Digital Entitlement In Windows 11

[Muriel Pelley]

Digitalentitlement ties a Windows 10 license to the Dell system hardware configuration. Windows 10 can be reinstalled on the system without a product key after activating Windows with the original Dell Windows 10 digital entitlement. During the activation process, the hardware ID and the digital entitlement are registered with the Microsoft Account of the system.

If a Windows 10 device has the motherboard replaced, a printed digital product key (DPK) is also shipped to allow Windows activation with the replacement motherboard. This key is designed for Windows 8 Home or PRO. No separate DPK for Windows 10 is available.

Hi guys,

So my friends hard drive failed and unfortunetly he has lost everything.

I've replaced the broken hard drive for him and reinstalled Windows 10. However when I went to check if the OS was activated, it was showing as not been activated?? I thought machines after Windows 8 had their licance saved in the BIOS so we didn't have this issue?

Also there is no sticker on the back or under the battery containing the product key for Windows.

I also spoke to Microsoft but they were uable to help.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks.

So I take it I'm going with your third option and using the recovery media?

I have 2 HP Disks here for Windows 10 Pro for two different HP devices. I think these are the recovery CD's, it says they cotain the softwre if that's correct? Can I use these Pro disks on a Home OS? Or would I be better following the links you provided?

No.. I'm sorry. I am afraid you cannot just mix DVDs / CDs/ etc - they are for one specific model for the specific Win version/edition. You cannot use a recovery media for one HP computer to another one - it simply will not work 99% of the time. You cannot mix Windows editions (Home is for Home, Pro goes to Pro). You want the recovery media for this device, you need to follow the links.

Download the tool, it will download an ISO and burn it on a DVD or write it to a USB pen drive. Follow the on-screen instructions, skip entering the key and proceed. After installation, Windows 10 HOME should activate fine using Digital Entitlement if Win 8.1 Home was ok initially.

If this computer originally came with another Windows (not 10) and you now installed Windows 10 for a first time, then this is no-go for the activation. Windows 10 upgrade is free as long as you upgrade from previous Windows version to Windows 10 from inside the operating system.

If this computer originally came with another Windows version (not 10) but was later upgraded to Windows 10 and activation was then successful, it should not be a problem now as Windows was activated using a new method called Windows Digital Entitlement - therefore no more keys for the end user to remember/store >> -us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10

If the computer originally came with another Windows (not 10) and this was preinstalled Windows (OEM), you will need to get recovery media from HP and use to install the original Windows version/edition. Windows 10 can be installed after that via upgrade from inside Windows (Windows Update OR ISO method). More info

It is a HP Pavilion 15-p264na. It came with Windows 8.1 Home preinstalled as an OEM licance. It was then successfully upgraded to Windows 10 at a later date using the free upgrade.

So I take it I'm going with your third option and using the recovery media?

I have 2 HP Disks here for Windows 10 Pro for two different HP devices. I think these are the recovery CD's, it says they cotain the softwre if that's correct? Can I use these Pro disks on a Home OS? Or would I be better following the links you provided?

Ow I have it working now!!!!

After replacing the broken hard drive with a new drive, I installed Windows 10 using the ISO on a USB like you suggested. But for me it ws not activating. I then noticed the machine had a lot of Windows updates so I done all of the updates which took some time. After the machine had restarted I noticed Windows was activated?

I done some reseach into the digital entitlement and it turns out the digital entitlement you were talking about is only avalible after version 1511 of Windows, and my version was 1110 or something like that. around that, cannot remember exactly. So all I needed to do was update Windows lol.

Thank you so much for your help! Really appreciate your help here and thank you so much for explaining everything!!!

Since I only use ccleaner to make changes to my computer I think it has done something with the windows 10 product key. I now have a watermark to "Activate Windows" on the display. I have tried to get into regedit to see if I can find my product key but it comes up with I need to load the edge browser. Dont like edge browser and don't want to load it. Not sure how to get my product key back so I can put it back into the computer?

It seems to be only OEM keys / manufacturers bulk keys that are getting deactivated and not retail keys, but that's not certain.

It appears to be either a bug in Windows, or Microsoft are tightening up on licencing and deactivating ones that they consider 'dodgy'.

Just for info you will have a product key stored digitally on your motherboard, but it may not be your current 'Windows Digital Entitlement'.

The Digital Entitlement is stored at Microsoft. And so can be deactivated remotely.

Obviously CCleaner can't touch anything on the MS servers, so can't have cleared that.

I suggest that you head over to the bleepingcomputer forum and ask for help there, they already have a few of these lost activation threads. At the very least you'll get instructions/help on finding your Windows key and what type it is.

PS. Your computer should continue to work fine even though not activated. There is the watermark, some customisation settings won't work but there are other way to customise than using those, and things like Onedrive and Microsoft Office may not work but non-Microsoft alternatives still do.

As Windows 10 is preinstalled you have a Digital license. A digital license (called a digital entitlement in Windows 11) is a method of activation in Windows 11 that doesn't require you to enter a product key.

At the end of the day, the only person that could help in this scenario is the server owner who would need to do what I did on a server and write a function to bind more than one game license to a player.

Remove %localappdata%\digitalentitlements and launch the game again, logging in to the same account as last time (or, if you used automatic Steam login, with Steam running and logged into the same account).

Recharge PC uses a digital license method (called a digital entitlement in Windows 10, Version 1511) or digital Certificate of Authenticity (COA) to activate Microsoft Windows 10 that does not require you to enter a product key. The digital COA is embedded into the system's BIOS permanently. This means that when you re-install Windows, it will detect the product key automatically as long as you are using the same original motherboard.

ACTIVATE AFTER REINSTALLING WINDOWS 10

If you have a digital license for your device, you can reinstall the same edition of Windows 10 on this device without entering a product key.

REACTIVATING WINDOWS 10 AFTER A HARDWARE CHANGE

When you make a significant hardware change to your device, such as replacing the motherboard, Windows 10 might no longer be activated.

Make sure you associate your Microsoft account to your digital license to prepare for hardware changes. The association enables you to reactivate Windows using the Activation troubleshooter if you make a significant hardware change later. For more info, see Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change.

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