Windows 10: Restoring Digital Entitlement

Bought Windows 10 Pro from an authorized dealer and successfully installed then activated Windows 10 on a standalone PC with the Activation key that came with the CD.

With that same CD I installed Windows 10 on a Laptop I had as well, (an additional machine). Could not activate because the key was already being used on the standalone. Okay fine....went to Windows Store and bought another key...arrrrg. The laptop activation was successful "Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement"

So what happens if my Laptop goes south, crashes and burns lets say. I re-install Windows 10 with the CD I have, how is that Digital Entitlement I just bought for the Laptop, going to be applied? Or remembered? Surely I'm not going to have buy another....key???

:)

 

digital entitlement

where is my digital entitlement for windows 10 located? I cannot find it.

 

digital entitlement

To check activation status in Windows 10, select the Start
button, then select Settings >
Update & security > Activation.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activation

Probably see something like this in your settings ;

 

All the info is stored in the MS Server. Unless you replace the MB then it would be considered a new PC, replacing any other devices such as HD, SSD, CD/DVD will not affect the activation. Just re-install Windows and skip the key when asked.

 

I'm assuming that would also apply for the standalone (the first machine I installed to) as well?

 

Yes

 

Actually that is not the case.

The first pc does not have digital entitlement, as it has been product key activated.

Digital entitlement only arises for upgrades or licences bought from MS store. See

Activation in Windows 10 - Windows Help


extract from above link.


Activating after reinstalling Windows 10

How you activate Windows 10 after reinstalling it depends on how Windows 10 was originally installed on your device.
If you activated a free upgrade to Windows 10 or bought and activated Windows 10 from the Windows Store, you have a digital entitlement for your device. This means that you can reinstall the same edition of Windows 10 that your device has a digital entitlement for without entering a product key. During reinstallation, if you’re asked to enter a product key, selectSkip. Windows 10 will automatically activate online after the installation is complete.
If you previously installed and activated Windows 10 using a product key, you’ll need to enter the product key during reinstallation.

 

I have sort of a unique problem with digital entitlement. I have a few laptops to sell, and would like to put cloned drives in and have been having mixed results with digital entitlement. Sometimes it goes without a hitch and sometimes there's no way I can activate even with entering the Windows 7 Validation Number from the sticker on the machine. I'd like to be able to just put a drive with Win 10 on it in a hard driveless machine that had previously run 7. What am I missing?

 

I am a little confused, which is nothing new. For the Laptop did you buy a new key for Windows 10 or a key for Windows 7 or 8?
If you bought a Window 10 key I don't think it should show "activated with digital entitlement". However if you used a Windows 7 or 8 key then the digital entitlement would make sense.

 

Windows 10 activations purchased from the Windows Store result in digital entitlements:
Activation in Windows 10 - Windows Help


The biggest difference between a digital entitlement and product key activation that a consumer needs to be aware of is that a product key activation can be transferred to a new motherboard/computer whereas a digital entitlement cannot.

 

Hey thanks for the clarification. I missed the part about Windows Store in the OP.

If I were to shell out the money for Windows 10 I would definitely want it to be transferable.

 

I'm trying to install 10 on machines that previously had Windows 7 installed and activated. My understanding is that such machines are entitled to 10 and that 10 can be clean installed without entering an activation #. Indeed I have done that successfully on some machines, and on those I get "digital entitlement enacted". Others however don't cooperate and I have no idea why. On those even using "change product key" and using the key on the sticker on the machine does not work. If I reinstall 7 on those machines it validates, and if I then do an upgrade from a working 7, that will also validate. But I don't want to have to do that on every one, especially since I'm installing 3rd. party apps.

 

You need to enter a key if you clean install on a pc if Windows 10 has not been installed previously.

Are you installing version 10586?

You need to be installing that version to enter a 7/8 key to activate it.

Additionally, the 10 version must exactly match the 7 key version (home, pro, N, SL) etc.

 

Yes, version 10586. The machines that I'm having problems with are not accepting manually entered Win 7 keys. The frustrating part is that it does sometimes go the way it should.

 

It seems like you are cloning drives (if I read your earlier post correctly). I have had a few problems activating from cloned drives. The laptops I have cloned had a Win10 key in bios, and in most cases after the clone, the activation happens automatically (I assume Windows finds the key in BIOS and activates using the 'new' key). In some cases, it will not activate no matter what- enter Win10 product key (from bios) manually, try various slmgr.vbs options, etc. If I remember correctly, the few times I had problems, I ended up running sysprep which seemed to properly clear out the activation status and ended up activating ok after the oobe wizard finished. If the clone was from an upgrade (Win7/8-> Win10) instead of a clean install, then sysprep will not work.

It would be nice to know what sysprep is actually doing in regards to activation, then one could truly 'wipe' any previous failed activation data and bypass running sysprep and either let Windows 10 find/activate the key in bios (Win8/10 key) or enter the (Win7) key manually (assuming was never activated before, and no digital entitlement yet).