[SOLVED] Can I use my original Win 8 OEM key on a clean install after having updated to Win 10?

[kmaru79]

Hi all. So I have a HP Envy that was sold with Windows 8. The previous owner (my father) updated to Windows 10 a long time ago but it does not get along with my PC. The biggest problem is that my PC now locks up completely instead of falling asleep.

Anyway, if I clean install Windows 8 will my original OEM key still work? Or was it converted to a win 10 key (or invalidated) in the upgrade. I still have the original box, key, and documentation.

Thanks in advance for any help... This thing is driving me nuts.

 

[Colif]

It is both, its a win 8 key and a win 10 key. The key on the sticker should work fine

When he updated to win 10, it created a win 10 key that includes the licence info of win 8 + details of PC it was installed on. The key is stored on a Microsoft Activation server so if you ever decide to upgrade to 10 again, it should work.