Is there an inherent Microsoft-Exclusive way of obtaining Windows 10 Activation keys from existing installations? Even if this is not necessary with Windows 10 specifically, I want to emphasize my interest in non-3rd-party ways of getting such keys from prior versions of Windows too.
Unnecessary Background Info:
I’ve upgraded numerous workstation to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and Windows 8.
I want to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch on one of these workstation, but I don’t want to have to install windows 7 (or 8) first.
Before doing this, I’d like to obtain the activation key from the current installation of Windows 10.
In the past, I’ve always resorted to using 3rd Party software to obtain keys, but have never liked doing so.
Is there an inherent Microsoft-Exclusive way of obtaining Windows 10 Activation keys from existing installations?
Solution:
Windows 10 activation is granted from a license server. The license is always linked to the machine (more precisely: the motherboard). When Windows 10 is activated once on a dedicated PC, a machine identifier is stored on the license server. When you install Windows 10 again on that machine, it will connect the license server, find a valid license, and activate itself.