Manufacturers of modern laptops and computers are actively abandoning disk drives, since any program or game can be downloaded from the Internet, and the presence of a drive only makes the PC more expensive for the end buyer. At the same time, users who are accustomed to receiving a disk with Windows and a license key included with their computer find it difficult to reinstall the operating system. While Windows itself can be installed from a flash drive, you will still need a license key for it. In this case, users have a question: how to find out the Windows product key that was preinstalled on a laptop (desktop computer), or installed later from a disk that is not available in this moment? This can be done quite easily, both using Windows tools and using third party programs.

Wondering about definition license key operating system running on your computer, you should understand such concepts as Installed Key and OEM Key. Essentially, they are both Windows license keys, but there are some differences between them. The way they are determined also differs.

Installed Key is the installation key of the operating system running on the computer. It can be detected on those laptops and desktop computers on which Windows was installed by users themselves from a disk or as a digital copy purchased via the Internet and activated.

The OEM Key is the license key for the version of Windows that was originally installed on the computer. The OEM key information is stitched into motherboard laptop or desktop computer, and it cannot be changed.

Thus, if the computer was installed with the Windows 8 operating system at the time of purchase, which was later updated to Windows 10, the information about the OEM and Installed keys will be different. At the same time, wanting to install on new computer Windows 8, you will need to enter the OEM key - only it will work with this version of the operating system. Installed Key is suitable if you want to install Windows 10.

Attention: You can use the existing OEM or Installed key only for the version of the operating system that is installed on the computer. You cannot enter the key for the Basic version of Windows 10 for the Professional build.

How to find out the Windows 10 key using the operating system?

On any computer, with administrator rights, you can find out the Windows 10 license key without third-party programs and applications. However, the procedures are different in the case of determining OEM and Installed keys.

Finding out the license key of the operating system that is “hardwired” into the computer’s motherboard is very simple if you know the command that is specifically provided for this in Windows 10. To determine the OEM key, do the following:

The OEM-issued key can be used to reinstall the version of the operating system that was originally installed on the computer.

Using one command, it is not possible to determine the Installed Key, and it is hidden a little deeper in the Windows operating system. But if you wish, you can get information about the Windows license key without installing third-party applications on your computer. To do this you need to do the following:

1. Launch an empty standard Windows notepad, which can be found in the following path: “Start” - “All applications” - “ Standard Windows" - "Notebook".
2. IN open program text editor copy the following code:

Please note that the Installed Key is displayed in the “Product Key” item. Also, following the steps described above allows you to find out some details about the operating system used on the computer.

How to find out Windows keys using third-party programs?

From the instructions above you can see that it is very easy to find out the OEM Key Windows, but “getting” to the Installed Key is much more difficult, and the procedure for detecting it using Windows tools takes a lot of time. If you don’t want to do it, you can install third party application, which will independently detect information about the OEM Key and Installed Key on the computer, and then give it to the PC administrator.

One of the simplest and convenient programs ShowKeyPlus is considered to determine the Windows key. It can be downloaded from the official website of the developers absolutely free. At the same time, the program not only shows information about the license keys of the version of Windows used, but also allows users to save the received information in a txt document.

1. Hello dear administrators! Question: how to find out the OEM key licensed Windows 8.1 laptop, if it doesn't have it hard drive? Or in other words, how to find out the Windows 8.1 key embedded in Laptop BIOS? My problem is that my HDD and I bought a new one, now I want to install the previously pre-installed one on it Windows Store 8.1 Single Language, but I'm afraid the system is not automatically activated during installation.I read on the Internet that using some programs you can find out the Windows 8.1 key,
2. “hardwired” into the laptop’s BIOS and the key is saved in any case, for the entire life of the laptop.

Hello admin! I bought a laptop a year ago, then it had Windows 8 installed, which I immediately tore down and installed Windows 7, but now I’m thinking about returning Windows 8, but I don’t know the license key, can I look it up somewhere? Previously, the Windows key was printed on the bottom of the laptop, but now it is not there.

