How to find out the license key of the installed windows 7. How to find out the activation key for the Windows operating system

hello admin tell me how to find windows key if it is not on the back of the laptop and this is the case on all new laptops.

When buying a laptop, the store told me that I did not need the Windows key, since I did not need to enter it anywhere. I have installed some kind of Windows 8 Single Language 64-bit Russian Region- (OEM) and I am not supposed to have a disk from it either. If Windows crashes, then you can run the factory reset program and that's it.
I also learned that if I want to install another Windows on my laptop, then this is unlikely to work and reinstalling the existing one will also not work on my own. And another important point - if I accidentally delete the hidden partition with factory settings during my experiments with reinstallations, then the laptop will be restored to me not under warranty, but for a couple of thousand rubles.

Here I sit and think, I paid 30 thousand rubles for a laptop, but it doesn’t seem to be mine. Find out the Windows key I can’t, I can’t install another operating system, they don’t give a disk with Windows and drivers now, in short, use it to your health. It's strange though! Gosh.

How to find out the Windows key

Hello friends! With a new laptop, you can do whatever you want and of course you can find out the key of Windows installed on it, but you need to do this all with skill. Sellers can also be understood, since many buyers on the very first day of using a laptop take everything down to a hair dryer, and then, having played enough with ancient operating systems, they try to restore what it was, many do not succeed and they come to where the laptop was bought and demand everything restore under warranty.

Therefore, before your experiments, insure yourself with modern data backup tools. You can back up all partitions of your hard drive to DVDs or a USB portable hard drive. You can learn how to create a backup of the entire laptop hard drive or just the operating system from our articles.
Note: Installed on your laptop Windows 8 Single Language 64-bit Russian Region (OEM), this is a normal basic Windows 8, but only with support for one Russian language. No, you can print in English, but the system management interface will always be in Russian. Windows 8 Single Language (OEM) can be transferred to another computer and even upgraded to Windows Pro 8. If you want to reinstall the operating system on your laptop, then you can do it like this - or this -.

I will give two of the easiest ways to find out the Windows key. We will use the services of the ProduKey program and then AIDA64.

The ProduKey program works quickly and without installation. You can download on the official website

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html#DownloadLinks

Click "Download links are on the bottom of this page"

If you have a 64-bit operating system, select "Download ProduKey for x64",

Below on the same page you can download the Russifier.

The program is downloaded in the archive, unzip the archive and run the ProduKey.exe file. In addition to the Windows key, you will recognize all keys for Microsoft-owned programs.

Find out the Windows key using the AIDA64 program

Let's go to the website of the developer of the AIDA64 program http://www.aida64.com/, click on the Download button.

Download, install and run the program. In the left part of the main program window, select the Operating system, then the same thing again.

We see the key of our Windows

Friends, read on.

Manufacturers of modern laptops and computers are actively refusing disk drives, since any program or game can be downloaded from the Internet, and the presence of a drive only makes a PC more expensive for the end buyer. At the same time, users who are accustomed to receiving a Windows disk and a license key bundled with their computer look at the issue of reinstalling the operating system with difficulty. While Windows itself can be installed from a USB flash drive, a license key is still required from it. In this case, users have a question: how to find out the Windows product key that was preinstalled on a laptop (desktop computer), or installed later from a disk that is not currently available? It is enough to do this, both by means of Windows and with the help of third-party programs.

Asking the question of determining the license key of the operating system operating on the computer, you should understand such concepts as Installed Key and OEM Key. In fact, they are both Windows license keys, but there are some differences between them. The way they are defined also differs.

Installed Key is the installation key of the operating system operating on the computer. It can be identified on those laptops and desktop computers on which Windows was installed by users on their own from a disk or in the form of a digital copy purchased via the Internet and activated.

The OEM Key is the license key for the version of Windows that was originally installed on the computer. The OEM key information is hardwired into the motherboard of a laptop or desktop computer and cannot be changed.

Therefore, if your computer was running Windows 8 at the time of purchase and later upgraded to Windows 10, the OEM and Installed key information will be different. At the same time, if you want to install Windows 8 on a new computer, you will need to enter the OEM key - only it will work with this version of the operating system. The Installed Key is fine if you want to install Windows 10.

Attention: You can use an existing OEM or Installed key only for the version of the operating system that is installed on the computer. You cannot enter a key from a Windows 10 Basic version to Professional build.

How to find out the Windows 10 key using the operating system?

On any computer, having administrator rights, you can find out the Windows 10 license key without third-party programs and applications. At the same time, the procedures are different, in the case of determining OEM and Installed keys.

It is very easy to find out the license key of the operating system, which is "sewn" into the computer's motherboard, if you know the command that is specifically provided for this in Windows 10. To determine the OEM key, do the following:

The key issued by the OEM can be used to reinstall the version of the operating system that was originally installed on the computer.

