Windows 10 not activating

A

alexsmith2709

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Hi,
I've never had this issue before and i dont know why this is not working.
I had a customer who brought there laptop in. It had a dying HDD so i have swapped it out and put an SSD in. I installed windows 10 (which it had on before but originally the laptop shipped with Win 8). It is now saying windows isnt activated so i typed in the key that produkey got but this still doesnt activate, so i used showkeyplus and used the original Win 8 key but this doesnt work either. Windows troubleshooter says i dont have a valid digital license and i need to buy a new copy from the microsoft store.

Has anyone got any other ideas i can try?

Thanks
 
Did you install the correct version? Perhaps put Pro on a Home System or Vis a Vis? Also, Windows stores the keys in the Microsoft Account you can log in and retrieve it.
 
Hi nline,
produkey says its a home key and the laptop originally shipped with win 8 core RTM according to showkeyplus so im quite certain home was the correct one to install. I've never had to install the N version before and i dont think this was the version that was installed.
The customer was using a local account, not a microsoft account so that option won't work either.
Pidgen shows the windows 8 key was valid for edition X18-15561. I cant find the exact version this is though, possible windows 8 with bing? I guess i should try installing windows 8 and then upgrade?

EDIT: Microsoft PID Checker 1.46 says the win 10 key is valid for Win 10 RTM Core Retail. I was using an 1803 iso to do the install. Would this have an effect?
 
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Core IS Windows home. Same thing. Why they use different terms. Ask the drunken idiots running Microsoft.

Nuke and pave. Install with Windows 10 but do not put a key in hit skip. Just wait until you are fully installed and have all drivers installed and THEN activate. Once a system has been activated in Windows 10 you never need to put a key in again. Doing so gets results like you are seeing.
 
X18-15561 is Win 8 with Bing from what I can tell. I didn't think that would upgrade to Win 10 but if it had Win 10 on in the past the system ID will be registered with M$.
 
I did install without putting a key in but it said windows wasnt activated when it booted up, this is why i am confused. I have since tried entering the key which still doesnt activate it. It appears windows cant find the digital key for some reason.
It was a completely fresh install as i had just put an SSD in. I guess i'll try again incase something went wrong during the install.

If nuke and pave and reinstall doesnt work i'll go back to win 8.1 with bing (if i can find the iso anywhere) and upgrade from there to see if that works
 
Thanks for the help. Just trying a fresh install again. I have noticed while i keep browsing the web for help that the windows 10 key that was retrived is the upgrade key ending in 8HVX7 which i believe no longer works. My understanding was that a digital license should have been updated/the win 8 key would work but it doesnt.
SLUI 4 didnt work before either...this is frustrating!

I'll get on to MS live chat if this install doesnt work.
 
1. The windows free upgrade works just fine. I did one last Friday. (I don't think M$ is ever going to stop doing it. They just aren't going to openly advertise it.)
2. Once installed Windows 10 is good for the life of the machine.
3. Are you absolutely 100% certain of the country of origin on this machine? Windows 8 with bing was sold a lot more in the EU than the US or UK. If you are not using the correct region it will NOT activate.
 
I have never once had to manually enter a product key with any version of 8 or 10 since it is part of the motherboard. I am not sure if it matters, but did you install using uefi like it originally came? 8.1 with Bing does upgrade to full version of 10 home
 
An update, microsoft says Asus (its an Asus laptop and OEM key) blocked the key, asus say they dont do that and i've had to email their UK support a photo of the error and key etc for them to try and sort as microsoft washed their hands of the problem.

Like others here i have never had to manually enter a windows 10 key.
@Porthos the showkeyplus screenshot is attached. the windows 10 key it shows as the installed key is the default one windows uses. If you want to see the full key let me know.

@pcpete yes i believe it did use UEFI to install, but never had this issue when i have accidentally installed in legacy mode before.

@nlinecomputers as far as im aware this computer was bought and had a UK version of windows installed, but i guess if Asus can't/won't fix i could try installing as US to see if that helps.
 

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alexsmith2709 said:
An update, microsoft says Asus (its an Asus laptop and OEM key) blocked the key, asus say they dont do that and i've had to email their UK support a photo of the error and key etc for them to try and sort as microsoft washed their hands of the problem.

Like others here i have never had to manually enter a windows 10 key.
@Porthos the showkeyplus screenshot is attached. the windows 10 key it shows as the installed key is the default one windows uses. If you want to see the full key let me know.

@pcpete yes i believe it did use UEFI to install, but never had this issue when i have accidentally installed in legacy mode before.

@nlinecomputers as far as im aware this computer was bought and had a UK version of windows installed, but i guess if Asus can't/won't fix i could try installing as US to see if that helps.
Click to expand...
OEM: DM

That is the Single Language version of Windows. As I suspected it is NOT a UK model.

Edit: Current builds don't have a single license version it is merged with Home. Should work as is.
 
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Porthos said:
Make sure you are online and go to change key and copy and paste the OEM key from the showkey report you saved.

@alexsmith2709
Click to expand...
Done that, it says it cant activate that key. Microsoft say that key is blocked and its not a block they have put one, but they assume Asus have blocked it as it belongs to them. Asus say they havent ever blocked keys and don't know why it wont activate.
SLUI 4 doesnt run anything so i cant try phone activation that way, but as the guy from microsoft tried and said it wouldnt work i dont think that would change anything.

I'll be sure to update this thread when i get an answer from Asus in case anyone else get this problem.
 
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