my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key

Slizzo · Jan 11, 2016

rtwjunkie said:
The OEM versions are on DVD. Retail is by USB flash drive.

This is what I was thinking of then. Thanks.

FordGT90Concept · Jan 11, 2016

aasim1111 said:
There was no envelope inside. Just the dvd. Do you think I might have the defective peice

How much did you pay for it? The OEM keys are about $100 USD for Home and $140 USD for Pro. If you paid substantially less than that, you may have just bought the DVD and no key.

cdawall · Jan 11, 2016

Yea we have the OEM ones at work they just come in a white envelope with the COE/DVD on the inside

OneMoar · Jan 11, 2016

OEM's don't need a key

aasim1111 · Jan 11, 2016

.

OneMoar said:
OEM's don't need a key

What do you mean? . If that's the case how do I check if my windows is activated

cdawall · Jan 11, 2016

OneMoar said:
OEM's don't need a key

It needs a key if it has never had windows 10 installed on it before.

aasim1111 · Jan 11, 2016

Yes, I m installing windows for the first time on this pc

cdawall · Jan 11, 2016

needs a key then

eidairaman1 · Jan 11, 2016

If you dont have a key return the disk and purchase one from newegg. Or amazon

rtwjunkie · Jan 11, 2016

OneMoar said:
OEM's don't need a key

OEM does in fact come with a key on a card.

FordGT90Concept · Jan 11, 2016

I think he's talking about computers where the Windows key is built into the BIOS. They have no COA or anything because it's preregistered to the hardware.

OneMoar · Jan 11, 2016

FordGT90Concept said:
I think he's talking about computers where the Windows key is built into the BIOS. They have no COA or anything because it's preregistered to the hardware.

indeed OEM's have embedded keys a OEM upgrade is for machines with OEM copies and DO NOT COME WITH A KEY! sadly many vendors confuse the two because pre-windows 10 'OEM" came with a key
a end user should always buy a Retail OR "System builder OEM" copy when it comes to windows 10 system builder is not `OEM` you can blame microsoft for the retarded terminology screw up

it sounds like the op bought a pirated copy with no key microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives

aasim1111 · Jan 11, 2016

I bought it from ncix canada.

rtwjunkie · Jan 11, 2016

OneMoar said:
microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives

Dude, go to Newegg right now and read the questions and answers tab on Windows 10 OEM. The OEM copies that are listed there DO in fact, come on an optical disc. The flash drive ONLY comes on Retail copies.

FordGT90Concept · Jan 11, 2016

Do you have the link to the specific item you bought?

cdawall · Jan 11, 2016

I have an entire end cap of windows 10 OEM on DVD...

taz420nj · Jan 11, 2016

OneMoar said:
indeed OEM's have embedded keys a OEM upgrade is for machines with OEM copies and DO NOT COME WITH A KEY! sadly many vendors confuse the two because pre-windows 10 'OEM" came with a key
a end user should always buy a Retail OR "System builder OEM" copy when it comes to windows 10 system builder is not `OEM` you can blame microsoft for the retarded terminology screw up

it sounds like the op bought a pirated copy with no key microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives

LOL yes they do. Legit OEM copies DO come with a key - on a sticker that you affix to the case. OEM and SLP (System Locked Preactivation) are NOT the same thing. SLP is what large OEMs like Dell, HP, etc do, where every system came out of the factory activated with the same "Manufacturer's Master" key in XP, Vista, and 7. Reinstalling with the factory image preserves this activation. However if you dig that key out with Magical Jellybean and try to do a clean install with it, activation will fail. That's why every machine that came out of a factory ALSO had a COA with a unique key. That is what you need to use for a clean install. Starting with 8, large OEMs began embedding the unique key into the BIOS, which is why they no longer come with a unique key sticker. However, you can still buy legit OEM versions of every version (the ones that small shops would use for their custom machines) - including 10 - which come with the sticker with a unique key.

The only differences between OEM and Retail versions is that the OEM version locks to the first motherboard it is activated on, while Retail can be moved to a different one. OEM also come with no support.

OneMoar · Jan 11, 2016

taz420nj said:
LOL yes they do. Legit OEM copies DO come with a key - on a sticker that you affix to the case. OEM and SLP (System Locked Preactivation) are NOT the same thing. SLP is what large OEMs like Dell, HP, etc do, where every system came out of the factory with the same key in Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Reinstalling with the factory image preserves this activation. However if you dig that key out with Magical Jellybean and try to do a clean install with it, activation will fail. That's why every machine that comes out of a factory ALSO has a COA with a unique key. That is what you need to use for a clean install. Starting with 8, large OEMs began embedding the unique key into the BIOS, which is why they no longer come with a unique key sticker. However, you can still buy legit OEM versions (the ones that small shops would use for their custom machines) which come with the sticker.

