Microsoft RETAIL Windows 10 PRO for $39

[Starise]

True that.... "if" I were to have a serial number in use. How would I disassociate it for use in another build? Obviously Microsoft is going to flag it. My intention isn't to do anything dishonest. I would hope I get the " Are you transferring this SN to another computer?" Instead of " This SN is already in use" and then a brick wall.

[Sander Verstraten]

11 minutes ago, Starise said:

True that.... "if" I were to have a serial number in use. How would I disassociate it for use in another build? Obviously Microsoft is going to flag it. My intention isn't to do anything dishonest. I would hope I get the " Are you transferring this SN to another computer?" Instead of " This SN is already in use" and then a brick wall.

I never really had an issue with it, I've been dragging the same windows 10 pro license over two times now, without disassociating it to my old machine before. Seems to be no problem as long as it is associated to your MS account.

[Starise]

23 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

I never really had an issue with it, I've been dragging the same windows 10 pro license over two times now, without disassociating it to my old machine before. Seems to be no problem as long as it is associated to your MS account.

Sander, Thanks for that. Not sure how that works in tying the number to one computer. So long as it works I don't care.

[Robert Bone]

39 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

I never really had an issue with it, I've been dragging the same windows 10 pro license over two times now, without disassociating it to my old machine before. Seems to be no problem as long as it is associated to your MS account.

But that is for a full retail license, not OEM.

Bob Bone

[Robert Bone]

Uh Oh - I just tried to use 2 different Windows 10 Pro keys that I purchased from this deal, and I am not yet sure what the issue is, but trying to upgrade one PC with Windows 10, to the Pro, neither one of two different keys worked.  I will contacting PC World in a few moments.

Here is the error message I received:

"The product key you entered didn't work.  Check the product key and try again, or enter a different one (0x800f0805)"

Bob Bone

[Sander Verstraten]

I never bought a retail one. Though it may be a Win 8  OEM that I upgraded with a MS Deal to Win 10 pro. Not sure if that made it a retail one?

[Robert Bone]

5 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

I never bought a retail one. Though it may be a Win 8  OEM that I upgraded with a MS Deal to Win 10 pro. Not sure if that made it a retail one?

The old pre-10 licenses were still doing free upgrades to 10, at least for a while, not sure what the OEM rules were for that.

These licenses from PC World's deal are for full retail 10 Pro licenses.

[Robert Bone]

1 hour ago, Robert Bone said:

Uh Oh - I just tried to use 2 different Windows 10 Pro keys that I purchased from this deal, and I am not yet sure what the issue is, but trying to upgrade one PC with Windows 10, to the Pro, neither one of two different keys worked.  I will contacting PC World in a few moments.

Here is the error message I received:

"The product key you entered didn't work.  Check the product key and try again, or enter a different one (0x800f0805)"

Bob Bone

I will try to figure out the issue and post back, but it will be several hours, as I am currently in excruciating pain in my neck and shoulders (woke up Friday with a knot in my neck, the size of a golf ball, and while the knot dissipated since then, the pain remains, so am going to be heading down to the emergency room, to get an MRI of my neck - I have a bunch of herniated discs in my lower back and neck, and have degenerative disc disease, so this may be new herniation).

Anyways - I will try to post back as soon  as feasible, and when I I have this issue figured out.

Bob Bone

[Grem]

Hope everything goes well at the hospital Bob.

 

 

1 hour ago, Sander Verstraten said:

a Win 8  OEM that I upgraded with a MS Deal to Win 10 pro. Not sure if that made it a retail one?

If it's a OEM license, then the free upgrade to Win10 will be tied to that OEM machine still.

[Starise]

2 minutes ago, Grem said:

Hope everything goes well at the hospital Bob.

 

 

If it's a OEM license, then the free upgrade to Win10 will be tied to that OEM machine still.

I might need to save these for a clean install then. 

Bob, Hope you begin to feel better soon. That didn't sound like a very good experience.

[Robert Bone]

Just now, Starise said:

I might need to save these for a clean install then. 

Bob, Hope you begin to feel better soon. That didn't sound like a very good experience.

Thanks for the wishes for feeling better.

I did a clean install, setting it up in the Media Creation Tool to load the USB drive as such, HOWEVER, because the Microsoft Live ID had a digital license for Windows 10 Home associated with it, when I was doing the setup process on the new computer build, with the brand new M.2 drive, it never asked me for a product key, and at the end of the setup, it had loaded it with Windows 10 Home, because of the digital license, and after that, it will not recognize the newly purchased Windows 10 Pro license I bought.

Potential good news 0 I found a Microsoft Answers post, where they gave some steps to correct the issue, and allow for upgrading to Windows 10 Pro to fix the above situation.  Those steps listed were

 

 

The above steps worked for another responder, in that thread, so perhaps those would work.  I will try them later on, after I get back.  It seems that is some generic key, so it could be used by anyone in the situation I found myself in.  I could just leave it as an activated Windows 10 Home, but I am both stubborn, and an idiot, so I want to make SURE these purchased licenses DO work, since I started this whole thread, and may have talked a bunch of folks into purchasing these licenses.  

Bob Bone

[Grem]

19 minutes ago, Robert Bone said:

may have talked a bunch of folks into purchasing these licenses.  

Yeah I think ya did that!! LOL : )

I know I am one!! : )

I haven't gone back through the whole thread, but I think others have confirmed that these are indeed a good valid MS license. I think it's call Authenticated, is the MS speak for this! 

