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I didn't buy the Windows 10 license, it was imported from my previous PC. Basically:

  • Bought a used PC in 2012, came with Windows 7 Pro already on it
  • A couple of years ago I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro using the free 7-to-10 upgrade offer. When I did that, I activated Windows 10 using the key written on a label on the desktop.
  • Last year I built a new PC, and simply switched the SSD from my old desktop to the new one, and all was good. I think I had to click "Reactivate" but it worked fine.
  • I recycled the old PC
  • Never wrote down any keys anywhere

A few days ago Windows 10 stopped booting, it kept blue screening at boot. It couldn't repair itself. I tried the advanced startup options to refresh/reset Windows, they didn't work. In the end I had no choice but to reinstall from scratch.

The issue is, I don't know what my old license key was. I backed up my personal files, but never thought to back up the license key (won't make that mistake again).

I'm currently running an unactivated Windows, which works fine (for how long?), but since I use my PC for work I'm worried about this coming back to bite me.

Do I have any chance of recovering my license key key? Does Microsoft store the license key used by a user somewhere on their servers, and they can tell it's the same PC and can reactivate me?

jerkstorecalled
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1 Answers1

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Do you login with a Microsoft account or a local account?
If you use a Microsoft account the key is stored in that account and will automatically be re-applied when you try to activate using that same Microsoft account.
If it doesn't re-activate by itself (sometimes Windows thinks it isn't the same computer that you re-installed) the Microsoft helpdesk can help in that case.

If you never used a Microsoft account it is your responsibility to make sure you have retained the key...
In that case you will have to buy a new Windows 10 license.

It may actually be cheaper, depending on were you live and what is available, to buy a very cheap second-hand PC from someone that has a Win7 or Win8 license key that you can re-use. I purchased a couple of (not-working) Core2Duo PC's with a Win7 license just for that purpose some years ago.
The 2 scrap-PC's together cost me less than half of a new Windows 10 Pro license.

PS.
Make sure you get the correct Win 10 license. You can re-activate a Win10 Home with a Pro license, but not the other way around.

Tonny
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