Question Is my Windows Retail or OEM?

[Endre]

Hello!
I bought a Windows 10 Pro x64 Retail.
My question is: how do I check if this is true?
How do I check if it ain’t an OEM?

 

[Zephyl]

There won't be any differences in actual use, but if you contact support about an OEM copy they would ask you to contact your manufacturer. If you bought it off Amazon for ~$100 it's most likely a retail copy. If you got it somewhere else for a lot less, it's likely you got an OEM copy,

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/showkeyplus.html

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Forums

I have converted the vbs to .Net for speed and backward compatibility with Win 8.0. Should be fine on WTP, but please report any bugs (This is a quite

www.tenforums.com

 

[mdd1963]

If you paid only $135 at a legit source (Newegg/Amazon), it was likely OEM...; if it was ~$165, it might have been retail version, but, would have normally been shipped with retail box (w/ USB)....

(My retail version came in a VHS-tape sized WIndows logo'd box with a little USB flash drive in it, and, a little pull out sleeve with license key number)

 

[Endre]

There won't be any differences in actual use, but if you contact support about an OEM copy they would ask you to contact your manufacturer. If you bought it off Amazon for ~$100 it's most likely a retail copy. If you got it somewhere else for a lot less, it's likely you got an OEM copy,

Well, I got it from somewhere else for 25€. But they said it’s a retail license. Isn’t there any way that I could actually check this out?

 

[jsmithepa]

Me thinks you are worrying for nothing. Microsoft priority seems to for everybody to switch to W10 and dump everything prior.

 

[mdd1963]

found this cmd line string and, tested it on my own system, and it does properly ID it as a retail version on my own rig...(a pop up windows is displayed with info regarding WIndows version/ type, licensed, etc...)

open windows cmd prompt , and type: SLMGR -DLI
(note, space after 'R'...caps not required, i merely used them to avoid ambiguity/confusion between 1,L, etc...

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/49586-determine-if-windows-license-type-oem-retail-volume.html

 

[tennis2]

Doesn't matter anymore. Windows 10 ties itself to the mobo it was installed on. You're not going to be able to carry a retail license to a new machine like you could with Win7 and earlier.

 

[USAFRet]

Well, I got it from somewhere else for 25€. But they said it’s a retail license. Isn’t there any way that I could actually check this out?

25€ is a whole different issue.
Don't worry about OEM v Retail.

If it links to your Microsoft account, you can transfer it to different hardware.
But for 25€, just be thankful if it actually activates and remains activated.

 

[USAFRet]

Doesn't matter anymore. Windows 10 ties itself to the mobo it was installed on. You're not going to be able to carry a retail license to a new machine like you could with Win7 and earlier.

That is exactly 100% incorrect.

 

[mdd1963]

retail can be reactivated a few times with new parts far easier (i.e, without calling MS and begging for it) than w/ OEM....

(I'd be skeptical of any keys/codes obtained for $25, however....; but, in any event, the above cmd string will tell you what Windows itself thinks it is, retail vs. OEM)

 

[tennis2]

That is exactly 100% incorrect.

Care to enlighten me then?

 

[Endre]

found this cmd line string and, tested it on my own system, and it does properly ID it as a retail version on my own rig...(a pop up windows is displayed with info regarding WIndows version/ type, licensed, etc...)

open windows cmd prompt , and type: SLMGR -DLI
(note, space after 'R'...caps not required, i merely used them to avoid ambiguity/confusion between 1,L, etc...

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/49586-determine-if-windows-license-type-oem-retail-volume.html

Thanks! That’s what I was asking for: a command that actually tells me what kind of license I have. Mine is RETAIL. 😃

 

[USAFRet]

Care to enlighten me then?

After the v1607 Win 10 release, you can link the Digital License to your Microsoft account.
Later, you can move that license to different hardware.

It is linked to the MS account, rather than the specific motherboard.

Reactivating after a hardware change
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change


This does NOT work if it is a preinstalled Win 10, like from Dell or HP.

 

[sizzling]

A $25 license, who cares if it’s retail or not. The real question is will MS figure out it’s a grey market code and deactivate it. Can take years for them to catch up but they are known to do this.

