Hello everyone, today we’ll learn how to determine the type of Windows license (Retail, VL, OEM), let’s look at their differences and purposes. It will be useful for system administrators who want their own Windows licensing server in their company. Since the KMS server automatically activates only the Volume version of Windows. then you will have to carry out the procedure of changing the type of OS release. I think I’ll write you an article on how to change Retail to Volume.

Types of Windows licenses:

Evalution is a trial version; its functions are identical to Retail, but after a fixed test period it stops loading.

Windows retail, what is it?

• Retail - aka FPP (Full Product Package), or boxed version. Sold retail in a box. Requires activation. It looks like this, the installation disk and it contains paper and an activation sticker.

• OEM license - short for Original Equipment Manufacturer, comes with new machines, is installed by the computer manufacturer, and is usually already activated at the time of sale. If you reinstall it yourself, it usually requires activation. It is worth noting that OEM versions of major vendors do not require activation on “native” equipment. You may find a similar sticker from OEM Software on purchased devices.

• VL license - short for Volume License, initially only for large enterprises (or corporate license), not sold at retail. This version does not require activation. In this case, the same key is installed on a large number of machines (up to 500, GVLK key). Sometimes this type of license is called VLK (Volume License Key), which actually means the same thing.
• CPP is an abbreviation for Compliance Checking Program, also known as Update. A version intended only for installation over an existing copy of Windows. Has a lower cost than Retail.

Now from theory to practice, using the example of the Windows 7 operating system.

To find out the installed version of Windows, we perform the following movements:

1. Go to "Start" > "Run" > "CMD"
2. In the command line that opens, enter regedit.exe (to open the registry)
3. You can close the command line at this point - we won’t need it anymore.
4. In the registry we go to the following folders:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE => SYSTEM => Setup => Pid and look at the file named "Pid" (no need to open)

In the specified value, the last 3 digits are what we need.
If it says "OEM" - it's OEM. See what this means above.
If "270" is indicated, it is VL. See also above.
If "CCC" is indicated, this is Retail. (C is a number). Description above
(explained applicable to Win7. For WinXP - VLK distribution - look at the Retail principle for Win7, OEM - like OEM)

1. Hello dear administrators! Question: how can I find out the OEM key for a licensed Windows 8.1 laptop if it does not have a hard drive? Or in other words, how can you find out the Windows 8.1 key embedded in the laptop’s BIOS? My problem is that my hard drive failed and I bought a new one, now I want to install Windows 8.1 Single Language pre-installed from the store on it, but I’m afraid that the system is not activated automatically during installation. I read on the Internet that using some programs you can find out the Windows 8.1 key,“hardwired” into the laptop’s BIOS and the key is saved in any case, for the entire life of the laptop.
2. Hello admin! I bought a laptop a year ago, then it had Windows 8 installed, which I immediately tore down and installed Windows 7, but now I’m thinking about returning Windows 8, but I don’t know the license key, can I look it up somewhere? Previously, the Windows key was printed on the bottom of the laptop, but now it is not there.

Hello friends! With the advent of laptops with pre-installed Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and UEFI BIOS, Microsoft changed the rules for distributing licensed copies of Windows; now the operating system license key is no longer on the sticker located on the bottom of the laptop; from now on, the key is “sewn” in text form into the ACPI MSD table of the BIOS laptop. What to do, these are the new rules and according to them, an ordinary user does not need to know the key of the operating system installed on his laptop.

Despite this, you can view the contents of ACPI tables and find out the Windows 8.1 key in the BIOS using various utilities: RWEverything, OemKey, ShowKeyPlus, ProduKey. If your laptop boots, then these utilities can be launched directly in a running Windows and it doesn’t matter what operating system you currently have installed: Windows 7 or Windows 10, regardless of this, any of the programs I listed considers the Windows 8.1 key from the BIOS.

You can also find out the key if the laptop does not have a hard drive at all, in this case we will have to boot the laptop from a bootable flash drive Live CD AOMEI PE Builder, this flash drive contains all the programs I mentioned, in today’s article I will show you how to create such a flash drive.

