PRODUCT KEY

[QUAGMEYER1]

I need assistance with locating my product key to update Windows from 8.1 to 10. The virtual chat was useless as well as the dealer. Des anyone know how to contact HP via email?

[DGroves]

computers  with win 8.1 have the serial number embedded in the bios, for HP (and other OEM systems) you can simply click on the  "i do not have a key" link during setup and the install will continue and finish normally and  on  first connection to the internet your HP system will contact the MS activation servers and complete the win 10/11 activation,  you can check this from the  "about my computer" page in windows

you can run the win 8 to10 update from within win 8 by going to the CD/USB key with the win 10 installer and run SETUP.exe

this will offer to save your current documents during the update

or boot from the win 10 install media and do a clean OS install, this will erase all current docs/files/applications

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @QUAGMEYER1 

In addition to the above, you can simply click on the blue Update Now button at the link below to get the free upgrade to W10. 

That method will also allow you to keep all of your programs, files and settings without the need to download an ISO file or create installation media.

No muss, no fuss...you don't need a key, you don't need to do anything else.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

If you ever want to view the product key in your PC's BIOS and the version of W8.1 the key is good for, install the free Showkey Plus app from the Microsoft store.

You can print out the report, save it as a text file, etc.

Get ShowKeyPlus - Microsoft Store

[NonSequitur777]

@QUAGMEYER1,

Another option in addition to the previous suggestions, is to create a VBScript file:

1.) Open Notepad (under "Windows Accessories") and copy + paste the following Script:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

2.) In the Notepad's: File > Save As... "File name:" dialog box, it will show "*.txt", but save this file as a .vbs file, giving it any suitable name such as backupWindowsKey.vbs 

3.) Right-click on the file and select "Open". The VBScript file will then provide a dialog box with your Product Name, Product ID and your Windows Key, as here:

Reference Link: How to find Windows Product Key using VB Script in Windows 11/10 (thewindowsclub.com)

Hope this helps!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777