Installation and Upgrade Generic Product Keys to Install or Upgrade Windows 11 Editions

Yes, once a computer has Windows 10 activated by a digital license you can upgrade to Windows 11 and will be activated again. You can also format and reinstall Windows 10 or 11 and activate once online. The same is true for 11. If you have activated Windows 11 first on any computer supported or unsupported you can clean install Windows 10 or 11 and activate. Windows 10 and 11 licenses can be used to install either version. Just make sure you install Home or Pro according to the key.

ICIT2LOL said:

Now I have Windows 10 Pro activated with a generic key that a Microsoft support technician put on it and am wondering if this activation will carry over if I upgrade to 11 via the update offer.

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If your W10 Pro is activated with the generic key then it means that the PC has an existing digital licence for W10 Pro on Microsoft's activation servers. There is no difference between the digital licences or the keys for W10 or W11, they are all valid for 'Windows 10/11'. So yes, W11 Pro will be activated.

ICIT2LOL said:

Now I have Windows 10 Pro activated with a generic key that a Microsoft support technician put on it and am wondering if this activation will carry over if I upgrade to 11 via the update offer.

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Just as a point of clarification, and I know that this sounds picky, but I think it's important to understand:

When you say that you have Windows 10 Pro activated with a generic key, that is technically not true. Generic keys are NOT activation keys. Windows will NEVER activate with a generic key. The generic key is used simply to identify to Windows setup what edition (Home, Pro, etc.) of Windows is to be installed.

The actual activation is done by an OEM key embedded in the BIOS, a valid activation key entered into Windows, or a Digital Entitlement. Once activated, a machine will have a Digital Entitlement and the key will never be needed again even if you reinstall Windows.

Note that if upgrading from a previous version of Windows, the activation from a previously licensed version results in a new Digital Entitlement being created.

hsehestedt said:

The actual activation is done by an OEM key embedded in the BIOS, a valid activation key entered into Windows, or a Digital Entitlement. Once activated, a machine will have a Digital Entitlement and the key will never be needed again even if you reinstall Windows.

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Just to add to that, any OEM embedded key only ever gets read and used by Setup during a clean install. An installed and running Windows OS will never read it again, not even if it finds itself running on new hardware. The only thing it will then check for is an existing Digital Entitlement for the PC's hardware ID on the MS activation servers.

Any computer that had once upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 and activated has a digital license. The same is true if the computer never had Windows before and you activate either Windows 10 or 11. Next time you install either Windows 10 or 11 this license is retrieved from Microsoft server and activates again. Windows 7 and earlier had the key on a sticker. Windows 8 and later can have the key stored in UEFI firmware (BIOS) and is detected by Windows Setup and used automatically. This explains why you may have installed Windows 10 Pro before but on a clean installation Setup installs Home. Because it detects the Home key. You can then use the generic Pro key to upgrade to Pro and Windows will activate using the digital license on Microsoft servers. That's how you install and activate Pro with the generic key. Because activation data for this particular PC is retrieved from Microsoft server.

spapakons said:

Windows 7 and earlier had the key on a sticker.

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Actually that key was never used for the OEM install of Windows 7. It was provided as a spare should you need to do a clean install with standard Microsoft media. As such, if you have a W7 PC that still has its OEM installed OS then you can be pretty sure that CoA key has never been used to activate anything.

The OEM image and the OEM recovery media install disk used a generic OEM-specific key along with an OEM certificate. An SLP marker was embedded in the bios (not a full key). If all three matched then OEM Windows 7 could self-activate without contacting the activation servers.

For OEM activation to work and able to authenticate OEM licensing for Windows, three (3) components or criteria must exist and fulfill:

1. Full SLIC table in BIOS
2. OEM certificate (xrm-ms) which corresponds with OEMID and OEMTableID (Windows Marker) in SLIC table.
3. OEM-SLP product key

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hsehestedt said:

The actual activation is done by an OEM key embedded in the BIOS, a valid activation key entered into Windows, or a Digital Entitlement. Once activated, a machine will have a Digital Entitlement and the key will never be needed again even if you reinstall Windows.

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What if one builds their own PCs as I do? When I build a new PC, it includes a new motherboard. Obviously, there's no embedded "OEM key" in a virgin BIOS. I also typically purchase a new drive, so there's nothing on the drive to be read to indicate an OS was ever installed. Additionally, I only have retail Win 7, Win 8, (and Win 10 keys).