• Note: If you look at the question from the other side, then it is not at all necessary for an ordinary user to recognize the Windows 8.1 key embedded in the laptop’s BIOS, and here’s why. The fact is that when you install on a laptop exactly the version of the operating system that was preinstalled on it from the store (in most cases, Windows 8.1 Single Language), the key will be inserted automatically during system installation and you will not need to enter anything. In other words, know the registered key You do not need to enter the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS under any circumstances, even if you replace the hard drive on the laptop. I wrote about all this in detail in this.

For example, let's take a laptop with Windows 8.1 pre-installed from the store, delete everything from the hard drive and install another Windows 10 operating system, and then run our utilities and find out the Win 8.1 key registered in the BIOS.

Download all programs in one archive on my cloud storage.

So, let's look at the Windows 8.1 key registered in the BIOS with the programs: ShowKeyPlus, OemKey, RWEverything, ProduKey.

The first program in line is ShowKeyPlus

The program displays detailed information.

Product Name(The version of the operating system currently installed on the laptop) - Windows 10 Single Language.

Product ID: Product ID.

Installed Key: Key for Windows 10 Single Language currently installed on the laptop.

OEM Key: TO Windows 8.1 key, registered into the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS (what we need is the key embedded in the BIOS).

OEM Edition: Operating system version ( Windows 8.1 Single Language) preinstalled at the factory by the laptop manufacturer. This is the version that the key will fit into ( OEM Key) and it will be entered automatically during system installation, that is, you will not have to enter it.

OemKey program

It only shows the Windows 8.1 key embedded in the laptop's BIOS.

RWEverything program

Go to the program folder and run the executable file Rw.exe.

Click on the button ACPI.

Click on the MSDM button and see the Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 key.

ProduKey program

The ProduKey program, already familiar to you from our previous articles, will also cope with the task of determining the key embedded in the BIOS of a laptop.

The utility shows two keys, the first is an OEM key registered to the ACPI MSD table of the laptop BIOS, and the second, the key of the currently installed Windows 10.

How to find out the OEM key of a licensed Windows 8.1 laptop if it does not have a hard drive?

Create a bootable USB flash drive Live CD AOMEI PE Builder

Friends, in this case, we need to boot the laptop from the AOMEI PE Builder Live CD bootable flash drive. Download the flash drive image from my cloud storage.

After downloading the ISO image, we launch the program, which is what we will use to create a bootable USB flash drive.

In the main window of the WinSetupFromUSB program, select our flash drive (be careful, all data on the flash drive will be deleted).

Put a tick on the item Auto format it with FBinst and check the FAT32 box.

Check the box Vista/7/8/Server 2008/2012 based ISO and click on the button on the right that opens the explorer window.

Explorer opens, find the ISO image of the Live CD AOMEI PE Builder, select it with the left mouse and click "Open".

The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive begins.

And it ends successfully.

Loading from a flash drive Live CD AOMEI PE Builder our laptop.

In the boot menu of the laptop, select our flash drive.

The main window of the Live CD AOMEI PE Builder opens, which is a regular Windows desktop with program icons.

Go to the folder Software.

and we see the same programs that we have already worked with.

In the same way, we determine the Windows 8, 8.1 key embedded in the BIOS.

It is not at all necessary to know the license code that was used to activate the operating system in Windows 10. OS activation, in most cases, is automatic. Despite this, for some reason many users want to figure out how to find out the Windows 10 product key. This is an urgent task for users who were lucky enough to purchase a new device based on the “Ten”.

This article is a guide that provides information collected across the global network that will help you find out the license key used to activate Windows 10.

The instructions discuss all options for achieving the goal: both through tools integrated into the operating system (extended command line - PowerShell, a ready-made VBScrit script created to decrypt registry files in order to extract from there the key with which Windows 10 was activated), and using utilities from third-party developers (the ProduKey utility, developed by the creator of several dozen tiny information applications). It would be appropriate to mention such things as:

• the reason why seemingly similar applications display different data;
• a method for visualizing an OEM key in UEFI (applicable only for Windows 10 that was initially installed).

