Windows 10: Win10 digital entitlement. How verify on win7?

On two (same) PC's, I timely upgraded to a free win10 from my win7 x64 home premium, then rolled back to same win7.

While running on that rolled back win7, I cannot seem to find a way to verify and/or view the digital entitlement ("DE") for windows 10. I was told by a $M chat person this DE occurs but I cannot verify/view that DE on my win7.

A good Shawn article (like always) states: "...the activation for the free offer of Windows 10 is registered on the Microsoft activation servers for the PC when you upgraded from an activated Windows 7...". That article was for a win10 OS. See: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...-10-check.html

Sooo as it stands, there is no way to be sure the DE actually occurred other than cross ones fingers and hope $M did its job which of course is not always the case.

Thought maybe a virtual win10 might work but just dunno.

Any body know how to verify/view the win10 DE while running this win7?

Thanks in advance, James

:)

 

Windows 10 in VB isn't activated

but why just months ago,, I was able to install another Win10 in VB and automatically activated??...

I'm really confused and afraid if my digital entitlement was revoked or something..

Is it even possible for my digital entitlement to be revoked or removed??

 

Does Win10 "digital entitlement" survive a clean install?

Once I upgrade to Win10 I wonder if the "digital entitlement" will persist if I do something (like a clean install of Win10, or if I were to rollback to Win8.1 and restore a drive image from prior to the upgrade) that causes the OS to not know it was 'entitled'.

In short I guess I'm wondering whether the "digital entitlement" is saved on the OS, or in the MS cloud. I'm hoping for the later, and guessing it too based upon this:

"Once activated, a digital entitlement for your PC’s hardware is created in the Windows 10 activation
service.This entitlement can be used by the same PC again for re-activation of the same Edition of Windows 10 in the future."

 

@JamesEJ, Apart from doing a clean install, no - I don't know any other way to check. BTW: since version 1607 it's now known as a 'digital licence'.

FWIW I too have a digital licence from upgrading my x64 Win7 Home Premium to 10. To test the Anniversary Update before upgrading for real I put a spare HDD in the laptop and did a clean install (the HDD doesn't count as a 'hardware change'). It activated within minutes.

If you have a spare drive handy you could try that yourself. Best you download the iso or usb using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool if you're going to try, that way you'll only have to do the one download, then you can use it as many times as you need on both the PCs.

 

What @Bree stated is correct. Testing Windows 10 in a VM will not work because the VM will have a different Installation ID sent to Microsoft for activation than the physical computer did.

FWIW, Microsoft is still giving out free activations of Windows 10 for upgrades from Windows 7. If a clean install of Windows 10 does not activate based upon the previous digital license, it is still possible to activate it for free by changing the product key to the Windows 7 product key - assuming the Windows 7 product key is not blocked from automatic online activation by Microsoft. Then you would have to do an actual upgrade from an installed and activated Windows 7.

 

You can easily check status on a running install of Windows 10 by typing activa into Cortana/search box. One of the pop-up results reads "See if Windows is activated." You'll see the first image on a Current Branch (1607) Win10 PC, and the second on more recent Win10 releases (Insider Previews, but also what's coming with the next major release in April this year/1704).


This is the Current Branch/1607 info.


This is the Insider Preview/1704 info.
For those who, like the OP, upgraded to 10 then downgraded again, you probably have to check at Sign in to your Microsoft account under your Microsoft login to see if there's any enduring record of your Win10 upgrade there. I suspect there might be, but I have no way to check this. Thanks to NavyLCDR for pointing out I hadn't addressed the OP's concerns. Didn't fully understand/appreciate his particular situation, sorry.
HTH,
--Ed--

 

For what its worth, I've switched operating systems and not lost any of my Digital Licenses. I've gone from Home to Pro to Education, not necessary in that order and had no problem activating each of them with its Digital License. I have separate Digital Licenses for each version on the same PC. All 3 have stayed intact after switching to another OS on that PC. No hardware swaps, just OS reinstalls for testing etc.

 

@Bree and Navy

That HDD idea a good thought alright. So the DE is usable more than once and can be used on different PC's. That what you are saying?

Edit: also to Alpha.

@Ed: R U saying the method you described does not loose my hold onto the current win7?

