If you've purchased a new PC with Windows pre-installed in the past few years, you might have noticed a few changes on the outside of the device.

1. Windows 10 Pro Serial Key
2. What Is My Windows 10 Serial Key
3. Why Is My Windows 10 So Slow

The biggest change is the absence of a product key, which was included on the holographic Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker with PCs that came pre-installed with Windows 7 or earlier versions.

Windows 10 Product Key Generator is active, as well as dependable activator principally, used to set off your desired window 10 working device with just in a single click it. Windows 10 Activator crack loader plus keygen generator speedy activate your Windows 10 running machine. How to Find Serial Number of Windows PC Information Sometimes abbreviated as Serial No., SN or S/N, a serial number is a unique number assigned to the PC by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) used for identification and inventory purposes.

Windows 10 Pro Serial Key

Beginning with Windows 8, that information is no longer on a COA but is instead embedded in the BIOS. If you re-install the same version of Windows that came with your PC, it should activate automatically.

1. Windows 10 handles keys differently. When you upgrade to Windows 10 via Windows Update from Windows 8.1 registers your computers hardware, and qualifying OS with a Microsoft Product Activation Server. The device is then considered a Windows 10 device.
2. If you upgrade your computer from Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10, you probably have no idea what your product key is for the latest version of the operating system. The time may come when.

If you want to record that product key so that you can restore Windows later, it's easy enough to do. Open a PowerShell window and issue this command: Text to speech maker 2.6 serial key.

(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey

If you see no output, that means your system does not include the Windows key in the BIOS, as is often the case with home-built PCs, devices built by a System Builder OEM, or those that were originally sold with a Windows 10 license.

Network administrators who manage licensing using Key Management Services can get details about PCs on the network using a different set of options for the same PowerShell command. To view all details about a machine's current licensing status, use this command:

Get-WMIObject -Class SoftwareLicensingService Select-Object -Property *

(Be sure to include the asterisk at the end of that command.)

To save the key, click in the PowerShell window, drag the mouse pointer across the entire 25-character key, and then right-click. Although nothing appears to happen, your selection has actually been copied to the Clipboard. Paste it into a text file and save it in a safe place.

Previous tip: Find out if your PC can run Hyper-V

Next week: Another Windows 10 tip from Ed Bott

ed bott

The unconventional evolution of Windows 10 continues with the upcoming release of the Anniversary Update, version 1607. It's not just a service pack. Here's what's new.

A funny thing happens when you look for a product key in Windows 10 after doing the free upgrade: You won’t find them.

In Windows 10, utilities like Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor return generic product keys instead of authentic ones. Don’t believe me? This is the key Windows 10 Pro users will see in KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T.

Let’s try this PowerShell script from the Hexus forums on Windows 10 Pro. You should get this: T44CG-JDJH7-VJ2WF-DY4X9-HCFC6. That’s the generic key for build 10240.

Not a real product key to be seen anywhere.

The reason for this is that Windows 10 changes Microsoft’s traditional product key model, and if you ask me it’s for the better.

Entitlements, not product keys

When you use the free upgrade to Windows 10 or pay for a digital retail version, you don’t get a product key. Instead, your computer uses what Microsoft calls a digital entitlement.

“Upon upgrading to Windows 10, the activation state from a prior version of Windows (be it Windows 7, Windows 8 or a prior build of Windows 10) is seamlessly carried over,” a Microsoft spokesperson told PCWorld. “Once activated, a digital entitlement for your PC’s hardware is created in the Windows 10 activation service.This entitlement can be used by the same PC again for re-activation of the same Edition of Windows 10 in the future.”

What Is My Windows 10 Serial Key

It looks like the product key is on its way out, at least as far as users are concerned. After installation, your version of Windows 10 should just activate in the background in a few moments or a few days at the most. You can check your activation status by going to Settings > Update & Security > Activation.

Clean installs all the way down

Once your Windows 10 upgrade activates, you can grab a Windows 10 install image, do a clean install, skip the screen asking for product keys, and you should just re-activate again after the install is complete. I say should, because even in this brave new world without product keys I find it hard to believe there won’t be a few installation horror stories involving product activation.

That said, I can vouch from personal experience that a post-upgrade clean install of Windows 10 just works. Shortly after I installed Windows 10 on my laptop, I swapped out my old spinning hard drive for an SSD. When I was done with the installation Windows activated right away.

For longtime Windows users the absence of product keys in Windows 10 digital installs is a relief and at the same time a little worrying. Based on the long history of activation horror stories, some of you out there may be a little suspicious of this new process. Although the notion of never having to use a product key ever again sounds great.

Well, almost..

There are still situations where you’ll run into product keys with Windows 10. If you buy a physical retail edition such as on a USB stick or DVD, you’ll still get a product key. Microsoft told us that “your activation product key stays with your PC.” We’re not clear if that means product keys work as digital entitlements, or whether you’ll be managing product keys the old fashioned way—by stashing that product key somewhere safe for later use. We’re double-checking this with Microsoft and will update this article should the company respond.

One sticking point with digital entitlements is that because it’s dependent on your hardware configuration, making a significant change can wipe out the entitlement. If you swap out your motherboard, for example, your digital entitlement will likely disappear and Windows 10 won’t activate. If that happens, you’ll have to make a call to Microsoft’s customer support line to re-activate your copy of Windows.

Keep in mind we’re talking significant hardware changes here. If you swap out your hard drive for an SSD or add more RAM, you shouldn’t see any problems.

Why Is My Windows 10 So Slow

I don’t know about you, but if I ever have to look at a product key again it’ll be too soon.