Users who acquired Windows 10 by upgrading from a licensed “seven” or “eight” do not need to know the licensed operating system - it is activated independently upon first startup, if there is Internet access, or immediately after a connection to the global information network appears. In the case of a clean installation of the OS from bootable media, at the stage of entering the license code, you should click “I don’t have a product key,” which Microsoft writes in the text block.

Activation is automatically and irrevocably linked to the user's computer based on a unique identifier based on the hardware configuration of the equipment and linked to a Microsoft account. The password entry form is required to be filled out only for people who decide to purchase the Retail edition of the operating system. Owners of licensed versions of “seven” and “eight” should refer to the key that was used to activate these editions of Windows.

Let's start with an option to solve the problem without resorting to downloading third-party software. It involves using a tool integrated into the Windows 10 environment called PowerShell. There is no special command for extracting the activation code from registry files in encrypted form, but one of the enthusiasts wrote a script that runs in the Vbasic environment to solve this problem.

1. Download the finished script.

2. Using the search bar, call PowerShell with administrator privileges.

In the extended command line text field, execute “Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned”.

We confirm the launch of the command by clicking on the “Y” and “Enter” buttons.
We import the downloaded file by executing the line “Import-Module prodect_key.ps1”.
prodect_key.ps1 - here before the file name we write the full path to it.

We call the “Get-WindowsKey” command to export the key with its subsequent visualization if it is not prompted to save the key in a text file.

The required information will appear in the last line of the command line.

Viewing keys in the ShowKeyPlus application window

The utility is notable for the fact that it displays the key of the operating system currently used on the PC, separately shows the UEFI key and can retrieve information about the license of any previous version of Windows, even if its files are located in the Windows.old folder. The program functions without installation into the system; it is downloaded from the resource at: github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases.

Using ShowKeyPlus is a pleasure: we launch the executable file and get all the necessary information.

1. Installed Key - license key for running Windows 10.
2. OEM Key - shows the pre-installed Windows key, if there was one, or a message that the OEM key is not provided.

This information can be exported to one of the supported text formats for archival purposes. This is done using the Save button.

Here lies the secret of the fact that different programs display different information about the Windows 10 key: some read it from the registry (the key of the currently functioning operating system, while others export it from UEFI.

ProduKey app

Producey is a similar program to the previous one, the only task of which is to export and display the Product Key of the current Windows. You can download it from www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html. The utility works without installation; you can run it directly from the archive. After launch, the window displays the product ID, its key and name. The program is applicable not only to operating systems from Microsoft, but also to office suites and other software products of the same corporation.

Extracting OEM code from UEFI

Regardless of which OS currently controls your computer, if Windows 10 was installed on it when you purchased the device, the OEM key for it was embedded in the UEFI of the laptop or motherboard. To extract it, you need to call the command line and execute the line: “wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey”.

If such a code is not present in UEFI, an empty line will appear on the screen, and if it is present, the OEM character sequence may differ from the activation key used in the current Windows 10. The OEM key can also be used to return the originally installed version of the operating system.

To solve the problem, there are several more common ones (for example, Speccy) and an equally large number of specialized programs, but the methods discussed are sufficient for any user.

January 12, 2015 at 09:48

OEM activation of Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 under the QEMU hypervisor

• Virtualization

OEM versions of Microsoft's OS, starting with Vista, use authentication based on a comparison of three components:

• OEM certificate embedded in the OS distribution
• a binary key embedded in the BIOS, and specifically in the ACPI SLIC table
• 25-digit manufacturer's license key embedded in the OS distribution

If these three components are successfully compared, offline activation of the OS occurs. In this case, on the PC case there is a sticker containing a license key for a specific instance of the OS (and not the manufacturer), which can be used to perform online activation of the OS if it is installed not from the image provided by the PC manufacturer, but from a “clean” (MSDN) OEM image from Microsoft.