 

The DL is tied to the device/hardware it was issued too/for. You can transfer it from one PC to another, but you can't use that specific DL on more than one device at the same time. And there are conditions on the transfer as per the EULA. Once issued to a PC, you can reinstall the version of Windows 10 it was issued for as many times as you want. You do a skip when asked for a key and it will activate with the DL. The DL does not expire and is good for each new version of Windows 10. Some of my DL's were issued for the early consumer builds. I can now clean install the AU and activate just fine.

My situation is a bit unique, you wouldn't normally have more than 1 DL for a device. I've done a lot of test installs and got issued different DL's for different versions of Windows 10. Some were unexpected and unintentional. MVP's get an MSDN subscription with access to keys for every version of Windows for evaluation. Some of my "Activated by product key" installs got converted to "Activated with a Digital License".

Upgrading to Windows 10 has no effect on the qualifying OS. You can reinstall it and activate it as it originally was after doing the free upgrade. The hard drive swap is an easy way to not alter the Windows 7 install. Swap that drive back in and it will never know you ever ran Windows 10 on that PC.

 

The type of key/activation has a bearing on entering it manually. Windows 7 OEM-SLP keys are blocked and won't be accepted if you enter them manually on a clean install. Those are keys a PC would have with a factory OEM Windows 7 install. Those PC's also don't activate online, which is why the keys are blocked. You can upgrade from them to Windows 10 and get a DL. You just can't clean install and use those keys for first time activation. The key on the COA sticker (OEM-COA) should work though.

If you already did the free upgrade it doesn't matter anyway. Just clean install the same version you got via the free upgrade, Home or Pro, and do a skip key. It will activate with the DL that's already stored on the activation server.

 

We both upgraded our W7 Home Premium to W10 Home. That recorded a digital licence on the Microsoft Activation Servers tied to the hardware ID of our PCs. We can change the HDD without affecting our hardware ID, so a clean install on a replacement HDD will activate from the digital licence. Our licence for W10 is for the life of the PC and we can reinstall W10 as often as we want on that PC. It's not a transferable licence though.

Each of your two PCs has its own digital licence. They are not completely identical - the motherboard has a unique serial number, for example. This is part of what goes into the hardware ID for each PC that's used to check for a digital licence, the HDD isn't included in that so can be freely swapped out. I now have two HDDs I can put my laptop, one has the original OEM windows 7 on it, the other (which I use the majority of the time) is running Windows 10.

 

Alpha, Thank bunches for the detailed explanation. Read thru it and now will study to understand. I think I do have a "PC... with a factory OEM Windows 7" cos I bought 2 pcs (same gateway model) with same win7 x64 OS. Is that a "OEM-SLP key" situation? Thanks

@ Bree that post also cleared up things a bit more too. Thanks

 

I would think so yes, this utility will give you some good info on that. ShowKeyPlus If it says OEM marker in the firmware, that means there is an OEM SLIC table in the BIOS. Then just google the last 5 or 10 digits of the product key to see if its an OEM-SLP key. The keys on both PC's will be identical if they the same version of Windows 7 and are OEM-SLP keys. And they won't match the key on the COA sticker. Assuming they are still the original factory install. If one of the keys matches the COA sticker, somebody reinstalled with stock install media. Nothing wrong with that, its how you have to do it if you don't have the custom factory install disks on hand. If you want to post a screen shot of showkey, first click on the displayed keys. That will X out all but the last 5 digits and keep the info private to you only. *Wink

I have to take a break for a while. I suffer from chronic back pain. I may not get back online until tomorrow. I'm sure the others can help you out if you have more questions.

 

Simple - create a virtual hard drive, and install Windows 10 there - this does not affect Windows 7 in any way creating just a single file, and only adds a boot entry to the boot files. Both are easily removed.

 

Very interesting. Any friendly opinions pro or con?
@alpha OK, I checked with showkey and it does say: "Windows 7 OEM marker present in firmware". I also googled the term "OEM-SLP key" and got this: "A System Locked Pre-installation key, or SLP key, is a product key that does NOT require activation, and is used by major OEMs..." Good luck with that chronic back pain! I got that too and do very well fully understand. Others do not because you have to experience it to know it, and that.

Thanks all for the help to date, Please believe I DO very much appreciate your time and efforts! Jim