Window won't activate

[EllKay]

I bought a refurbished HP EliteOne 800-G1 for my granddaughter. It runs just fine, but Windows is not activated, and says the key that is found on the chassis is invalid. After much research, we got a message stating that a previously installed version of Windows was not activated, therefore Windows 10 cannot be activated. 

The only resolution the vendor offers is RMA. I don't want to take my granddaughter's birthday gift away from her. She's 8 years old, on the spectrum, and will have a lot of difficulty understanding this. 

Is there any way to fix this? 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Unless the motherboard was replaced with one without a product key, the EliteOne G1 should have come with a W8 Pro product key in the BIOS.

Run this free utility that I zipped up and attached below that will show you the Windows product key and the version of Windows the key is good for.

Let me know what the report indicates.   I don't need the product key, just the version of Windows the key is good for.

Ignore the first attachment.  I attached it in error and can't remove it for some reason.

[EllKay]

I'm not at the computer at the moment. But that's what I am afraid of. When it was refurbished, they installed Win 10 but didn't update the key. I imagine we're stuck with a brick.

ETA:

I got this back from my daughter, when she ran the ShowKey app: 

ETA2:

Had her run winver: 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

According to the report you posted, there is no product key in the BIOS.

The report also shows that there is an OEM version of W10 installed and it should have been activated with the key that you see.

I suggest that you contact Microsoft who may be able to help you get the PC activated.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10738

[EllKay]

Thank you for your help. We've already been the Microsoft route. They called my daughter an idiot. The suggestions on their web site just have us running in a circle. We'll send it back and try again. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Sorry that I wasn't able to help you get W10 activated.

If it had a W8 product key in the BIOS, we could have tried a couple of things.