Reactivating Windows 10

Question

Every time I restart my PC, I get "Activate Windows..."
I only have to restart it when a Windows update has been installed. This did not start happening until I had to use System Restore to a point about 1 week before due to legitimate software being installed, which not should not matter but did. After the System Restore, I had to install a few Windows updates. The first 2 went but still had the 'Activate Windows' showing. After the 3rd update, I was still getting the watermark in the lower right of my monitor after restarting. No big deal at this point, so I went with the last and final update. Then final update installed and after restarting the watermark was still present.

When I go to Settings -> Update & Security -> Activation there is no field available to put my product key in.

Answer 1

Hello，Chuck Clayton1

Thank you for posting in the Microsoft community.

From your description, you should be in an inactive state, there are two different options depending on how you got your system, did you purchase Windows 10 pre-installed when you purchased your computer or did you purchase a retail version of Windows 10?

If you purchased a pre-installed system, you can type "cmd" into the search box on the taskbar, right-click on Command Prompt, select Run as Administrator, execute the following command in the Command Prompt window, and then press Enter:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey   

Then the following three scenarios will occur:

If the product key is displayed correctly, go to Please select the Start button and then Settings > System > Activation > Update Product Key > Change Product Key. You can use this link to directly open the Activate Windows - Microsoft Support

If the product key is not displayed, as the system activation key for the pre-installed version is burned into the hardware under the correct circumstances, you will need to contact your laptop manufacturer for further support if you can't find it.

If the error message appears, please override the installation of the system, you can reply to me in the forum and I will provide you with specific steps.

If you have a retail version of the system, may I ask which channel you came to purchase it through?

Looking forward to your attempts and replies, which will determine where we go from here!

Best Regards，

Rota Ye |Microsoft Community Support Specialist