Using a single command, it will not work to determine the Installed Key, and it is hidden a little deeper in the Windows operating system. But if you wish, you can get information about the Windows license key without installing third-party applications on your computer. To do this, do the following:

1. Launch an empty standard Windows notepad, which can be found in the following path: "Start" - "All Applications" - "Windows Accessories" - "Notepad".
2. Copy the following code into an open text editor program:

function Get-WindowsKey ( param ($targets = ".") $hklm = 2147483650 $regPath = "Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" $regValue = "(!LANG:DigitalProductId" Foreach ($target in $targets) { $productKey = $null $win32os = $null $wmi = "\\$target\root\default:stdRegProv" $data = $wmi.GetBinaryValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue) $binArray = ($data.uValue) $charsArray = "B","C","D","F","G","H","J","K","M","P","Q","R","T","V","W","X","Y","2","3","4","6","7","8","9" ## decrypt base24 encoded binary data For ($i = 24; $i -ge 0; $i--) { $k = 0 For ($j = 14; $j -ge 0; $j--) { $k = $k * 256 -bxor $binArray[$j] $binArray[$j] = ::truncate($k / 24) $k = $k % 24 } $productKey = $charsArray[$k] + $productKey If (($i % 5 -eq 0) -and ($i -ne 0)) { $productKey = "-" + $productKey } } $win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $target $obj = New-Object Object $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Computer -value $target $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Caption -value $win32os.Caption $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty CSDVersion -value $win32os.CSDVersion $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -value $win32os.OSArchitecture $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty BuildNumber -value $win32os.BuildNumber $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty RegisteredTo -value $win32os.RegisteredUser $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductID -value $win32os.SerialNumber $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $productkey $obj } } !}

Please note that the Installed Key is displayed in the "Product Key" item. You can also learn some details about the operating system used on your computer by following the steps above.

How to find out Windows keys using third-party programs?

From the instructions above, you can see that it is very easy to find the Windows OEM Key, but getting to the Installed Key is much more difficult, and the procedure for detecting it using Windows tools takes a lot of time. If there is no desire to conduct it, then you can install a third-party application that will independently detect information about the OEM Key and Installed Key on the computer, and then issue it to the PC administrator.

One of the simplest and most convenient programs for determining the Windows key is ShowKeyPlus. It can be downloaded from the official website of the developers absolutely free. At the same time, the program not only displays information about the license keys of the version of Windows used, but also allows users to save the information received in a txt document.

Previously, if a laptop came pre-installed with the Windows operating system, then on its underside there was a sticker with a product key or a so-called license key. Now these stickers are not glued to laptops, and it’s impossible to find out the product key for just that.

But, if you apply some tricks, then you can still find out the Windows 10 product key. In this article, we will look at several ways at once how this can be done.

It should be noted right away that different methods extract keys from different sources, so the resulting keys will be different. So, the key extracted from the operating system will be different from the key that is extracted from the UEFI motherboard.

How to view the product key in Windows 10 using third-party programs

If you want to find out the product key in Windows 10, then the easiest way is to resort to using third-party programs. In this case, you do not have to deal with the Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell. All you have to do is install the program and run it.

The first program we'll look at is called ProduKey. This program is released by NirSoft, known for its small utilities for Windows. You can download ProduKey.

The ProduKey program collects data about the keys installed in the operating system and displays this information in the form of a convenient table. With ProduKey, you can find out not only the Windows 10 product key, but also the keys to other Microsoft programs. For example, you can find out the license key for the Microsoft Office suite of office programs.

Also, to view license keys, the ShowKeyPlus program is often used. This is an open source program.

A feature of the ShowKeyPlus program is that it can extract a product key from several sources at once. Firstly, the program can extract the key from the Windows 10 operating system itself (in the program it is Installed Key), secondly, from the computer's UEFI (in the program it is OEM Key), and thirdly, from the previous version of Windows, which is saved in the Windows folder .old.

How to view the Windows 10 license key without using third-party programs

If you do not want to use third-party programs and are ready to tinker a little with the tools built into Windows 10, then you can resort to the following options.

To view the license key stored in your motherboard's UEFI, you need to run the following command:

• wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

You can also perform this operation using Windows PowerShell. To launch PowerShell, you can simply open the Start menu and search for "PowerShell". You can also open the Run menu with Windows + R and enter the command "PowerShell" there. After PowerShell starts, you need to run the following command in it:

• (Get-WmiObject -query "select * from SoftwareLicensingService").OA3xOriginalProductKey

After executing any of these commands, information about the license key that is stored in the UEFI of your motherboard will appear on the screen. If there are no saved keys in UEFI, then the commands will not give any result.