How to find out the OEM key of a licensed Windows 8.1 laptop if it does not have a hard drive. Or in other words, how to find out the Windows 8.1 key “hardwired” into the laptop’s BIOS Hello friends! With the advent of laptops with installed Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and UEFI BIOS, Microsoft has changed the rules for distributing licensed copies of Windows , now the operating system license key is no longer on the sticker located on the bottom of the laptop; from now on, the key is “sewn” in text form into the ACPI MSD table of the laptop’s BIOS. What to do, these are the new rules and according to them, to the average user

Despite this, you can view the contents of ACPI tables and find out the Windows 8.1 key in the BIOS using various utilities: RWEverything, OemKey, ShowKeyPlus, ProduKey. If your laptop boots, then these utilities can be launched directly in a running Windows and it doesn’t matter what operating system you currently have installed: Windows 7 or Windows 10, regardless of this, any of the programs I listed consider the Windows 8.1 key from the BIOS.

You can also find out the key if the laptop has no hard drive at all, in which case we will have to boot the laptop from bootable flash drive Live CD AOMEI PE Builder, this flash drive contains all the programs I mentioned, in today’s article I will show you how to create such a flash drive.

• Note: If you look at the question from the other side, then it is not at all necessary for an ordinary user to recognize the Windows 8.1 key embedded in the laptop’s BIOS, and here’s why. The fact is that when you install on a laptop exactly the version of the operating system that was preinstalled on it from the store (in most cases, Windows 8.1 Single Language), the key will be inserted automatically during system installation and you will not need to enter anything. In other words, know the registered key You do not need to enter the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS under any circumstances, even if you replace the hard drive on the laptop. I wrote about all this in detail in this.

For example, let's take a laptop with Windows 8.1 pre-installed from the store, delete everything from the hard drive and install another Windows 10 operating system, and then run our utilities and find out the Win 8.1 key registered in the BIOS.

Download all programs in one archive on my cloud storage.

So, let's look at the Windows 8.1 key registered in the BIOS with the programs: ShowKeyPlus, OemKey, RWEverything, ProduKey.

The first program in line is ShowKeyPlus

The program displays detailed information.

Product Name(The version of the operating system currently installed on the laptop) - Windows 10 Single Language.

Product ID: Product ID.

Installed Key: The key is currently installed on Windows laptop 10 Single Language.

OEM Key: TO Windows 8.1 key, registered into the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS (what we need is the key embedded in the BIOS).

OEM Edition: Operating system version ( Windows 8.1 Single Language) preinstalled at the factory by the laptop manufacturer. This is the version that the key will fit into ( OEM Key) and it will be entered automatically during system installation, that is, you will not have to enter it.

OemKey program

It only shows the Windows 8.1 key embedded in the laptop's BIOS.

Go to the program folder and run the executable file Rw.exe.

Click on the button ACPI.

Click on the MSDM button and see the Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 key.

The ProduKey program, already familiar to you from our previous articles, will also cope with the task of determining the key embedded in the BIOS of a laptop.

The utility shows two keys, the first one is an OEM key registered to the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS, and the second, the key of the currently installed Windows 10.

How to find out the OEM key of a licensed Windows 8.1 laptop if it does not have a hard drive?

Create a bootable USB flash drive Live CD AOMEI PE Builder

Friends, in this case, we need to boot the laptop from boot Live flash drives CD AOMEI PE Builder. Download the flash drive image from my cloud storage.

After downloading ISO image and we launch the program, it is with it that we will create a bootable USB flash drive.

In the main window programs WinSetupFromUSB select our flash drive (be careful, all data on the flash drive will be deleted).

Put a tick on the item Auto format it with FBinst and check the FAT32 box.

Check the box Vista/7/8/Server 2008/2012 based ISO and click on the button on the right that opens the explorer window.

Explorer opens, find the ISO image of the Live CD AOMEI PE Builder, select it with the left mouse and click "Open".

Every day, more and more people are purchasing new PCs and laptops with Windows 8 pre-installed. And if earlier on the bottom of the laptop or the back of the PC case you could find a sticker that indicated the serial number of your system, then starting from 8 -th version, Microsoft simply places a sticker saying that this is the “fair” version.

OEM Windows version 8 is now tied to the BIOS and hardware Your system. Microsoft only provided for updating the operating system, and, as usual, forgot about the convenience of the user who decided from scratch.

