# my windows 10 oem didn't come with a product key



## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

A big thanks to everyone who helped me in my journey of computer building. I really appreciate it. 

Now I have a window 10 oem DVD.  It apparently has no product key on the DVD sleeve. I am using the OS  however it is gonna expire soon. I need to activate my OS.  Who to contact? 

Oh and I bought the OS a couple weeks ago. I think Christmas eve


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## ShiBDiB (Jan 11, 2016)

where'd you buy it from?


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## cadaveca (Jan 11, 2016)

I bought retail and the key for those is on a separate card. The retail copy actually came on a tiny USB 3.0 drive, not a DVD though. I wonder why OEM copies are DVD? That seems... wrong.


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## Slizzo (Jan 11, 2016)

Pretty sure MS didn't put W10 on optical media....


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

Slizzo said:


> Pretty sure MS didn't put W10 on optical media....



Oh serious?. But I have it on optical media so what too do. Can I contact anyone?  I bought from ncix.com


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## theonedub (Jan 11, 2016)

Maybe the key is in the digital receipt?


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## truth teller (Jan 11, 2016)

aasim1111 said:


> Oh serious?. But I have it on optical media so what too do. Can I contact anyone?  I bought from ncix.com


you probably bought the key and they provided the dvd, check the invoice for the key and if you still cant find it pay them a visit and demand your cash back, since the win10 iso is available for free from microsoft

btw, congrats on getting your pc running again


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

truth teller said:


> you probably bought the key and they provided the dvd, check the invoice for the key and if you still cant find it pay them a visit and demand your cash back, since the win10 iso is available for free from microsoft
> 
> btw, congrats on getting your pc running again



I will. Talk to ncix tomorrow and let's see what they say. I was originally going to buy windows 7 but apparently it has massively increased in price here in canada


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

Is neosmart product key finder any good?


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

It can't find a key if one was never installed...

OEM versions don't get digital delivery of keys, they have a key sticker designed to be peeled off and affixed to the case (since the hardware hash locks it to that computer).  If it came in a shrink wrapped bundle with the DVD in a paper sleeve it would be on a separate card inside the bundle, if it just came in a sealed cardboard sleeve it would be on the inside of the flap you open.


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

Slizzo said:


> Pretty sure MS didn't put W10 on optical media....


Yes they do.


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)

It should have a COA.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

Slizzo said:


> Pretty sure MS didn't put W10 on optical media....


Yeah, they do.  Both copies of Windows 10 I bought OEM from Newegg had two paper envelopes.  The first one is the terms of service, the one inside had the COA sticker on the outside and a setup DVD inside.  I pitched the TOS envelop, installed from a USB stick using the key, and the DVD sleeve is still unopened in my stash.

If there's no COA sticker on it, return it to where you bought it ASAP!


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 11, 2016)

Slizzo said:


> Pretty sure MS didn't put W10 on optical media....



The OEM versions are on DVD. Retail is by USB flash drive.


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

Jetster said:


> It should have a COA.



Yes it has a COA label but that's not it. Product key is 25 characters. Also it the disc  came in a card board sleeve with nothing else. What to do with the COA


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 11, 2016)

So are you saying you have found your product key?


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> So are you saying you have found your product key?



Not yet. But I do have the COA label on the sleeve. So what do I do with the COA?


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)




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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

I do not have that sticker.


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

U previously bought a windows 7 oem n I didn't have any trouble. It came with everything


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

If you bought OEM Windows 10, that sticker Jetster pasted is what it needs to have.  If it doesn't have it, it's defective and needs to be returned to the retailer.

Retail may be a bit different (certainly no COA sticker).


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

The only stickers I have say the end item pn, carton no. COA Barcode and warrany void if removed sticker


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

That sounds like the exterior envelope.  Can't open that envelop and find the COA/DVD envelope inside?

Mine has "Windows 10" centered on the front with the COA sticker just above it.  On the back, it has DVD install instructions.


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

There was no envelope inside. Just the dvd. Do you think I might have the defective peice


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## Sasqui (Jan 11, 2016)

Look carefully at what you bought, there are plenty of people selling the DVD without an activation key, they're all over eBay.  Kinda only useful for people who already have a key and have lost or damaged the original disc.


