Unable to transfer Windows 11 product key to new device

elevenmax · Jan 31, 2025

I ran these two commands on my old device, installed Win 11 on the new device and it accepted the product key during installation but then it asked to Activate after installing all my apps but it's having issues activating. I tried running troubleshoot and it asked if I made a hardware changes to this device that I am trying to activate. If I say yes, it gives me options to select my old devices that I registered the key with but not sure if that is what I should do since I am not changing a hardware on old device. This is a completely different device.

On the old device when I try running the deactivation commands again, it says product key not found but in System -> About -> Product Key and Activation, it shows Activation State: Active

What should I do now?

Code:

slmgr /upk
slmgr /cpky

Jacee · Jan 31, 2025

You may have to de-activate the other computer in order to use the same product key. That key should also be retail.

NavyLCDR · Jan 31, 2025

Jacee said:
You may have to de-activate the other computer in order to use the same product key. That key should also be retail.

Which is impossible to do because continued activation is based upon the computer's hardware ID, not the Windows product key.

NavyLCDR · Jan 31, 2025

elevenmax said:
I ran these two commands on my old device, installed Win 11 on the new device and it accepted the product key during installation but then it asked to Activate after installing all my apps but it's having issues activating. I tried running troubleshoot and it asked if I made a hardware changes to this device that I am trying to activate. If I say yes, it gives me options to select my old devices that I registered the key with but not sure if that is what I should do since I am not changing a hardware on old device. This is a completely different device.

On the old device when I try running the deactivation commands again, it says product key not found but in System -> About -> Product Key and Activation, it shows Activation State: Active

What should I do now?

Code:

slmgr /upk slmgr /cpky

Select one of the old computers to transfer the license from. It does not deactivate the old computer, it copies the Windows license. Do not separate the old computers from your MS account, because that will make them unavailable to copy the license from.

hsehestedt · Jan 31, 2025

Question: Does the original system use an OEM Windows key? In other words, is it a system that came with Windows preinstalled. Those keys are not valid for transfer to another machine. The system needs a Retail key in order to transfer it as was noted by Jacee.

dacrone · Jan 31, 2025

Generic Product Keys to Install or Upgrade Windows 11 Editions

This tutorial will provide you with a list of RTM (retail) and KMS generic keys (default keys) for all editions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Generic keys (aka: "default keys") for Windows 10/11 from Microsoft will allow you to install or upgrade to a specific Windows 10/11 edition you want...

www.elevenforum.com

Any of those the key your old system spit out by chance? If so, I’d venture to guess it’s either
8HVX7 or
3V66T

zbook · Jan 31, 2025

Please post the link that had those commands for transfer.

Code:

/cpky    Some servicing operations require the product key to be available in the registry during 
Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) operations. 
The /cpky option removes the product key from the registry to prevent this key from being stolen by malicious code.
For retail installations that deploy keys, best practices recommend running this option. 
This option is not required for MAK and KMS host keys, because this is the default behavior for those keys. 
This option is required only for other types of keys whose default behavior is not to clear the key from the registry.
This operation must be run in an elevated Command Prompt window.

Code:

/upk [<Application ID>]    This option uninstalls the product key of the current Windows edition. 
After a restart, the system will be in an Unlicensed state unless a new product key is installed.
Optionally, you can use the <Activation ID> parameter to specify a different installed product.
This operation must be run from an elevated Command Prompt window.

Slmgr.vbs options for obtaining volume activation information

Provides a list of options available for the Slmgr.vbs script, and describes usage cases for their use.

learn.microsoft.com

NavyLCDR · Feb 1, 2025

hsehestedt said:
Question: Does the original system use an OEM Windows key? In other words, is it a system that came with Windows preinstalled. Those keys are not valid for transfer to another machine. The system needs a Retail key in order to transfer it as was noted by Jacee.

And in order to convert an OEM license to a retail license all you have to do is change the product key to the retail generic product key.

hsehestedt · Feb 1, 2025

NavyLCDR said:
And in order to convert an OEM license to a retail license all you have to do is change the product key to the retail generic product key.

Was not aware of that. Is that a recent development or have I simply been asleep at the switch?

NavyLCDR · Feb 1, 2025

hsehestedt said:
Was not aware of that. Is that a recent development or have I simply been asleep at the switch?

It's been that way for a few years. And you can go back to an OEM license by changing the product key to the OEM generic product key.

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