any way to recover the original Windows key used for a fresh - upgrade install of Windows 10?

Question

So, a while back I did a "fresh-upgrade" install of Windows 10 Pofessional.

That is to say that, in the days when Microsoft was still offering free upgrades to Windows 10 for qualifying licenses, I booted from a Windows 10 install disc and installed Windows 10 Pro directly to a blank, formatted hard drive, USING A WINDOWS 8.1 KEY (or Windows 7).

Is that original key that I used written anywhere to the fresh-upgrade install?

I've tried using both NirSoft ProduKey and Superfly-Inc's ShowKeyPlus to recover the Windows 8.1 / 7 Key, but it only shows me a Windows 10 Key (which is not the correct key I'm looking for).

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 11 '17 at 08:45

0

you don't need the old key anymore. When you activated Windows 10 during the free upgrade, Microsoft stores the hash of your PC components on their activation servers and when you reinstall Windows 10 on the same hardware, skip the product key during setup and Windows will detect that Windows 10 was used on the HW before and activates it again.

answered Mar 11 '17 at 08:45

magicandre1981

98,168
30
181
248

Be that as it may, I'm still trying to determine the original key of the computer. – Daniel Mar 12 '17 at 09:54
what do you want to do? the original key is used to upgrade, legally you can't use the old key again. – magicandre1981 Mar 12 '17 at 17:54

any way to recover the original Windows key used for a fresh - upgrade install of Windows 10?

1 Answers1

Linked