[user 905133]

Best wishes for continued good health, and thanks for the follow-up on the activation issue! It makes sense.  I have a new-to-me refurbished PC that came with Win 10 Pro v. 2004.  I didn't want to risk trashing the "new" HDD, so I disconnected it and connected a totally unused SSD.  I did not use the license I purchased via the Computer World offer, but since I had downloaded the Media Creation Tool, I did use that.  I followed the instructions and somehow, magically (at the right time), Windows 10 showed the license with the original ID that came with the refurbished PC.  

So, I assume part of the licensing/activation process involves dialing home (MS) to look up my specific PC.  Evidently it was recognized as having a valid licence and the ID was sent to my SSD. 

[Robert Bone]

7 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

Best wishes for continued good health, and thanks for the follow-up on the activation issue! It makes sense.  I have a new-to-me refurbished PC that came with Win 10 Pro v. 2004.  I didn't want to risk trashing the "new" HDD, so I disconnected it and connected a totally unused SSD.  I did not use the license I purchased via the Computer World offer, but since I had downloaded the Media Creation Tool, I did use that.  I followed the instructions and somehow, magically (at the right time), Windows 10 showed the license with the original ID that came with the refurbished PC.  

So, I assume part of the licensing/activation process involves dialing home (MS) to look up my specific PC.  Evidently it was recognized as having a valid licence and the ID was sent to my SSD. 

So, that sounds like that newly purchased Win 10 Pro license is still good, for use with some other computer build.  It is not explained very well, regarding folks having existing licenses associated with their Microsoft Live email accounts.  I will try to get mine working, and post my adventure, later tonight, following my MRI, and hopefully happy pills dosage adjustment.

[Grem]

1 hour ago, Starise said:

I might need to save these for a clean install then. 

Yes I would. That way you can transfer it to another machine.

I know it's a PITA to do that, but I would.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Grem

[Grem]

And so....

I jumped and got another license too!! May get another in a few weeks if it's still going on.

[Robert Bone]

1 hour ago, Grem said:

And so....

I jumped and got another license too!! May get another in a few weeks if it's still going on.

I suggest you scroll back up, and find the screenshot I made, of those steps a Microsoft Answers had posted, on getting a license code to work, that was flagged as invalid.  Save that screenshot with wherever you have your purchased licenses saved, and that way, you will have those steps handy, should you find yourself in the situation I warned about.

Here to make that easier: Screenshot of steps I found to work around Windows license issues with valid licenses being detected as invalid

 

[Joakim]

4 hours ago, Robert Bone said:

Thanks for the wishes for feeling better.

I did a clean install, setting it up in the Media Creation Tool to load the USB drive as such, HOWEVER, because the Microsoft Live ID had a digital license for Windows 10 Home associated with it, when I was doing the setup process on the new computer build, with the brand new M.2 drive, it never asked me for a product key, and at the end of the setup, it had loaded it with Windows 10 Home, because of the digital license, and after that, it will not recognize the newly purchased Windows 10 Pro license I bought.

Potential good news 0 I found a Microsoft Answers post, where they gave some steps to correct the issue, and allow for upgrading to Windows 10 Pro to fix the above situation.  Those steps listed were

 

 

The above steps worked for another responder, in that thread, so perhaps those would work.  I will try them later on, after I get back.  It seems that is some generic key, so it could be used by anyone in the situation I found myself in.  I could just leave it as an activated Windows 10 Home, but I am both stubborn, and an idiot, so I want to make SURE these purchased licenses DO work, since I started this whole thread, and may have talked a bunch of folks into purchasing these licenses.  

Bob Bone

Full list of keys here

www.thewindowsclub.com/generic-windows-10-product-keys-to-in
 

there are different generic keys per version and license types

 

[ensconced]

I copied the following from some page at the same time I purchased my keys

Quote

How do I upgrade from Home to Pro?

Although we've sold you a full version of Windows 10 Professional, most people will only need to upgrade from Home. First thing to note, you can only upgrade from Home if Home is fully activated. If you have an activated Home, to upgrade to Professional, simply follow this within Windows 10:

Go to Settings > Activation > Change product key and you'll be able to drop in your new Professional code and unlock the Professional features. No need to re-install Windows 10. Once you drop in your new code, expect Windows 10 Home to download additional Professional components then either reboot or log you out (you'll need to log back in). Once this happens, you'll have Windows 10 Professional.

Alternatively, you can use your Windows 10 Professional from scratch on a brand new PC. Follow the instructions supplied and use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to create an install DVD or USB stick.

IMPORTANT - Can't Upgrade from Home to Pro? Read This First

If you are trying to upgrade from 10 Home to 10 Pro, you might find your key doesn’t work immediately. Windows 10 will claim the product key can't be used to upgrade. Why not? Effectively Windows 10 Home isn’t ‘ready’ to upgrade as it has unfinished updates.

To fix this issue, you need to run through all Windows 10 updates and reboot. Indeed, reboot anyhow, as often there’s a background process which hasn’t finished updating. Sometimes you might even have to reboot twice as Windows 10 will stack small updates which install on system boot and will stop any upgrade to Professional.

Once you've checked for updates and rebooted (we can't emphasise enough that you need to reboot), try entering your new Product Key again.

Still Can't Upgrade?

We've seen various reasons why your system might not be ready to upgrade - reach out to us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with our 'top tips' to help.

I have just made a copy of the screenshot info as well for future reference. Thanks

[Grem]

These are all great ideas. I have two bkups. Both lic # are tucked away in their own folders in Onedrive and Google Drive. And both locations now have these Generic codes info!! Just in case!

I am of the opinion that PC world would not be selling Win10 license so openly for such a long time. These are good numbers I really believe. And for little over $43 for Win10 PRO?!!!  No brainer.