The only differences between OEM and Retail versions is that the OEM version locks to your motherboard, while Retail can be moved to a different one. OEM also come with no support.

no longer the case you can use a windows 7 SLP key on whatever so long as you install it with smgr ... I just used a sony 7 Home key off a dead laptop to activate a gateway AIO we had at work all I had todo was run slmgr -ipk and then slmgr /ato microsoft laxed the key requirements awhile ago now it no longer matters so long as you haven't burned through all the activations for said key
as for the windows 10 on dvd personally I have only seen preloaded usb sticks for sale I wasn't aware that newegg started stocking dvds again

Jetster · Jan 11, 2016

Your both right. major PC manufactures have embedded keys when you buy a whole system, bought OEMs for system builders have a sticker. At least that's what I have seen

OneMoar · Jan 11, 2016

windows 10 can also activate solely based on HWID no key required how do you think the microsoft store activation works it installs a generic key and activates based on hwid

Jetster · Jan 11, 2016

What you see allot of is people selling the disk that came with there system. So no license and it illegal to sell. Buyer beware

taz420nj · Jan 11, 2016

OneMoar said:
no longer the case you can use a windows 7 SLP key on whatever so long as you install it with smgr ... I just used a sony 7 Home key off a dead laptop to activate a gateway AIO we had at work all I had todo was run slmgr -ipk and then slmgr /ato microsoft laxed the key requirements awhile ago now it no longer matters so long as you haven't burned through all the activations for said key
as for the windows 10 on dvd personally I have only seen preloaded usb sticks for sale I wasn't aware that newegg started stocking dvds again

No, you can NOT use a SLP key. The SLP key is different from the key that is printed on the sticker. The sticker key on a SLP computer is 'virgin' (not used) when it comes out of the factory.. It only locks to the machine when the end user puts it in during a clean install. So the one you used off a sticker was simply never used, and it has never made any difference what the brand indicated on the sticker is. The actual SLP key is assigned to each manufacturer and is only able to be activated in the factory. For example every computer that came out of a Dell factory with 7HP had the exact same key (the SLP key) preinstalled.

Jetster said:
Your both right. major PC manufactures have embedded keys when you buy a whole system, bought OEMs for system builders have a sticker. At least that's what I have seen

Windows 7 and earlier machines from a major manufacturer ALL had stickers with virgin keys. As long as the end user only used the factory reinstallation media, that key on the sticker remained virgin, and could be used to activate another machine. Starting with 8, they embedded the unique key into the BIOS (instead of using a Manufacturer's Master key) and Windows would check for its presence and activate itself upon execution of OOBE.

taz420nj · Jan 11, 2016

Jetster said:
What you see allot of is people selling the disk that came with there system. So no license and it illegal to sell. Buyer beware

NCIX is a major retailer in Canada, like Newegg or Tiger. They are not selling pirate copies.

Jetster · Jan 11, 2016

taz420nj said:
Windows 7 and earlier machines from a major manufacturer ALL had stickers with virgin keys.

Who's talking about windows 7 and earlier?

taz420nj said:
NCIX is a major retailer in Canada, like Newegg or Tiger. They are not selling pirate copies.

Yeah I get that. I was speaking just in general

aasim1111 · Jan 11, 2016

I found the key. It was hidden in the pile of mess

Processor	Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard	MSI X670E MPG Carbon Wifi
Cooling	Custom loop, 2x360mm radiator,Lian Li UNI, EK XRes140,EK Velocity2
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill DDR5-6400 @ 6400MHz C32
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra OC Scanner core +750 mem
Storage	MP600 Pro 2TB,960 EVO 1TB,XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB,Micron 1100 2TB,1.5TB Caviar Green
Display(s)	Alienware AW3423DWF, Acer XB270HU
Case	LianLi O11 Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G-Pro X Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA P3 1200W
Mouse	Logitech G502X Lightspeed
Keyboard	Logitech G512 Carbon w/ GX Brown
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2 (V2)
Software	Win 11

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

System Name	Moving into the mobile space
Processor	7940HS
Motherboard	HP trash
Cooling	HP trash
Memory	2x8GB
Video Card(s)	4070 mobile
Storage	512GB+2TB NVME
Display(s)	some 165hz thing that isn't as nice as it sounded

System Name	RPC MK2.5
Processor	Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling	Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE
Memory	CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage	Nextorage NE1N 2TB ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s)	LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case	Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
Mouse	Kone burst Pro
Keyboard	SteelSeries Apex 7
Software	Windows 11 +startisallback

System Name	my creation
Processor	Intel core is 4670k
Motherboard	gigabyte z97x gaming 5
Cooling	cooler master hyper 212 evo
Memory	Kingston hyper x fury 2x 8 gb
Video Card(s)	Msi r9 390
Storage	Seagate 1tb samsung ssd
Display(s)	asus 27 inch
Case	corsair 450d
Power Supply	evga g2 750watts
Keyboard	azio gaming led

my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key

Slizzo

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

aasim1111

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

aasim1111

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

aasim1111

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

taz420nj

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

Jetster

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

Jetster

taz420nj

taz420nj

Jetster

aasim1111

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

Processor	Core i9-9900k
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax ETS-T50 Black CPU cooler
Memory	32GB (2x16) Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX 4070 Ti Super OC 16GB
Storage	1x 1TB MX500 (OS); 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 2TB MX500; 1x 1TB BX500 SSD; 1x 6TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	Infievo 27" 165Hz @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-1000 Gold
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Juliette // My HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// ASUS RTX 4060 OC
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	G903 and a Master Mouse MM710/No mouse, MS game copntroller
Keyboard	EVGA / Logitech K400
Software	Windows 11 Pro // Windows 10 Pro