In addition, the license key of a specific OS instance can be embedded in text form in the BIOS, in the ACPI MSDM table. In this case, when installing the OS, the key will be extracted from the BIOS and embedded into a specific OS instance. In this case, the OEM sticker on the laptop body may no longer contain a license key. This method is used to activate Windows 8/8.1

You can view the contents of ACPI tables either from WIndows, using the RWEverything utility, or by booting from a Linux Live-CD, for example, SystemRescueCD. The last method is relevant when it is no longer possible to boot into an installed copy of Windows.

We have two laptops - Samsung NP305 and Acer Aspire V5-551G, the first has Windows 7 OEM Home Basic x86_64 pre-installed, the second has Windows 8 OEM Single Language x86_64. Let's use SystemRescueCD. After booting, let's look at the contents of the /sys/firmware/acpi/tables directory:

Ls /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/ APIC dynamic DSDT FACP FACS HPET MCFG SLIC SSDT1 SSDT2
We are interested in the SLIC and MSDM tables. A description of their structure can be found, for example, in this file. Let's first look at the SLIC table on a laptop with Windows 7 (the X symbol “closes” the real data):

> xxd /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/SLIC 0000000: 534c 4943 7601 0000 01fb 5345 4343 5344 SLICv.....SECCSD 0000010: 4c48 3433 5354 4152 0920 0701 414d 4 920 LH43STAR. ..AMI 0000020: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000030: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000040: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000050: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000060: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000070: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000080: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000090: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000a0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000b0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000c0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000d0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxx 00000e0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000f0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000100: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000110: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000120: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000130: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000140: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000150: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000160: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000170: XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxx
As you can see, the licensing information is stored here in binary form.

There is no MSDM table in the BIOS of a laptop with Windows 7.

Now let's look at the SLIC table on a laptop with Windows 8:

> xxd /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/SLIC 0000000: 534c 4943 7601 0000 0168 4143 5253 5953 SLICv....hACRSYS 0000010: 4143 5250 5244 4354 0100 0000 3130 3235 ACRPRDCT....1025 0000020: 0000 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000040: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000050: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000060: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000080: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000090: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ............. .. 00000a0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ............ 00000b0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ............ .... 00000c0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 00000d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ......... ...... 00000e0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 00000f0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ........ ....... 0000100: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000110: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ...... .......... 0000120: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 .... ............ 0000140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ............ 0000150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 .. ............... 0000160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000170: 0000 0000 0000 ..... .
The table is empty, so offline activation cannot be used on this laptop.

Now let’s look at the MSDM table (the X symbol “closes” the real data).

> xxd /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM 0000000: 4d53 444d 5500 0000 030b 4143 5253 5953 MSDMU.....ACRSYS 0000010: 4143 5250 5244 4354 0100 0000 3130 3235 ACRPRDCT....1025 0000020: 0000 0400 0100 0000 0000 0000 0100 0000 ................ 0000030: 0000 0000 1d00 0000 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ........XXXXX-XX 0000040: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX-XXXXX-XXXXX- 0000050: XXXX XXXX XX XXXXX
The 25-character OS instance key is hardcoded into the MSDM table in clear text.

From the /sys/firmawe/acpi/tables directory, the SLIC and MSDM files can be copied to any other location in the usual way.

Now we have images of the SLIC and MSDM tables. It turns out that you can simulate the presence of these tables when loading Windows in the QEMU/KVM hypervisor environment using the -acpitable option. For example, let’s start the installation of Windows 7 from the OEM disk, but we will not connect the network adapter to ensure offline activation.

> qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o lazy_refcounts /media/storage/VMs/win7-slic-test.qcow2 40G > qemu-system-x86_64 -smp cores=2 -m 1024 -enable-kvm -cdrom /media/storage /iso/Windows_7_SP1_RU/7601.17514.101119-1850_x64fre_client_ru-ru_OEM_HomeBasic-GRMCHBXFREO_RU_DVD.iso -acpitable file=/media/storage/misc/Samsung_NP305V5A/ACPI/tables/SLIC -net none -drive id=dis k,file=/media/storage/ VMs/win7-slic-test.qcow2,if=none -device ahci,id=ahci -device ide-drive,drive=disk,bus=ahci.0
After installation, by going to Computer -> Properties, we will see that our system is not activated. This is natural, since we emulate only one of the components of the offline activation system - the SLIC table, however, for successful activation we also need a certificate (XML file with the XRM-MS extension) and an OEM key. The listed components are already baked into the recovery image available on the laptop disk, and if we mark the recovery partition as bootable, we can activate the installation of an instance of Windows that will be authenticated immediately after installation.

If we somehow get the certificate and key separately, then we can install them with the commands

SLMGR.VBS-ILC<Файл_сетрификата.XRM-MS>And
SLMGR.VBS-IPK<25-значный ключ производителя>
You need to pay attention to that. that the SLMGR.VBS utility runs for a long time and upon completion displays a message in a separate window.

When the SLMGR.VBS utility completes, the copy of Windows will be successfully activated.

I encountered three-component offline activation only on laptops with pre-installed Windows Vista/7; for laptops with pre-installed Windows 8/8.1, online activation is used using a 25-digit OS instance key embedded in the MSDM table. When installing Windows 8, the key is automatically extracted from the BIOS and, after checking for compliance with the version of Windows being installed, is written to the registry. Let's make sure of this:

> qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o lazy_refcounts /media/storage/VMs/win8-msdm-test.qcow2 40G > qemu-system-x86_64 -smp cores=2 -m 1024 -enable-kvm -cdrom /media/storage /ISO/Win8_OEM/HRM_CSLA_X64FREO_RU-RU_DV5.ISO -acpitable file=/media/storage/misc/Acer_Aspire_V5-551G/ACPI/tables/MSDM -net none -drive id=disk,file=/media/storage/VMs/win8- msdm-test.qcow2,if=none -device ahci,id=ahci -device ide-drive,drive=disk,bus=ahci.0
Let's install Windows 8 and use the utility

Good afternoon friends! Lately, I have increasingly begun to receive messages asking for help to activate the system. It so happened that a lot of users who previously used a licensed seven or eight received an unactivated Windows 10 after the update. And in order to return everything to its place, you just had to find the key indicated on the sticker and re-specify it in the activation window and thus completely legalize your system. But how do you find out your Windows product key?

This is where some users are confused. In general, the sticker with the key can be either on a disk or glued to the laptop. Usually in these places everyone looks for keys, but those Those who bought a laptop with Windows 8 pre-installed did not receive such a sticker, since the required code was sewn into the BIOS. Thus, after the next one, the computer was automatically activated using the key that was previously stored in the BIOS.

In principle, installing Windows 10 is a simple update, after which the keys should be saved, but unfortunately, some users encountered a situation where after the update process was completed, the system was not automatically activated. This had to be done manually by re-entering your license code, although most owners of laptops with eight preinstalled had no idea how to find out their Windows product key.

It is because of these troubles, new questions began to appear, such as: how to find out the Windows 8 key or how to find out the OEM product license key for Windows 7 and 8.1. You can view your key using a third-party program, this is exactly how I answered the question posed to me. But, another question immediately begged itself, which utility is best suited for this, and in general, how to find out this Windows product license key using the utility.

Therefore, rather than describe to everyone step by step in the comments how and what to press, I decided to prepare for you this small, but very useful guide on how to find out the product key of Windows 10, 7 and 8.1.

How to find out the product license key of an installed Windows product using the RWEverything utility

So, in order to find out the OEM license key that is built into the BIOS, we will have to use one convenient, and most importantly free program that shows all the hardware information of the computer, and of course, directly, everything about the installed BIOS, in which the required key is stored.

This way you will find out the OEM product key of Windows 10 or any other operating system. Now, copy your license key onto a piece of paper and enter it into the activation form, which will allow you to get your licensed Windows back.

The fastest way to find out your Windows 8 OEM license key