After all, if you install Windows on a blank disk, we will definitely need an OS key. Of course, you can search the Internet for a hacked key or some kind of key generator. But why? After all, we already paid for our version when purchasing a new computer!

How to find out your Windows 8 license key?

In this case, it can come to the rescue special program Key Finder. You can download it from this link. By and large, we are completely satisfied with its free version. Free version supports 64-bit versions, and in addition to , the program is able to open for us Windows 7 license key And licensed Office key 2010 .

So, let's get back to the program itself. To install it, you must have administrator rights. The installation itself does not cause any problems.

After installation, all we have to do is run the program and record the data provided to it Windows 8 license key, and if installed on our system Microsoft Office 2010, then its license key.

Along with the program, a stripped-down version of a completely pointless free program designed to speed up Windows operation. We don't see any point in installing it. Of the 35 errors found in the system, she offered to fix 7 for free, and demanded money for correcting the remaining errors. We simply don’t see any point in such programs, especially since in the coming days on our website you will find a review of several truly good programs, designed to service your system.

After working with Key program Finder, you can safely proceed to . After all, now we know its license key.

Good afternoon friends! Lately, I have increasingly begun to receive messages asking for help to activate the system. It so happened that many users who had previously used licensed seven or eight received no activated Windows 10. And in order to return everything to its place, you just needed to find the key indicated on the sticker and re-enter it in the activation window and thus completely legalize your system. But how do you find out your Windows product key?

This is where some users are confused. In general, the sticker with the key can be located either on a disk or pasted on the laptop. Usually in these places everyone looks for keys, but those who bought a laptop already pre-installed Windows system 8, we did not receive such a sticker, since the required code was sewn into the BIOS. Thus, after the next one, the computer was automatically activated using the key that was previously stored in the BIOS.

Basically, Windows installation 10 is simple update, after which the keys should be saved, but unfortunately, some users encountered a situation where after the update process was completed, the system was not automatically activated. This had to be done manually by re-entering your license code, although most owners of laptops with eight preinstalled had no idea how to find out their Windows product key.

It is because of these troubles, new questions began to appear, such as: how to find out the Windows 8 key or how to find out the OEM product license key for Windows 7 and 8.1. You can view your key using a third-party program, this is how I answered the question posed to me. But, another question immediately begged itself, which utility is best suited for this, and in general, how to find out this Windows product license key using the utility.

Therefore, rather than describe to everyone step by step in the comments how and what to press, I decided to prepare for you this small, but very useful guide on how to find out the product key of Windows 10, 7 and 8.1.

How to find out the product license key of an installed Windows product using the RWEverything utility

So, in order to find out the OEM license key that is built into the BIOS, we will have to use one convenient, and most importantly free program, which shows all the hardware information of the computer, and of course, directly, everything about the installed BIOS, in which the required key is stored.

This way you will find out the OEM product key of Windows 10 or any other operating system. Now, copy your license key onto a piece of paper and enter it into the activation form, which will allow you to get your licensed Windows back.

Most quick way find out the OEM license key for Windows 8

Any system must be licensed and have a certain identifier indicating this license. Windows Software – paid solution, which means when purchasing online or on disk, you will always have a product key. Some people are wondering how to find out the key for Windows 7, 8 or 10. For what case it is up to you to decide, the main thing is that here you will find many options on how to perform this procedure.

One good option to find out the Windows 8 license key is to download the RWEEverything utility. Download from this site - http://rweverything.com/download.

So, the procedure for finding information about a license key may be needed in the following cases:

• When the system is damaged to such an extent that the option to correct the problem is to reinstall the system.
• The drive where Windows is installed is formatted.

#1 way to find the key

Almost every laptop with an OS system, that is, it does not have DOS, but is licensed, has a key hardwired into the BIOS. That is, this is the activation key for OEM systems. This is found in both Windows 7 and Windows 10. There should also be a sticker on the bottom of the device indicating the product key and a couple of irrelevant information. When you download a clean system of the desired edition (for example, Home), you can enter this key, thereby activating it.

#2 method of finding the system key

• Run the file Rw.exe
• In the window we find the tab ACPI, and in another window go to the tab MSDM. Find the line Data, where your license key will be written.

