Windows 11 Pro Activation Issue - New Laptop


mccmw

mccmw

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Please just point me to a previous thread if this has already been answered already. I just received a new HP laptop for my wife and set it up yesterday. I believe it initially showed activated with Windows 11 Pro...as advertised and purchased. However, it came with 22H2 and wasn't picking up 23H2 in Windows Update nor the standalone Update Catalog installer. I decided to do an in-place upgrade with an ISO and while it worked to update to 23H2, somehow I lost Windows activation. I ran the troubleshooter and it says it can find a Home digital license but that I need to purchase a Pro key. I've reached out to the seller (Amazon) to see if they can give me a new key...my assumption is that for my configuration HP puts Home OEM keys in the BIOS and either they or the final seller upgrade them to Pro depending on configuration? Hardware-wise, machine is good so I don't want to return...nor do I want to go through the pain of de-bloating and installing everything again. I assume my options are either to use the registry file on this site to downgrade to Home and do another in-place upgrade, hope that the seller will give me a new key that I can just enter under the "change product key" option, or buy my own key...If I do the latter, since I already have Pro installed, I could buy an OEM (not Retail) key...cheaper...and use that to activate, correct? Thanks for help in advance.
 

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Are you sure you did a Pro in-place upgrade? Nowadays, the windows activation keys are a digital licence attached to your PC which should therefore be permanent.

What happens if you open command prompt as admin and then paste
wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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Off topic...

Hi @James. Do you have a command for getting the current Product Key?

Kind regards,

tecknot
 

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James said:
Are you sure you did a Pro in-place upgrade? Nowadays, the windows activation keys are a digital licence attached to your PC which should therefore be permanent.

What happens if you open command prompt as admin and then paste wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey?
Click to expand...
A key did pop up after entering the command...the issue "I think" is that laptop originally probably came with a Home digital license and either HP or the ultimate seller updated to Pro....I could be wrong. I suspect that the key being shown is for Home...somehow whatever Pro key was used in the image has been lost or corrupted or something. I just tried to contact HP and the online support was worthless.
 

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you could try entering the generic pro key and see if that prompts it to check online again
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
 

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James said:
What happens if you open command prompt as admin and then paste wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey?
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, is there a way to get the edition of that key pragmatically? Or is that all we get?
 

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If the command you ran says Windows 11 Home then the laptop shipped with Windows 11 Home. If it was upgraded to Pro it was done by whoever you bought it from. I could be wrong bought I think the laptop was activated with Win 11 Home and not Pro. If it was updated to and activated with a pro key you need to contact the seller.
 

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BobOmb said:
Out of curiosity, is there a way to get the edition of that key pragmatically? Or is that all we get?
Click to expand...
Yes. That is one of the options available in ShowKeyPlus. It can read and display your installed key, and any OEM key in your bios. You can also check any key, just type it in and it can tell you the Windows version (7, 8, 10/11) and edition (Core (aka Home), Pro, etc.).

www.tenforums.com

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Help Forums

I have converted the vbs to .Net for speed and backward compatibility with Win 8.0. Should be fine on WTP, but please report any bugs (This is a quite
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com
 

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If the op is not mistaken and it was Pro activated, then there should be a record of that on ms activation servers.

Unless it was activated using a key from an earlier os > free upgrade. There have been problems reported activating after reinstall in that scenario.

Supposedly ms is aware of the problem but I dont know what they can do to fix it now.

Has the op tried the suggestion in my earlier post?

you could try entering the generic pro key and see if that prompts it to check online again
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
Click to expand...
 

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SIW2 said:
Unless it was activated using a key from an earlier os > free upgrade. There have been problems reported activating after reinstall in that scenario.

Supposedly ms is aware of the problem but I dont know what they can do to fix it now.
Click to expand...
Good point. We know MS has disallowed many legitimate keys from earlier versions and so far, doing nothing to rectify it.
 

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tecknot said:
Off topic...

Hi @James. Do you have a command for getting the current Product Key?

Kind regards,

tecknot
Click to expand...
Of what I have tried using this command, it gives me my current product key. :-)
 

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BobOmb said:
Out of curiosity, is there a way to get the edition of that key pragmatically? Or is that all we get?
Click to expand...
Yes. Using ShowKeyPlus:

www.tenforums.com

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Help Forums

I have converted the vbs to .Net for speed and backward compatibility with Win 8.0. Should be fine on WTP, but please report any bugs (This is a quite
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com

..
@mccnavy

Please can you try downloading the software from above link and entering the product key found through the prior command. Please screenshot what is shown. (But not the product key of course.)
 

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SIW2 said:
If the op is not mistaken and it was Pro activated, then there should be a record of that on ms activation servers.

Unless it was activated using a key from an earlier os > free upgrade. There have been problems reported activating after reinstall in that scenario.

Supposedly ms is aware of the problem but I dont know what they can do to fix it now.

Has the op tried the suggestion in my earlier post?
Click to expand...
It could be a dodgy volume licence key activation - common scam.

