Computer Serial Number To Be Filled By O.e.m
Gordon Neal
There are several reasons one might want to check the serial number on their Windows computer. The most common is for potential warranty repairs or licensing issues. Your hardware manufacturer or Microsoft may require the serial number in order to verify the validity of your Windows installation before they can help with your issue.
PowerShell is one of the easier tools you can use to find your Windows PC's serial number. It uses a scripting language that you can use to issue automation commands through its command-line interface. Don't let the command line scare you away, though: we'll show you exactly what to type in to find the information you're looking for.
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. A serial number allows the manufacturer to identify a product and get additional information about it, for replacement, or as a means of finding compatible parts.
This tutorial will show you how to find the serial number of your Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 PC.
3. You will now see the serial number of your PC in the command prompt. (see screenshot below)
The serial number will only show in the command prompt if the OEM saved it to your PC's BIOS or UEFI firmware.
If the OEM didn't, or this is a self built PC, then you may see To be filled by O.E.M in the command prompt instead.
When it comes to purchasing licences there are a number of different channels that you can purchase through. These are FPP (Full Packaged Product), OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and Volume Licensing. So what are the key differences between the channels, and what impact do they have on your licensing rights? Because it is the usage rights you receive with the software that mainly distinguish between the channels.
FPP licences are purchased from retail and provide a quick and convenient way for customers requiring less than five licences to purchase their software. Licences sold through FPP are either full licences or upgrade licences. A full licence does not require any pre-existing versions of the software to be on the machine it is installed on, whereas an upgrade licence allow you to cost effectively upgrade to a newer version of software that you are already licensed for.
When you purchase FPP software you are entering into an agreement with Microsoft stating that you will adhere to the usage rights associated with the software. These rights include detail such as downgrade rights, which you generally do not get with FPP software, how many devices you are allowed to install the software on, whether you have the right to move the software to another computer (transfer rights) or not and nowadays whether you are allowed to use the software for commercial use or not.
OEM software is software that comes pre-installed when you purchase a new computer. So for instance when you purchase a new PC it might come with an OEM licensed copy of Windows 8.1 Pro pre-installed on it. One of the key benefits of this is that you then know that the software has been installed correctly and is working properly and if there are any issues it is the responsibility of the computer manufacturer or installer to provide support rather than Microsoft.
Again, OEM software usage is ruled by the Microsoft Software Licence Terms document. So for instance it will detail that with Windows 8.1 Pro licensed via OEM you do get limited downgrade rights in that you can downgrade as far back as two earlier versions if you so desire, either to Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. But that there are no transfer rights, so the software may not be removed from the PC it was originally installed on and installed on another, however, you are allowed to transfer the PC complete with the OEM licensed software to a new user if required.
The third channel you may purchase software through is Volume Licensing. There are a number of volume licensing agreements you can purchase through and these agreements have been tailored to suit the differing requirements of all sizes and types of organisation. There are agreements aimed at the small to medium sized business in the form of Open and Open Value, and agreements aimed at medium to large organisations in the form of the Select Plus and Enterprise Agreements.
Usage of software purchased through these agreements is controlled by a number of factors; the agreement itself may contain some usage rights specific to purchasing through that agreement, but the usage rights per product can be found in the Product List document and the Product Use Rights (PUR) document. You can download the Product List and PUR from here.
For example, with an Enterprise Agreement the transfer rights for software are detailed in the Enterprise Agreement document itself, stating that licences may only be transferred once they have been fully paid for and that they can only be transferred to affiliates or a third party as part of a divestiture or merger. So it is always important to check the agreement documents as they will detail rights that are specific to the agreement itself, but what about the more general terms?
This is where documents such as the Product List and PUR come into play. The Product List provides monthly information about Microsoft Software and Online Services licensed through the volume licensing agreements, and details software availability through the different agreements, as well as Software Assurance migration paths, step-up licences and available promotions. The PUR goes into detail on the general volume licensing terms for each licensing model plus any product-specific use rights. All these documents together can be used to determine the licence terms for products purchased through specific agreements.
For example, when you purchase Windows 8.1 Pro through Volume Licensing, the licence is an upgrade licence only. Meaning that the device must already be licensed for a qualifying operating system before installation of the Windows Upgrade. The Product List contains all the detail behind this including a list of the qualifying operating systems per agreement. Whereas the PUR goes into more detail on where Windows 8.1 Pro may be installed and who can access the software either locally or remotely.
Other important product rights you receive when purchasing your licences through volume licensing are re-imaging and full downgrade rights. Downgrade rights again are detailed in the PUR, and you may find detail on re-imaging rights in the specific agreement documents. However, there is a very useful re-imaging brief that goes into all the detail you may need and you can download that from here.
So to wrap up, we have seen that there are a number of different ways for you to purchase your licences, and the availability of software does vary through those channels, but the main impact on the licences of buying through FPP, OEM or Volume Licensing is the usage rights you gain with the software.
This is one scenario and licensing situation. Each customer scenario can vary by deployment, usage, product version, and product use rights. Always check your contract, and the current Products Use Rights document to confirm how your environment should be fully licensed. The blogging team does not warrant that this scenario will be the right licensing solution for other similar cases.
If you have a PC from a maker like Dell, Lenovo, or MSI, you might have noticed that there are details about the company and support options in Windows Settings' About section. However, if you built your own system, Windows will show an inelegant "to be filled by OEM" one-liner. So here's a short guide on how you can change that.
You can add OEM info in Windows 10 and 11 in order to make it show a vendor logo, a name, and other details on the System > About page in Settings. This is the same information that used to appear in the classic System Properties. It's a simple tweak that won't change any aspect of how your computer runs, but it's a neat way to add an extra bit of customization to your beloved PC.
PCs from large manufacturers and vendors often show additional information just below the Windows specifications for getting support, but because the computer used for this article isn't a pre-built, none of that is visible.
The Windows Registry is a huge database of every OS setting you could imagine. Normally, we'd advise delving into this and making changes if you've never done this before, as even a simple mistake can lead to some weird Windows behavior (or worse). But in this case, as long as stick to our guide, you won't break anything at all.
So, we're exaggerating into the realms of ridiculousness, but you can see the changes at the top and bottom of the About details. It's more impressive in Windows 10 than it is in 11, but that's software progress for you.
Windows doesn't display your PC's serial number anywhere in its interface, and neither do popular system information tools. But you can often find a PC's serial number with a simple command, a peek in your BIOS, or on the hardware itself.
Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell window to get started. On Windows 11, Windows 10, or Windows 8, right-click the Start button and select "Command Prompt," "PowerShell," or "Windows Terminal." On Windows 7, press Windows + R, type "cmd" into the Run dialog, and then press Enter.
You'll see the computer's serial number displayed beneath the text "SerialNumber". This command uses the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool to pull the system's serial number from its BIOS.
If you don't see your PC's serial number, blame your PC's manufacturer. The number will only appear here if the PC manufacturer saved it to your computer's BIOS or UEFI firmware. PC manufacturers don't always fill in the number properly. In that case, you'll see something like "0," "To be filled by O.E.M." or blank space instead of an actual serial number.
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