windows validation and activation

[cps99]

hi all i bought this from aus post and it had 8.1 on it. i noticed at the time, there was no sticker showing the activation for windows 8.1 but thats ok, i immediately changed it to win 7. that was 2 yrs ago. now i want to put win 10, but i need the original 8.1 activation numbers for windows.....can anyone help

[CherylG]

Use the attached file. Nothing to install-extract from the zip file and simply click it to display key.

[iomare]

Hi,

Open Command prompt as administrator and type (or copy and paste)

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

This will give you the product key embedded in firmware.

You can also use a small free program such as Showkeyplus to find the different Microsoft product keys on your system.

https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases

Hope it helps,

David

[cpsjayr]

hello david and thank you so much for your reply. however even though i got keys, it comes back as incorrect.

so let me start from the beginning
g3 250 hp laptop

bluetooth and wifi stopped working.
i tried downloading drivers, but this did not work.
i reinstalled win 7, dloaded drivers fresh, but still did not work.
my thinking is, that i go to win 10
however i read online that 8.1 has to be installed first then upgrade to win 10.
so there you have it. if you have suggestion of which way i should proceed, i would be eternally grateful
i do not have the software. 8.1 or win 10. i was going to use media creation tool, if thats the way to go.
as for keys, i assume i need these before i install.

anyway, i do hope to hear from you, and thanks once again.
christopher

[iomare]

Hi Christopher,

OK. To install Windows 10 you do not need product key. You can download the media creation tool and create a bootable pendrive. When you install and are prompted for product key just click on do not have one. It will recognize the digital key in your Bios. Once installed it will be automatically activated if it has been already installed once on your computer. 

However from what you say this is not the case. So, most likely it will not be activated and you will need to get a product key for Windows 10 (big online stores would be the cheapest solution). 

You could try installing the Windows 10 Home and then get in contact with Microsoft through chat and see if they will activate it for you.

This will be the same if you upgrade from 8.1, if you never upgraded when it was free to pass to windows 10.

Now to install windows 8.1 on your system your are going to need a retail product key (purchase) or use recovery disks from HP which will recognize the digital key in the Bios and will not need product key. There are other ways to circumvent the product key request for windows 8.1

Hope it helps,

David

[cpsjayr]

Many thanks David. Thank you

[iomare]

Your welcome.

Let me know if you need further help,

David

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Click on accept as solution if answered your question

[CherylG]

@cps99 @cpsjayr 

When/where are you getting the message the key is not correct after retrieving it?

If you will download and use the attachment-Key.zip- in my Reply above it will retrieve the embedded key in BIOS. If it is the same as the one you got using command prompt I don't really know what the problem is.