@mccnavy

run following from an admin command prompt
Code: 
slmgr /dlv
and tell us what it says on line highlighted in yellow:
1704111308746.png
 

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Thanks all for the help and advice. I ended up buying a license yesterday and it worked (slmgr /dlv shows it was a retail key)....my wife would be using this laptop for work so I wanted to get it up and running. I also let the Amazon seller know...either they can give me a key that I could upgrade my laptop from Home to Pro, or I may just ask them for partial refund/reimbursement for the key I purchased yeterday. We'll see.

I also downloaded ShowKeyPlus as recommended.

ShowKeyPlus is showing the Windows 11 Pro key I entered yesterday...as expected. Under upgrades it shows (2)...I believe the first is for 22H2 that was originally installed and the second is likely the 23H2 update/upgrade I did that erased the previous Win 11 Pro key (or whatever happened). For the firmware key, it says "Win10 RTMCore OEM/DM."

For comparison...I also installed ShowKeyPlus on my six-year old desktop that originally had Win 10 and I upgraded to Win 11. It shows 24 upgrades...almost a complete history of major Win 10 and Win 11 upgrades/updates. Interesting.
 

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    Windows 11
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z-270A
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    32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)
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    Asus Nvidia 1050Ti
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    1920 x 1080
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    1TB Western Digital SN770 (System) and 2TB Western Digital SN770 (Storage)
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    Windows 11 Homei9-11900H32GBIntegrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
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    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS 15 9510
    CPU
    i9-11900H
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Sound Card
    Integrated (Realtek)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    None
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (non-Touch)
    Hard Drives
    2TB SK Hynix P41 Platinum
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
mccnavy said:
Thanks all for the help and advice. I ended up buying a license yesterday and it worked (slmgr /dlv shows it was a retail key)....my wife would be using this laptop for work so I wanted to get it up and running. I also let the Amazon seller know...either they can give me a key that I could upgrade my laptop from Home to Pro, or I may just ask them for partial refund/reimbursement for the key I purchased yeterday. We'll see.

I also downloaded ShowKeyPlus as recommended.

ShowKeyPlus is showing the Windows 11 Pro key I entered yesterday...as expected. Under upgrades it shows (2)...I believe the first is for 22H2 that was originally installed and the second is likely the 23H2 update/upgrade I did that erased the previous Win 11 Pro key (or whatever happened). For the firmware key, it says "Win10 RTMCore OEM/DM."

For comparison...I also installed ShowKeyPlus on my six-year old desktop that originally had Win 10 and I upgraded to Win 11. It shows 24 upgrades...almost a complete history of major Win 10 and Win 11 upgrades/updates. Interesting.
Click to expand...
Can you post a link to the laptop you purchased? I'd like to see how the seller listed it.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
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    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
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    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
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    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    #1. LG ULTRAWIDE 34" #2. AOC Q32G2WG3 32"
    Screen Resolution
    #1. 3440 X 1440 #2. 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot SecureAnywhere CE 26.1

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Canary ChannelIntel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-A
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11Intel i7-7700K32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)Asus Nvidia 1050Ti
    OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z-270A
    Memory
    32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Nvidia 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung C27F390
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB Western Digital SN770 (System) and 2TB Western Digital SN770 (Storage)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Homei9-11900H32GBIntegrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS 15 9510
    CPU
    i9-11900H
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Sound Card
    Integrated (Realtek)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    None
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (non-Touch)
    Hard Drives
    2TB SK Hynix P41 Platinum
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
mccnavy said:
It shows 24 upgrades...almost a complete history of major Win 10 and Win 11 upgrades/updates. Interesting.
Click to expand...
Yes, the Windows 10 on my System One that got upgraded to 11 was migrated from my old Legacy/MBR laptop, so can trace it's upgrade history back to an original OEM Window 7.

1665621569865-png.42167


There are other ways to read that upgrade history.

www.tenforums.com

View Windows Upgrade History in Windows 10

How to View Windows Upgrade History in Windows 10
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to lid hinges starting to break up this laptop has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

    Info for 2021-2026:
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.

    My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 25H2Intel Core i7-10700K16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    #1. LG ULTRAWIDE 34" #2. AOC Q32G2WG3 32"
    Screen Resolution
    #1. 3440 X 1440 #2. 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot SecureAnywhere CE 26.1

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Canary ChannelIntel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-A
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
For the firmware key, it says "Win10 RTMCore OEM/DM.
Click to expand...
Not surprising.

If the laptop was aimed at the business market it would probably have pro. Laptops for the average punter are much more likely to come with a lower edititon.

If it was sold with Pro, the seller upgraded it.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win7,Win11i7-97002x16gb 3600mhz
    OS
    Win7,Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-9700
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x16gb 3600mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i

  • At a glance

    win7,win11i5-84002x8gb 3200
    Operating System
    win7,win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
SIW2 said:
Not surprising.

If the laptop was aimed at the business market it would probably have pro. Laptops for the average punter are much more likely to come with a lower edititon.

If it was sold with Pro, the seller upgraded it.
Click to expand...
I wonder if they used a MAK key to upgrade.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 25H2Intel Core i7-10700K16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    #1. LG ULTRAWIDE 34" #2. AOC Q32G2WG3 32"
    Screen Resolution
    #1. 3440 X 1440 #2. 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot SecureAnywhere CE 26.1

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Canary ChannelIntel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-A
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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