In this section we use the program again, but this time it’s different. The previous one is also suitable for any system.

The program is called Product Key Viewer and you can download it from this resource: .

Why are there two keys in a laptop?

All laptops you purchase online or in a brick-and-mortar store come with OEM versions pre-installed. The system can be anything. OEM version is pre-installed on Windows computer, which uses a special authentication by matching 2 keys.

Initially, the key embedded in the BIOS is checked, next to the 25-digit license key already in the system; to activate the system, a so-called OEM certificate is also required.

When you begin to reinstall Windows 10 and activation begins, Microsoft servers will begin matching these keys, 1st and 2nd license. Provided that both keys are related to Windows 10 Home for the same language, then activation will be successful (For example, I indicated the tenth version of Home).

To check the Windows key, just download the ShowKeyPlus utility. It is free and there is no need to install it, and after opening you will immediately see the necessary data.

You will see the system name, product code, the key itself, and a second key for the OEM system.

Free PC Audit

Another tool that will help you find out about the Windows key on any computer. It is similar to other tools we have reviewed. Download from here, run it and go to the “System” tab. On the left we look for the section “ Windows product key" And on the right side of the window the information we need is displayed.

How to find out the Windows key using Speccy and AIDA64

So, here we come to one of my favorite utilities, with the help of which I look up information about the system and components called. It also contains an option to check the Windows key. All you need to do is go to the “ operating system" and on the right you will see the line "Product Key".

The second similar tool is. Also go to the “Operating System” tab, which is there on the right. Find the line " Serial number" That's the whole process.

I don't think anyone would want to bother typing a script when there are such simple methods, described above. But I’ll still point out this method, just in case.

Below is a script executed as a file with a VBS extension. Let's consider this option.

Open a standard notepad and paste this content into it:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

regKey = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\"

DigitalProductId = WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "DigitalProductId")

Win8ProductName = "Windows Product Name: " & WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "ProductName") & vbNewLine

Win8ProductID = "Windows Product ID: " & WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "ProductID") & vbNewLine

Win8ProductKey = ConvertToKey(DigitalProductId)

strProductKey = "Windows Key: " & Win8ProductKey

Win8ProductID = Win8ProductName & Win8ProductID & strProductKey

MsgBox(Win8ProductKey)

MsgBox(Win8ProductID)

Function ConvertToKey(regKey)

Const KeyOffset = 52

isWin8 = (regKey(66) \ 6) And 1

regKey(66) = (regKey(66) And &HF7) Or ((isWin8 And 2) * 4)

Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"

Cur = regKey(y + KeyOffset) + Cur

regKey(y + KeyOffset) = (Cur\24)

Cur = Cur Mod 24

Loop While y >= 0

winKeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & winKeyOutput

Loop While j >= 0

If (isWin8 = 1) Then

keypart1 = Mid(winKeyOutput, 2, Last)

winKeyOutput = Replace(winKeyOutput, keypart1, keypart1 & insert, 2, 1, 0)

If Last = 0 Then winKeyOutput = insert & winKeyOutput

a = Mid(winKeyOutput, 1, 5)

b = Mid(winKeyOutput, 6, 5)

c = Mid(winKeyOutput, 11, 5)

d = Mid(winKeyOutput, 16, 5)

e = Mid(winKeyOutput, 21, 5)

ConvertToKey = a & "-" & b & "-" & c & "-" & d & "-" & e

The file should not be saved with a text extension, such as “.txt”. You must click the “File” button, select the “Save As” option and enter some name in Latin, adding the VBS suffix. In other words, the name could be like this:

SIW program

Last section of the article. We use the SIW program. You just need to download it, run it and go to the tab on the left “ Licenses».

Why are other symbols displayed instead of the normal key?

Sometimes, when trying to find out the Windows 7, 8, 10 key of a laptop or other device, a situation arises when characters appear that are completely unrelated to the key. Typically, such systems are activated by the so-called MAK and VLK, and they, as a rule, are not saved. Such keys are not registered on the PC, but are located on Microsoft servers.

Another similar case may occur when changing components, so remember, maybe you changed yours not so long ago system board or some other component.

Now you know how to find out the Windows 7, 8, 10 key using various software and even by means of the system itself.