Member Avatar for Ritesh_4

Hello,
I've clean-installed a Windows 10 Home on a PC which had Windows 7 Home (with OEM key present), but now am unable to activate the Windows 10 with the OEM key available. I read that Microsoft is now allowing the use of existing OEM keys to activate Win 10, and also I've got the Windows 10 10586 (1511) version, which I validated using the "winver" command after installation. The 1511 ISO was downloaded from Microsoft's website, and not tampered with.

Any help on this issue would be most welcome.

Cheers...

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Short answer: this is expected behavior — Windows 10 activation often uses a device-level “digital entitlement” (now called a digital license) that is created when you upgrade an already-activated Windows 7/8.1 machine. Doing an in-place upgrade first is the reliable way to get that entitlement; once it exists for the hardware you can do a clean install and Windows 10 will activate automatically. ’s experience (upgrade first, then clean-install) is exactly the supported flow. (support.microsoft.com)

Practical steps that follow Microsoft’s guidance:

  1. Back up.
  2. Run the Media Creation Tool and choose “Upgrade this PC now” to perform the in-place upgrade (this registers the device with a digital license).
  3. After the upgrade confirm Settings → Update & Security → Activation shows an activated digital license. Link that admin account to a Microsoft account if you want the license associated with your account.
  4. Create install media with the Media Creation Tool and do a clean install of the same Windows edition (Home vs Pro). When setup asks for a key choose “I don’t have a product key” — Windows will activate online after setup completes. (microsoft.com)

Important caveats and troubleshooting:

  • Edition must match (Windows 7 Home → Windows 10 Home; Windows 7 Pro → Windows 10 Pro). A mismatch will not activate.
  • OEM/reseller licenses are tied to the original hardware (motherboard) and are not transferable to a different PC; major hardware changes can break activation. If that happens, use the Activation troubleshooter after linking your Microsoft account or contact Microsoft support. (support.microsoft.com)

If you already reverted to Windows 7 and plan to let the official upgrade path run, that’s reasonable — the free upgrade window officially closed July 29, 2016, but the supported technical flow remains: upgrade first to create the digital license, then clean-install if desired. For exact Microsoft procedures see the Windows activation and Media Creation Tool pages. (support.microsoft.com)

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

That didn't work for me. What did work was to run 7 then take the offer for the 10 upgrade. After 10 is running the PC is now marked as "good for 10" with a hardware hash so no key is required.

Now the clean install works.

Your method is not one I found to work.

Member Avatar for Ritesh_4

Oh so this is the catch here with the supposed "OEM" activation being provided. Thanks for the info. Will move back to 7 in this case and let the updates do the rest.

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