 

[Endre]

retail can be reactivated a few times with new parts far easier (i.e, without calling MS and begging for it) than w/ OEM....

(I'd be skeptical of any keys/codes obtained for $25, however....; but, in any event, the above cmd string will tell you what Windows itself thinks it is, retail vs. OEM)

Retail versions are “for life” on any computer. My Windows is RETAIL, though I only payed 25€ for it, after all! 😀

 

[tennis2]

After the v1607 Win 10 release, you can link the Digital License to your Microsoft account.
Later, you can move that license to different hardware.

It is linked to the MS account, rather than the specific motherboard.

Reactivating after a hardware change
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change


This does NOT work if it is a preinstalled Win 10, like from Dell or HP.

Good to know! I guess I fell behind the times.

 

[DSzymborski]

Retail versions are “for life” on any computer. My Windows is RETAIL, though I only payed 25€ for it, after all! 😀

Maybe. "For life" doesn't necessarily mean gray-market copies.

 

[Endre]

A $25 license, who cares if it’s retail or not. The real question is will MS figure out it’s a grey market code and deactivate it. Can take years for them to catch up but they are known to do this.

Well, that’s actually, not true! The license ain’t “gray”! It is a real one and it’s been provided to me by a company that bought hundreds of retail licenses for a very low price, and later realised that they don’t need so many, so they decided to sell some of them out.

 

[DSzymborski]

Well, that’s actually, not true! The license ain’t “gray”! It is a real one and it’s been provided to me by a company that bought hundreds of retail licenses for a very low price, and later realised that they don’t need so many, so they decided to sell some of them out.

And hwo did you obtain this from this company?

 

[davesnothere]

well the easiest way you can tell is to see if you can un-mount the os from the hardware.
launch a command prompt window with administrator rights, then change the directory to c:\windows\system32\sysprep and type sysprep. there should be a screen and a checkbox that says "enter out of box expedience (OOBE)" and check it. If it is a store bought, it will dismount the drivers, that when you reboot on the same machine, will install them back. Only the store bought version will allow you to migrate the OS to a new machine.

 

[hang-the-9]

Well, I got it from somewhere else for 25€. But they said it’s a retail license. Isn’t there any way that I could actually check this out?

So you got a grey market copy, did you get just a code or a box? You can contact MS and check, or install Win 10 using that code and see what it installs.

 

[hang-the-9]

Well, that’s actually, not true! The license ain’t “gray”! It is a real one and it’s been provided to me by a company that bought hundreds of retail licenses for a very low price, and later realised that they don’t need so many, so they decided to sell some of them out.

No one would buy that many retail licenses for use in their business and even with bulk discount you can't buy a license that cheap from Microsoft directly even if you buy a volume license for corporate use. Do you think retailers that sell the license for $100 have a 400% markup so they can sell it to you for 25 and break even? The only time I have seen a Windows license bellow 40 or 50 is when major OEMs like Dell buy them.

Not that it matters much at this point, you already got it, if it's working, good. If it stops working and Windows goes deactivated then you will know why at least.

 

[AllanGH]

launch a command prompt window with administrator rights, then change the directory to c:\windows\system32\sysprep and type sysprep. there should be a screen and a checkbox that says "enter out of box expedience (OOBE)" and check it. If it is a store bought, it will dismount the drivers, that when you reboot on the same machine, will install them back. Only the store bought version will allow you to migrate the OS to a new machine.

OK.....I have legit retail w10 on all but 1 of my family members' machines.

How I am reading this is, when it comes time to replace their hardware, I can follow this procedure and shut down the machine, move the drive to the new hardware and boot the machine, and deal with what driver issues remain post-boot, and this will be a legitimate installation?

 

[davesnothere]

When you buy a retail version. Its independent of the hardware. OEM version builds are stuck with the machine. That is the difference between the $20 retail liscence (wholesale) to the $5 oem version (that is supposed to be only installed once ).

What the sysprep OOBE does is sets back to the last step of setup where it detects hardware. so the only drivers will be the generic install drivers that was used to start the setup cdrom/usb. The old drivers on the machine that was installed are removed from the registry, and not reloaded back unless setup detects the hardware in the new machine.

This is the legitimate and approved way the platform is transferred from one system to another.