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## Slizzo (Jan 11, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> The OEM versions are on DVD. Retail is by USB flash drive.



This is what I was thinking of then. Thanks.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

aasim1111 said:


> There was no envelope inside. Just the dvd. Do you think I might have the defective peice


How much did you pay for it?  The OEM keys are about $100 USD for Home and $140 USD for Pro.  If you paid substantially less than that, you may have just bought the DVD and no key.


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## cdawall (Jan 11, 2016)

Yea we have the OEM ones at work they just come in a white envelope with the COE/DVD on the inside


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## OneMoar (Jan 11, 2016)

OEM's don't need a key


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

.


OneMoar said:


> OEM's don't need a key


What do you mean? . If that's the case how do I check if my windows is activated


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## cdawall (Jan 11, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> OEM's don't need a key



It needs a key if it has never had windows 10 installed on it before.


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

Yes, I m installing windows for the first time on this pc


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## cdawall (Jan 11, 2016)

needs a key then


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 11, 2016)

If you dont have a key return the disk and purchase one from newegg. Or amazon


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 11, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> OEM's don't need a key



OEM does in fact come with a key on a card.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

I think he's talking about computers where the Windows key is built into the BIOS.  They have no COA or anything because it's preregistered to the hardware.


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## OneMoar (Jan 11, 2016)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I think he's talking about computers where the Windows key is built into the BIOS.  They have no COA or anything because it's preregistered to the hardware.


indeed OEM's have embedded keys a OEM upgrade is for machines with OEM copies and DO NOT COME WITH A KEY! sadly many vendors confuse the two because pre-windows 10 'OEM" came with a key
a end user should always buy a Retail OR "System builder OEM" copy when it comes to windows 10    system builder is not `OEM` you can blame microsoft for the retarded terminology screw up

it sounds like the op bought a pirated copy with no key microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

I bought it from ncix canada.


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 11, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives



Dude, go to Newegg right now and read the questions and answers tab on Windows 10 OEM.  The OEM copies that are listed there DO in fact, come on an optical disc.  The flash drive ONLY comes on Retail copies.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 11, 2016)

Do you have the link to the specific item you bought?


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## cdawall (Jan 11, 2016)

I have an entire end cap of windows 10 OEM on DVD...


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> indeed OEM's have embedded keys a OEM upgrade is for machines with OEM copies and DO NOT COME WITH A KEY! sadly many vendors confuse the two because pre-windows 10 'OEM" came with a key
> a end user should always buy a Retail OR "System builder OEM" copy when it comes to windows 10    system builder is not `OEM` you can blame microsoft for the retarded terminology screw up
> 
> it sounds like the op bought a pirated copy with no key microsoft does not ship windows 10 on optical disks .... they use flash drives



LOL yes they do.  Legit OEM copies DO come with a key - on a sticker that you affix to the case.  OEM and SLP (System Locked Preactivation) are NOT the same thing.  SLP is what large OEMs like Dell, HP, etc do, where every system came out of the factory activated with the same  "Manufacturer's Master" key in XP, Vista, and 7.  Reinstalling with the factory image preserves this activation.  However if you dig that key out with Magical Jellybean and try to do a clean install with it, activation will fail.  That's why every machine that came out of a factory ALSO had a COA with a unique key.  That is what you need to use for a clean install.  Starting with 8, large OEMs began embedding the unique key into the BIOS, which is why they no longer come with a unique key sticker.  However, you can still buy legit OEM versions of every version (the ones that small shops would use for their custom machines) - including 10 - which come with the sticker with a unique key.

The only differences between OEM and Retail versions is that the OEM version locks to the first motherboard it is activated on, while Retail can be moved to a different one.  OEM also come with no support.