Here the key is a Microsoft account - just install the OS, log into your Microsoft account, and Windows activates. The caveat here is you have to stick with the same version tied to your digital license - Home to Home, Pro to Pro. If you have Home, but installed Pro, you will have to provide a "Pro" license or Windows won't activate.

My initial Windows 10 builds used both my Win 7 & 8 keys. One those were used, and I used a Microsoft Account those became my "digital license". So now, whenever I build a new machine doing a clean install, I skip inputting a product key (step 7 of tutorial blow), and when Windows finishes installing, log into it with my Microsoft account and Windows is activated. I've done this with four different builds, and it works (worked) every time.

Yes well my machine is activated using one of the generic codes by a Microsoft technician as I said before because the original key somehow got rejected following a problem with activation. The original key I know from looking it up with Showkey a long time ago but it just doesn't work anymore for some strange reason.

Dru2 said:

What if one builds their own PCs as I do? When I build a new PC, it includes a new motherboard. Obviously, there's no embedded "OEM key" in a virgin BIOS. I also typically purchase a new drive, so there's nothing on the drive to be read to indicate an OS was ever installed. Additionally, I only have retail Win 7, Win 8, (and Win 10 keys).

Here the key is a Microsoft account - just install the OS, log into your Microsoft account, and Windows activates. The caveat here is you have to stick with the same version tied to your digital license - Home to Home, Pro to Pro. If you have Home, but installed Pro, you will have to provide a "Pro" license or Windows won't activate.

My initial Windows 10 builds used both my Win 7 & 8 keys. One those were used, and I used a Microsoft Account those became my "digital license". So now, whenever I build a new machine doing a clean install, I skip inputting a product key (step 7 of tutorial blow), and when Windows finishes installing, log into it with my Microsoft account and Windows is activated. I've done this with four different builds, and it works (worked) every time.

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Dru2,

You are correct. On a system that does not have an OEM BIOS you will need to have activated either a current or previous version of Windows first, in which case a Digital License would have already been generated, or you supply a new license key. That's why I worded it the way that I did noting that activation may be via an OEM BIOS embedded key or a digital license.

EDIT: Forgot to add this: You also stated that when you reinstall with a new drive there is nothing to indicate that Windows was ever installed on that system.

Precisely! That's the beauty of the Microsoft activation scheme. That information is not stored on the PC! It generates a hash based upon the unique hardware of the system and can tolerate a good number of changes to the system. It then uses that hash to see if a Digital License exists for that system on the Microsoft activation servers. I'm speculating (but don't know the exact mechanism for sure) that it probably gives high priority to things such as if the CPU serial number is the same, that would allow it to withstand a good deal of hardware change such as replacement of HDD.

ICIT2LOL said:

Yes well my machine is activated using one of the generic codes by a Microsoft technician as I said before because the original key somehow got rejected following a problem with activation. The original key I know from looking it up with Showkey a long time ago but it just doesn't work anymore for some strange reason.

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No, it WAS NOT activated with a generic license. Think about this logically: Literally MILLIONS of PCs are installed using the SAME generic license key. How is that going to activate you? Remember: A generic key is NEVER NEVER NEVER a license key. Once Windows is installed using a generic key the system will either locate an OEM license key embedded in the BIOS, or when the system is able to talk to the Microsoft License servers, it will find a Digital License already exists for the system. If neither of those is true, then an actual Activation License Key will be needed.

hsehestedt said:

No, it WAS NOT activated with a generic license.

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Well all I am saying is that a Microsoft technician activated my copy of Windows 10 Pro with an RTM Generic key (retail) as in the list at the beginning of this thread, and it is definitely not the key that was originally put on my laptop.

Now I have a lot of comments regarding upgrading through the Settings offer but am now not so sure that I want to upgrade at all. Can someone tell me just what it is about the method I am thinking of is so undesirable?

hsehestedt said:

EDIT: Forgot to add this: You also stated that when you reinstall with a new drive there is nothing to indicate that Windows was ever installed on that system.

Precisely! That's the beauty of the Microsoft activation scheme. That information is not stored on the PC! It generates a hash based upon the unique hardware of the system and can tolerate a good number of changes to the system. It then uses that hash to see if a Digital License exists for that system on the Microsoft activation servers. I'm speculating (but don't know the exact mechanism for sure) that it probably gives high priority to things such as if the CPU serial number is the same, that would allow it to withstand a good deal of hardware change such as replacement of HDD.

