Deskpro 600 G4 Windows OEM Licence not being picked up

[JJM100]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a Refurbished HP ProDesk 600 G4 Desktop Mini PC and I am installing Windows 11. My Understanding is that Windows 11 should pick up the OEM Product Key from the BIOS however it appears not to be doing this.

If I go to System -> Activation it states, the "Activation State" is active and "Windows is activated with a digital licence."

If I run slmgr.vbs /dli from a command line it says it is "Retail channel"  with a partial product key of 3V... (3 dots are other numbers/letter)

If I run "wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey" the product key is completely different and doesn't have the 3V... in the Product key at all.

Hoping somebody can help me please as I was hoping by purchasing a HP Deskpro 600 G4 it would have the OEM licence in the BIOS and I wouldn't have to purchase a retail version of Windows 11.

Any help will be appreciated

Cheers

Jeff

 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Jeff:

Some models are sold with FreeDOS and those have no Windows product key in the BIOS.

The models that came with Windows have a product key in the BIOS.

I recommend that you install the free Showkey Plus app from the Microsoft Store and it will generate a report that will show you the Windows OEM product key and the version of W10 the key is good for.

ShowKeyPlus - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

If the PC has a W10 OEM product key in the BIOS you can use that key to activate W11, but W11 should have detected the product key installed and activated after your PC was connected to the internet.

[JJM100]

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for your help. I installed ShowKeyPlus and it displayed the installed key to be different to the OEM Key (see last digit in image). If I go and activate it with the OEM key and restart it still lists the old key (ends in P).

I also ran a Check Edition of the Product key on the OEM key and it states that it is WIN 8. This sort of doesn't make sense in that I entered the serial number into HP support website and the specifications listed for it was Windows 10 Pro. (see image)

When I purchased it, I asked them to upgrade the memory from 8GB to 16GB. Surely that wouldn't be causing any issues ?

Any other ideas ?

Really appreciate your help.

Cheers

Jeff

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Jeff:

Do you have a picture of the PC you bought?

This is what a 600 G4 looks like.

507154.pdf

It absolutely makes no sense that there is a W8 product key in the BIOS on a 600 G4 DM which, if it has an Intel 8th generation core or newer processor supports W11.

Even a 600 G1 DM didn't come with Windows 8.

Here's the specs on the 600 G1:

HP-741383098-c04041345.pdf

Those came with Windows 8.1.

But, this should be the fix for your dilemma:

If the PC had been previously upgraded to W10 via that W8 OEM product key, you need to go back and clean install W11.

You should be greeted with a screen that asks what version of W11 you want to install.

This time, select the version of W11 you want to install (select W11 Pro).

Then you will be asked to enter a product key.

Select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W11 will install and automatically activate after you are connected to the internet.

That is how you reinstall Windows on a PC that originally came with a W7, W8 or W8.1 product key and was upgraded to W10 when the free upgrade period was active.

The free upgrade to W10 was supposed to end in the Summer of 2016, but some glitch allowed users to continue to get free upgrades to W10 until October of 2023, which was long after your PC was made.

If your PC had a W10 product key in the BIOS, you would not be asked what version of Windows you wanted to install because W10/W11 would automatically pick up the W10 product key in the BIOS and install the version (Home or Pro) the OEM product key was good for.

So, give that a try and hopefully you will be all set.

[JJM100]

Hi Paul,

Thanks very much for the below. Unfortunately I have installed Windows 11 from a USB key performing a clean install as per your comments below. It did ask for the product key and I did select "I don't have a Product Key".

Please see images of the Prodesk 600 G4 below

Cheers

Jeff

 

 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, Jeff:

Yep, that is definitely a 600 G4.

I have the 800 G3 and the case looks the same.

So, when you selected the 'I don't have a product key' option Windows still didn't activate?

Then that means the PC was not previously updated to W10.

The thing I don't get is no 600 G4 came with Windows 8 or 8.1 so I hate to say it but you are going to have to buy a license for W11 or return the PC to the seller.

You could install W8.1 on the PC using the W8 key but that OS is even more out of date than W10 will be.

[JJM100]

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for all of your help. Very much appreciated.

Cheers

Jeff

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Jeff.

I am still baffled by how your PC ended up with a W8 product key.

Cheers,

Paul

[DGroves]

only thing i can think of is that at some time the motherboard was replaced and the new boards "DMI" string that describes the features of the board was entered wrong

[JJM100]

Hi Paul,

Just to confirm it does activate and displays as being active however states that it has been activated with a digital licence and not OEM Licence. I contacted HP and they advised the embedded key in the BIOS is an original Windows 8 Pro license. They went on to say even if HP later shipped your model with Windows 10 Pro, many units were built on the same hardware line that originally carried Windows 8 Pro licenses. Microsoft’s activation servers recognize that Windows 8 Pro OEM DM key as eligible for Windows 10 Pro.

Based on the above, do you think it sounds like I am legally allowed to install Windows 11 ?

Cheers

Jeff