In addition, there is a script in the VBS (Visual Basic Script) language with which you can extract the product key from the Windows 10 operating system. In order to use this script, you need to open the Notepad program and paste the following code into it:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
regKey = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\"
DigitalProductId = WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "DigitalProductId")
Win10ProductName = "Windows 10 Version: " & WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "ProductName") & vbNewLine
Win10ProductID = "Product ID: " & WshShell.RegRead(regKey & "ProductID") & vbNewLine
Win10ProductKey = ConvertToKey(DigitalProductId)
ProductKeyLabel ="Windows 10 Key: " & Win10ProductKey
Win10ProductID = Win10ProductName & Win10ProductID & ProductKeyLabel
MsgBox(Win10ProductID)
Function ConvertToKey(regKey)
Const KeyOffset = 52
isWin10 = (regKey(66) \ 6) And 1
regKey(66) = (regKey(66) And &HF7) Or ((isWin10 And 2) * 4)
j = 24
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
y=14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = regKey(y + KeyOffset) + Cur
regKey(y + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24)
Cur = Cur Mod 24
y=y-1
Loop While y >= 0
j=j-1
winKeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & winKeyOutput
Last = Cur
Loop While j >= 0
If (isWin10 = 1) Then
keypart1 = Mid(winKeyOutput, 2, Last)
insert="N"
winKeyOutput = Replace(winKeyOutput, keypart1, keypart1 & insert, 2, 1, 0)
If Last = 0 Then winKeyOutput = insert & winKeyOutput
End If
a = Mid(winKeyOutput, 1, 5)
b = Mid(winKeyOutput, 6, 5)
c = Mid(winKeyOutput, 11, 5)
d = Mid(winKeyOutput, 16, 5)
e = Mid(winKeyOutput, 21, 5)
ConvertToKey = a & "-" & b & "-" & c & "-" & d & "-" & e
end function

As a result, the VBS script will be executed and information about the Windows 10 license key will appear on the screen.

Many cannot do this and do not understand where this very code went when it suddenly became in demand. The sticker on the computer was worn out from time to time, and they forgot to write it down. What to do?

Product key (license key) is 25 characters that are entered when purchasing a product from Microsoft or other software. This is what makes our Windows 10 or some other completely legal, and not pirated, like most OSes used in Russia. Therefore, it is especially important not to lose it. But Microsoft, for inexplicable reasons, made it so that it cannot be found on a computer. Therefore, when requested, many do not know how to find out the key of the installed Windows 10, 8, 7.

There are many cases where people lose their product license key. In addition, there are situations when we do not even recognize him. For example, when buying a new computer and then upgrading to an older OS: from the eighth Windows to Windows 10.

There is a fairly easy method that is recommended by many, plus it does not require you to install any utilities on your computer. But it is suitable only for those who are looking for how to find out the product key of an installed Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.

To do this, you need to run a special script:

1. Create a new text document (Notepad)
2. Paste the text of the script:

[[[Script text in attachment]]] – insert by quoting

1. Click "Save As".
2. We set any file name, but at the end we write “.vbs”.
3. Select the file type "All Files", click "Save".

Now, when you click on the file, a window will open where you will see the Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key. It is worth noting that sometimes this method can work for a Windows 10 product.

In addition to this script, there are several more that serve the same purpose. But it will take longer to mess around with them: use the command line, various other utility utilities on the computer. While the result is the same. Therefore, we present only one for you.

For those for whom this method did not work, read the article further.

Methods using third-party programs

Apparently, many have asked the question of finding the key, so now you can find quite a lot of different utilities on the Internet that offer to display the codes of many programs, including operating systems. As a rule, they are all free and weigh from a few kilobytes to several megabytes, but they do their job quite well. The following are some examples of utilities that can be used for this purpose.

ProduKey window

With this program, you can find lost license codes for Windows 10 or any other Windows, as well as for a number of paid software.

All you need to do is download the utility from the official website, unzip it, and run it. Next, you will see your Windows key.

In addition, ProduKey also shows the productkeys of the following software:

• Microsoft Office
• Exchange Server
• SQL Server

Another utility with a rather telling name, which also allows you to find out the product key of Windows 10 or any other Windows.

To do this, we just need to download it (the program is free) and run it. In the window that opens, all the necessary information will immediately appear.

A good program, which is one of the options when looking for ways to find out the Windows 7 or XP key. It displays the product numbers of the OS itself and the "Office". It's pretty easy to use. It is distributed for free, so just download and then run. You will immediately see the required character sets.

In addition to these utilities, there are still an unlimited number, but, in fact, in order to find out your productkey of the installed Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10, one of the above is enough.

Last 5 characters

Finally, you can see that you can view the last five characters of the product number without tricky manipulations. It is enough just to call the command line (Win + R), and then drive the following into it: "slmgr.vbs / dlv". Then a window will appear with several lines, one of which will contain the last part of the Windows 10 license code or some other.

Now you can easily restore your Productkey if it was suddenly lost.

