How can I find out what My Windows 8.1 Enterprise Product key is?


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On my company laptop I have Windows 8.1 Enterprise installed on it.............I want to backup the activation of the laptop just in case it needs to be re-built. I've asked my IT department for the product key...but there as much use as a chocolate teapot.

 

How can I view the Product key?....I've tried a lot of key finders but they just show the key as a series of 'B's

 

Thanks in advance

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Thanks but this one just shows the B's

 

 

"None of the key finder programs I use find my product key!"

or

"All any key finder will show for my product key is BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB!"

or

"The key finder I tried only found the last five digits of my product key but the rest was all B's!"

Some editions of Windows (and some other Microsoft products) are made available via what's called a volume license. In these types of distributions, a product key is shared among anywhere from five to thousands of software installations, depending on the license, so product verification is handled differently.

Basically, this means that your product key is not stored in the registry and no product key finder program will be able to find it. You can't find something that isn't there. Your best bet in this situation is to contact the provider of your copy of Windows and ask for a replacement product key.

You can read more about product key and product activation with Microsoft's volume licensing system here.

 

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/qt/key-finder-faq.htm

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Do don't need to backup the activation, you are either using a KMS key or MAK key. If you need to rebuild the laptop the IT people will have to assist you with that or when it is joined to the domain the KMS will apply.

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Microsoft Volume Licensing site: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/

MSDN: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/keys/

 

Which is where you're supposed to legally retrieve your keys from as enterprise is provided from having a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement or MSDN subscription.

 

Your product key will be redacted for a enterprise activation to prevent you from trying to do what you're doing.

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If/when you get a rebuild IT will handle any and all registration issues, but there will likely not be any, like mentioned already, company's using a volume key and it's also preactivated, if you ever have an issue with licensing then the IT rep failed and and who know what was done wrong since activation should not be an issue 

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yea, getting that key will be like finding the billion dollar lottery ticket in your shoe after a long night taking a swim in scrooge mcducks money bin.  They give you that key, you can activate it whenever you want.  I for sure would not give it to an end user, like yourself.  If they have the key, they have access to the portal which gives them the key and tells them how many activations that they have used...That is if they are using the mak.  They may be using kms (a server which your computer needs to contact every 30 days or your windows activation will be gone), if that is the case you have no key on your computer.

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so you need to "backup" your key because...?

 

honestly that sounds as shoddy as it gets. If you have an IT department then let them do their job and, by the looks of it, they are already doing it. If your computer has a GVLK (if your IT has setup a KMS then all the licensed devices are using a Generic Volume License Key) then your key is one of these: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx

 

anyway, i don't see the need to "backup" that key; if you do get that key (the VLK one, that is) and you get out of the organization (by leaving or being fired), it can be considered theft since that is part of the assets of the enterprise.

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On my company laptop I have Windows 8.1 Enterprise installed on it.............I want to backup the activation of the laptop just in case it needs to be re-built. I've asked my IT department for the product key...but there as much use as a chocolate teapot.

 

How can I view the Product key?....I've tried a lot of key finders but they just show the key as a series of 'B's

 

Thanks in advance

the key finders you are using are doing the correct job. If your company laptop needs rebuilding then that is the job of the IT department to replace it for you.

I see no need here for you to know what the product key is in this situation. And as others have said in this thread what you are attempting to do can be considered theft and possibly a breach if the usage agreement you would have signed when you started your job because you have run unauthorised software on it.

 you should count your self lucky that you have not been caught!

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You want your IT department to tell you their VL key?  wow

 

if you rebuild it yourself, boy are you in a world of pain.  They probably imaged it using SCCM, and if they have implemented NPS good luck getting back on the network lol

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"None of the key finder programs I use find my product key!"

or

"All any key finder will show for my product key is BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB!"

or

"The key finder I tried only found the last five digits of my product key but the rest was all B's!"

Some editions of Windows (and some other Microsoft products) are made available via what's called a volume license. In these types of distributions, a product key is shared among anywhere from five to thousands of software installations, depending on the license, so product verification is handled differently.

Basically, this means that your product key is not stored in the registry and no product key finder program will be able to find it. You can't find something that isn't there. Your best bet in this situation is to contact the provider of your copy of Windows and ask for a replacement product key.

You can read more about product key and product activation with Microsoft's volume licensing system here.

 

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/qt/key-finder-faq.htm

 

 

 

This man is correct.  Cannot pull enterprise keys.

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For Win 8/8.1 I would not worry about the OS key. It is hard wired in the BIOS. Belarc Advisor is a good tool to find all other keys.

That only applies to OEM:DM licenses (eg, computers bought at Best Buy, TigerDirect, Newegg, etc). Enterprise licenses are not baked into the BIOS.

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For Win 8/8.1 I would not worry about the OS key. It is hard wired in the BIOS. Belarc Advisor is a good tool to find all other keys.

 

I believe Enterprise edition is not sold pre-loaded on the hardware so he would not have the key, but honestly not sure why the OP needs the original key for a VL product that their IT department should be taking care of to begin with.

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I'm not sure why people are still replying to this.

You cannot at all get the master KMS key from a windows client, trying to get it from a KMS server would be hard too if it was setup to store it more securely (and you're asked that when you set the KMS server up).

This user shouldn't have a need, and almost 100% has no legal basis to see the KMS key.

I think the topic should be locked.

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