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## OneMoar (Jan 11, 2016)

taz420nj said:


> LOL yes they do.  Legit OEM copies DO come with a key - on a sticker that you affix to the case.  OEM and SLP (System Locked Preactivation) are NOT the same thing.  SLP is what large OEMs like Dell, HP, etc do, where every system came out of the factory with the same key in Windows XP, Vista, and 7.  Reinstalling with the factory image preserves this activation.  However if you dig that key out with Magical Jellybean and try to do a clean install with it, activation will fail.  That's why every machine that comes out of a factory ALSO has a COA with a unique key.  That is what you need to use for a clean install.  Starting with 8, large OEMs began embedding the unique key into the BIOS, which is why they no longer come with a unique key sticker.  However, you can still buy legit OEM versions (the ones that small shops would use for their custom machines) which come with the sticker.
> 
> The only differences between OEM and Retail versions is that the OEM version locks to your motherboard, while Retail can be moved to a different one.  OEM also come with no support.


no longer the case you can use a windows 7 SLP key on whatever so long as you install it with smgr ... I just used a sony  7 Home key off a dead laptop to activate a gateway AIO we had at work all I had todo was run slmgr -ipk and then slmgr /ato  microsoft laxed the key requirements awhile ago now it no longer matters so long as you haven't burned through all the activations for said key
as for the windows 10 on dvd personally I have only seen preloaded usb sticks for sale I wasn't aware that newegg started stocking dvds again


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)

Your both right. major PC manufactures have embedded keys when you buy a whole system, bought OEMs for system builders have a sticker. At least that's what I have seen


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## OneMoar (Jan 11, 2016)

windows 10 can also activate solely based on HWID no key required how do you think the microsoft store activation works  it installs a generic key and activates based on hwid


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)

What you see allot of is people selling the disk that came with there system. So no license and it illegal to sell. Buyer beware


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> no longer the case you can use a windows 7 SLP key on whatever so long as you install it with smgr ... I just used a sony  7 Home key off a dead laptop to activate a gateway AIO we had at work all I had todo was run slmgr -ipk and then slmgr /ato  microsoft laxed the key requirements awhile ago now it no longer matters so long as you haven't burned through all the activations for said key
> as for the windows 10 on dvd personally I have only seen preloaded usb sticks for sale I wasn't aware that newegg started stocking dvds again



No, you can NOT use a SLP key.  The SLP key is different from the key that is printed on the sticker.  The sticker key on a SLP computer is 'virgin' (not used) when it comes out of the factory..  It only locks to the machine when the end user puts it in during a clean install.  So the one you used off a sticker was simply never used, and it has never made any difference what the brand indicated on the sticker is.  The actual SLP key is assigned to each manufacturer and is only able to be activated in the factory.  For example every computer that came out of a Dell factory with 7HP had the exact same key (the SLP key) preinstalled.



Jetster said:


> Your both right. major PC manufactures have embedded keys when you buy a whole system, bought OEMs for system builders have a sticker. At least that's what I have seen



Windows 7 and earlier machines from a major manufacturer ALL had stickers with virgin keys.   As long as the end user only used the factory reinstallation media, that key on the sticker remained virgin, and could be used to activate another machine.  Starting with 8, they embedded the unique key into the BIOS (instead of using a Manufacturer's Master key) and Windows would check for its presence and activate itself upon execution of OOBE.


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

Jetster said:


> What you see allot of is people selling the disk that came with there system. So no license and it illegal to sell. Buyer beware


NCIX is a major retailer in Canada, like Newegg or Tiger.  They are not selling pirate copies.


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)

taz420nj said:


> Windows 7 and earlier machines from a major manufacturer ALL had stickers with virgin keys.



Who's talking about windows 7 and earlier?



taz420nj said:


> NCIX is a major retailer in Canada, like Newegg or Tiger.  They are not selling pirate copies.



Yeah I get that. I was speaking just in general


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## aasim1111 (Jan 11, 2016)

I found the key. It was hidden in the pile of mess


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## taz420nj (Jan 11, 2016)

aasim1111 said:


> I found the key. It was hidden in the pile of mess


Good deal man, glad you got it sorted out


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2016)

aasim1111 you my friend are a pain in the ass


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## johnspack (Jan 11, 2016)

Yes of course.  I've been buying from Ncix for years,  huge company in both the states and Canada.  I actually went and checked comments about purchasing Win10,  and they said they got a key with it.
Jeez.


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## aasim1111 (Jan 12, 2016)

Big thanks to everyone. Sorry for the inconvenience


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## Toothless (Jan 12, 2016)

I love these threads; problem solving with a debate on the side and the solution is covered with a tin foil hat. @aasim1111 you made my day.


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