Genuine Windows is a recurring process that checks your product key or digital entitlement to make sure it's not blocked or being used on hardware that's different from what you were using when you activated Windows. The genuine, or validation, check is performed when your PC attempts to download optional updates from Microsoft. Understand and Fix Windows 10 Product Key Activation. Click the ‘Validate Windows’ button, if the validation check fails, then click on the ‘Get Genuine’ button to get a WGA Kit.
Windows 10 has been out for a little over a week now, and a good portion of Windows users have already utilized their free Windows 10 upgrade. As soon as you upgrade your system, Microsoft automatically activates your Windows 10 copy in the background, assuming that you’ve upgraded from genuine Windows 7 or 8 versions.
Since the Windows system doesn’t display any “Successfully Activated” type of messages, there will be a bit of confusion whether the installed or upgraded version of Windows is activated or not. The confusion is particularly true if you’ve reinstalled Windows 10.
So, if you ever need to, here is how you can check to see if your Windows 10 system is activated or not through different methods.
Check Activation Status through System Window
One of the easiest ways to check the Windows 10 activation status is to look at the System applet window. To do that simply press the keyboard shortcut “Win + X” and select the “System” option. Alternatively, you can also search for “System” in the Start menu.
Once the System window has been opened, scroll down and you will find the wording “Windows is activated” under the Windows Activation section if your system is activated.
This window even displays the option to change the product key if you ever need it, like when you are upgrading from one edition to the other.
Check Activation Status through Modern Settings
Other than using the regular Windows System applet to check the activation status, you can also use the Modern control panel. This is particularly useful if you are using Windows 10 in tablet mode.
To start, click on the Notifications icon on the bottom right corner of the taskbar and select the “All Settings” option.
The above action will open the Settings panel. Here, select the “Update and Security” option.
In the “Update and Security” window, navigate to the Activation tab and you will find your Windows activation status in the right pane. If your Windows is activated, you will see the “Windows is activated” message next to “Activation.”
Just like in the System applet, the window also hosts the “Change product key” button if you need it.
Check Activation Status through the Command Prompt
You can also use the regular old Command Prompt to check your Windows Activation status. To do that press “Win + R,” type cmd and press the Enter button to open the Command Prompt. Alternatively, you can also use the power user menu (Win + X).
Once the Command Prompt window has been open, enter the below command and press the Enter button.
As soon as you press the Enter button, Windows will display a new window showing the activation status. Since I’m using Home edition on my laptop, it is displayed as the Core edition. If you are using the Pro version, then the change will be reflected in the window.
It is that simple to check your Windows system activation status using different methods.
Do comment below sharing your thoughts and experiences after using the above methods to check whether your Windows system is activated or not.
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Unlike earlier versions of Windows, you can’t install Windows 10 or 8 without a product key. Microsoft has made it compulsory to provide a product key before proceeding with the installation. But what if you want to install and trial Windows 8 before purchasing? Luckily there is a workaround to bypass the product key screen during Windows installation.
Note:Skipping the product key doesn’t means you get a fully activated Windows installation. Once you skip the product key, your Windows installation will be limited to a 30 days trial period and you will have to purchase a genuine product key in order to activate your Windows 10/8 installation.
How to Install Windows 10 or 8 without Product Key?
- Follow this guide to download a official copy of Windows 10 / 8.1 directly from Microsoft’s servers.
- After you’ve downloaded the Windows 10 or 8 ISO image, burn it to a USB flash drive with the freeware ISO2Disc. It is easiest if you’ve created USB installation media, as you can later edit the files directly on your USB flash drive. If you created an ISO file, you’ll have to modify the files inside the ISO image before burning it to disc.
- Open your USB installation drive and navigate to the /sources folder. Look for the ei.cfg file and open it in a text editor such as Notepad. If the file doesn’t already exist, create a new text document and rename it as ei.cfg.
- Copy and paste the following text into the ei.cfg file and then save it. Make sure that anything that already exists in the file should be cleared first.
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
1 - That’s it. Now go ahead and boot from your USB installation media. This time you will see a Skip button when you are prompted to enter a product key during Windows Setup.
Once you have successfully installed Windows 10/8 through this method, you will then have 30 days to activate your Windows installation.
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