I am trying to find out how out-of-warranty replacement of OEM motherboards (e.g., Dell, Lenovo, etc) will handled digital product keys. Supposedly, the service provider must "contact Microsoft" to ...

At least for now, though, it seems like this change will only apply to future Windows versions. We were able to activate a fresh Windows 11 Pro 22H2 install with a Windows 8 Pro product key as of this ...

In an amusing twist that undoubtedly spells the end of some hapless manager's career, Microsoft has accidentally gifted pirates with a free, fully-functioning Windows 8 license key. If you so desire, ...

A funny thing happens when you look for a product key in Windows 10 after doing the free upgrade: You won’t find them. In Windows 10, utilities like Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor ...

Sometimes, the best way to fix deep-seated Windows issues is to burn everything to the ground and start from scratch. Reinstalling Windows refreshes the operating system, which gets rid of most ...

When you buy a copy of Windows 11/10, you get a product key. This key is used to activate Windows on your computer. It’s a 25-character product key, and it’s important that you keep it noted somewhere ...

In brief For the longest time Windows PCs came with a product key sticker that was placed outside of the machine or with your computer's manuals. But in recent years manufacturers started storing this ...