 Pro key to activate it. At that point a digital license is created and stored on Microsoft servers for my system.

Once activated, I toss that key, knowing that I will never need it again.

Now, assume that I reinstall Windows from scratch again on that same system. If I'm doing an unattended install I provide the generic key (because unattended installation needs some sort of key). If I'm manually stepping through the installation, I simply tell Windows that I don't have a key. I just make sure that I am installing the same edition of Windows (Pro). After installation, Windows checks the Microsoft servers to see if a digital license exists for that machine. If it does, it activates. Note that at no time did I need to reference the original license key or perform any sort of transfer. It just happens automagically.

Hope that helps!

 

Win 10 RTM Core OEMM seems to give me digital license for for my Windows 11 Pro

So why did you force Windows 11 Pro to install when you had Home?

• Because I want to end up with Pro and provide it with proper license. I might have bought a bad license from a site,
  
  that claimed to be Windows 11 Professional OEM Key. I wished to tie it to my laptop so it will have a Pro license associated with it. But upon checking, it is actually Win 8 RTM Professional Retail license.
  
• If I try to activate this license via the GUI (slui.exe 3) it will say 'Windows is activated, We've activated this copy of Window' but the registered Product key in the system still show the generic key.
  
• If I try to activate this license via the command SLMGR /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx it will output error 0xc004e016 on a computer running microsoft windows non-core edition
  

Do you know the history of the PC before you bought it?

• It is first hand from factory so I doubt it has any history.
  
• The only two key I have inputted into the system is
  
  1) The key I bought from site Win 8 RTM Professional Retail
  
  2) The key I bought officially from Microsoft which is Win 10 Pro Retail Key. Interesting to note that when I input this key, the key is updated in the product key as well.
  

So I am not sure when I perform a clean installation of Windows 11 Pro, what is happening, is digital license derived from one of the key? And what is up with the inconsistency between GUI and SLMGR /ipk command?

 

Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro doesn't Activate

Yet it didn't, hence the suggestion. But again, if you have the Pro key you could use that.

And that link bro67 posted is a clear a mud so hopefully he understands what he posted it and can apply it to your issue.

Good luck.