How to move "dynamic retail license" without linked MS account to new PC

HansTroost · Sep 22, 2023

About 6/7 year's ago my brother bought my father a second-hand Dell Lattitude E5420 (HDD (!!) and just 4 GB RAM) with Windows 10 Pro from a small local computer shop, amateur refurbishing I think.

My father passed away 4 years ago and I have his laptop. Now I want to reuse that Windows 10 Pro license for a new Windows 11 Pro Virtual Machine.

Figured out the following:

slmgr /dli showed me that it is a Retail license. Lucky me I thought, it is legitimate to inactivate and reuse it on new hardware.
Settings-->Update and Security-->Activation showed me that it is a dynamic license with the following text "Windows is activated with a digital license" but without the wording "linked to your Microsoft account" as is shown on another laptop I own, which is indeed linked to my MS account.
My father had no Microsoft account, the machine was configured with an local account (simply called Gebruiker (means User), with a display name (in registry LoggedOnDisplayName)"Nico Troost" (my father) for user <computername>\Gebruiker (I guess the show owner did al his installations in this way)
The various tools I used: Jelly Bean Magic, ShowKeyPlus's keyfinder, Speccy, just confirmed what I described above and showed the generic license key VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T, which cannot be used for activation as far as I know.
Speccy also showed me a "serial number" of 5x5 char's, but as far as I know this is not a licence key.

Does anyone know how to move this Dynamic License without linked MS Account for reuse on other hardware?

Any help appreciated,

iko22 · Sep 22, 2023

Hi,

HansTroost said:
slmgr /dli showed me that it is a Retail license

> Windows machines used to have a “COA Sticker” stuck to the chassis with the Product Key written in the Sticker. Microsoft have abandoned that approach, and replaced it with Digital Licences for Windows 10 and 11.
> Starting with Windows 10 (build 1703), Windows activation behaviour has changed. Slmgr and Windows do not necessarily give unique results. This is behaviour by design.
> If you are using Third Party Key Finders, make sure that you have the most updated versions, to cover Windows 10/11.

HansTroost said:
Now I want to reuse that Windows 10 Pro license for a new Windows 11 Pro Virtual Machine.

If your machine has a Digital Licence without a Microsoft Account, then have you considered linking the Local Account to a Microsoft Account? Follow Option 3 from this Forum Tutorial:

Link Microsoft Account to Windows 11 Digital License Tutorial

Once you have linked to a Microsoft Account, then you can re-check the licence status again and, if happy, then you can deactivate the license and install Windows again on the new machine using the linked Microsoft Account.

HansTroost · Sep 22, 2023

iko22 said:
If your machine has a Digital Licence without a Microsoft Account, then have you considered linking the Local Account to a Microsoft Account? Follow Option 3 from this Forum Tutorial:

Link Microsoft Account to Windows 11 Digital License Tutorial

Thanks iko22, coming days or next week I'll try that and come back to you when I succeeded in setting up a W11 Pro VM and activating it with this license. Can take some elapse time - limited spare time for hobbying....

iko22 · Sep 22, 2023

HansTroost said:
Thanks iko22, coming days or next week I'll try that and come back to you when I succeeded in setting up a W11 Pro VM and activating it with this license. Can take some elapse time - limited spare time for hobbying....