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For clarity, when I say I build a new system, that means new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and drive as is this build - Radeon VII - Windows 10 Help Forums. These were the starting pieces of that build. The only thing re-usable in that build was the PS and data drives. Even the CPU cooler was new.

hsehestedt said:

No, it WAS NOT activated with a generic license. Think about this logically: Literally MILLIONS of PCs are installed using the SAME generic license key. How is that going to activate you? Remember: A generic key is NEVER NEVER NEVER a license key. Once Windows is installed using a generic key the system will either locate an OEM license key embedded in the BIOS, or when the system is able to talk to the Microsoft License servers, it will find a Digital License already exists for the system. If neither of those is true, then an actual Activation License Key will be needed.

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ICIT2LOL said:

Well all I am saying is that a Microsoft technician activated my copy of Windows 10 Pro with an RTM Generic key (retail) as in the list at the beginning of this thread, and it is definitely not the key that was originally put on my laptop.

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I've no idea what the technician did as I don't have all the facts, but hsehestedt is correct in a "generic key" in that list NOT going to activate Windows, it simply allows the upgrade. And in order to upgrade, you need a valid key non generic key.

That said, and your statement begs the question.... why did the technician need to activate your copy of Windows 10 Pro? Did you upgrade from a previous OS? Perhaps from Home to Pro? That would be the only reason your key (was) changed.

Dru2 said:

That said, and your statement begs the question.... why did the technician need to activate your copy of Windows 10 Pro? Did you upgrade from a previous OS? Perhaps from Home to Pro? That would be the only reason your key (was) changed.

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No Dru I was having problems with the laptop activating - why it became inactivated is not known and when I rang Microsoft support the technician took over my machine by a logmein type connection and inserted the RTM key to activate it again. Maybe I should contact them again and get them to sort it out as I am getting quite confused as to what to do re upgrading my laptop and I don't want it to go down the gurgler because of something that I do.

ICIT2LOL said:

No Dru I was having problems with the laptop activating - why it became inactivated is not known and when I rang Microsoft support the technician took over my machine by a logmein type connection and inserted the RTM key to activate it again. Maybe I should contact them again and get them to sort it out as I am getting quite confused as to what to do re upgrading my laptop and I don't want it to go down the gurgler because of something that I do.

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If your activation status now indicates that the system is activated with a digital license, you will not need a key on that system to reinstall. Even if you completely wipe or replace the OS drive, you still will not need a key. After I activate a system, I toss the key because I know that I will never need it again.

I always keep about 5 spare keys on hand, but once used, in the trash it goes

hsehestedt said:

I always keep about 5 spare keys on hand, but once used, in the trash it goes

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Ok my friend just where do you get the spare keys from? I know of one source via a YouTube computer technician site and am wondering if I can do what you have done.

hsehestedt said:

If your activation status now indicates that the system is activated with a digital license, you will not need a key on that system to reinstall. Even if you completely wipe or replace the OS drive, you still will not need a key. After I activate a system, I toss the key because I know that I will never need it again.

I always keep about 5 spare keys on hand, but once used, in the trash it goes

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ICIT2LOL said:

Ok my friend just where do you get the spare keys from? I know of one source via a YouTube computer technician site and am wondering if I can do what you have done.

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I actually told you what to do here (Time limit for upgrading from 10 to 11) to see if you already had a digital license.

Help us help you by at least answering the question

If you run Windows 10/11 Home and want to upgrade to Pro you either change your key with a valid Windows 7/8/10/11 Pro key, or you can put the generic Pro key and activate later. If after the upgrade to Pro Windows activate automatically, is because there is a digital license on Microsoft servers. Otherwise you will be asked for a genuine key. New custom built systems can activate with either a retail key or an OEM key. OEMs building a lot of computers can purchase OEM keys that are much cheaper than Retail keys.

ICIT2LOL said:

Ok my friend just where do you get the spare keys from? I know of one source via a YouTube computer technician site and am wondering if I can do what you have done.

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Yeah, I'm a little of a special case. I get a huge discount on license keys as an ongoing benefit of a previous job so I keep them on hand "just in case"