A special product license key is used to activate the Windows operating system. The Windows product key used to activate the system differs depending on the operating system version (Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, etc.), OS edition (Home, Pro, etc.), distribution method (OEM, Retail etc).

To activate the Windows operating system, a product key is used, consisting of 25 characters in the form of numbers and uppercase (uppercase) English letters, divided into 5 groups of 5 characters: "XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX".

Laptops used to often have a Windows activation key glued on. At the moment, manufacturers of laptops with pre-installed operating systems sew a product key into the BIOS to automatically activate Windows.

In the event of a system reinstall, or for some other reason (for example, activation failed after a hardware failure), the user may need a Windows product key. How to find the Windows activation key?

You can find out the license key of the installed Windows by running a special VBS script, as well as using five programs: ProduKey, ShowKeyPlus, Free PC Audit, Speccy, AIDA64, SIW. All the listed programs are free, except for AIDA64 and SIW.

The script with the ".vbs" extension and portable free programs (ProduKey, ShowKeyPlus, Free PC Audit) can be downloaded from here. Download the rest of the programs to your computer from the official websites of manufacturers.

Using these methods, you can find out the Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 key. After you have found out the Windows product key, save the received data for later use, in case of reinstalling the operating system, to activate the operating system.

The free ProduKey program from the well-known manufacturer NirSoft does not require installation on a computer. The application shows the keys to Windows OS, Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft Office.

Unzip the archive with the program, and then run the "Application" file from the folder. After launch, the ProduKey utility window will display the key to the installed operating system.

Select the entry with the Windows 10 key, or another operating system, and then select "Copy Product Key" from the context menu to copy the activation key to the clipboard.

The free program ShowKeyPlus does not require installation on a computer. After launch, in the application window you will see information:

• Product Name - The operating system currently installed on the computer
• Product ID (Product code) - product code
• Installed Key - the key of the operating system currently installed on the computer
• OEM Key - a key embedded in the BIOS of a laptop of an initially installed operating system

To save the data, click on the "Save" button, and then save the received information in a text file.

The free program Free PC Audit will help you find out the key of the installed Windows. This program does not require installation on a computer. Run the utility file, after that the Free PC Audit program window will open, in which the system scan will begin.

After the scan is completed, in the "System" tab, opposite the "Windows product key" item, you will see the product key of the installed Windows operating system.

To copy the key, select the line with the license key, and then using the "Copy" context menu item, or using the "Ctrl" + "C" keys, copy the Windows product key from the utility window.

How to find out Windows 8 key using VBSCrit

Activation keys for the Windows operating system are stored on the hard drive in encrypted form. Executing the VBSCrit script will allow you to get the product key of the installed operating system in decrypted form. This script was developed for Windows 8 operating system, but this code also works fine in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 operating systems.

To perform the operation, double-click on the “WindowsKey.vbs” file. In the window that opens, you will see the Windows activation code. Next, click on the "OK" button.

The next window will display information about the operating system version, product ID, and product key number. Ignore the name of the entry "Windows 8 Key". The name of this OS will be displayed on any version of the Windows operating system.

The free Speccy program from the well-known company Piriform, the manufacturer of CCleaner and other software. From the official site you can download a portable (portable) version of Speccy. There is a paid version of the program with advanced features.

The program provides the user with detailed information about the hardware of the computer, and with the help of the application, you can find out the license key of the installed Windows.

Run the Speccy program, in the "Operating system" section, the version of the installed operating system, its serial number (activation key) will be displayed.

AIDA64 is a powerful program for getting all sorts of information about computer software and hardware.

After launching the AIDA64 program, in the "Menu" tab, in the "Operating system" section, license information will be displayed, including the Windows product key.

Select the product key, select "Copy" in the context menu, then paste the key into Notepad, or another similar program to save.

SIW

SIW (System Information of Windows) is a program for obtaining information about the hardware state and software of a computer.

After launching SIW, enter the "Programs", "Licenses" section. This will display information about the product key used in the Windows operating system installed on the computer.

Wrong product key

When checking the keys in the ways listed above, the Windows product key may appear as follows: "BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB".

This means that your computer is activated with a corporate MAK or VLK key. Operating Windows does not save such keys, so programs do not see them.

Windows 10 uses a new system authentication method (not for all cases in Windows 10). The activation record is stored on Microsoft servers and does not appear on your computer. After reinstallation, Windows will automatically activate for some time.

The retention of the license is subject to changes in the hardware configuration of the computer. If the motherboard is replaced, Microsoft's activation servers will revoke the license for that computer. Windows will prompt you to purchase a new product key.

Conclusion

If necessary, the user can find out the license code of the Windows operating system by running a VBS script, or using specialized programs: ProduKey, ShowKeyPlus, Free PC Audit, Speccy, AIDA64, SIW.