Hi, I had to factory restore my Intel Compustick and now windows 10 is asking for a product key, I can not find it in any of the packaging or on the device somewhere itself. were can I find the product key for activation?

[MAndr57]

Product ID: BOXSTK1AW32SC

[n_scott_pearson]

The key is stored in the BIOS and Windows can extract it; you don't have to specify it. When you are prompted to provide the key, there should be a "I don't have the product key" selector below the prompt. Click on that selector and it should then proceed to extract the key from the BIOS for activation.

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[MAndr57]

Hi Scott, Thank you for your prompt response. I am now at the windows desktop past the initial install config (not sure what option was chosen if any on the activation front. but know for sure the device was not hooked up to internet so would not have activated at that point). from the windows desktop I can navigate to the activation page but there is no option for " I don't have the product key" this must only be an option during initial install? Anyways, all it appears I am able to do is go to "the windows store" to purchase a key or "enter a key that I already have". I have read online as you have mentioned that the product key is burried in the Bios somewhere. If I was able to know where perhaps I could find it within the Bios and then could enter it manually since windows does not seem ito know where it is within the bois. otherwise perhaps an Intel employee with access can look up my product key using my model and serial number information on the device. Are there any Intel staff monitoring this post that would be able to help?

Again I appreciate the assistance Scott, and if you have any other ideas thoughts or advise it would be appreciated.

Myles

[n_scott_pearson]

This article explains how to display the key stored in BIOS and in Windows: https://www.techspot.com/guides/1760-find-your-windows-product-key/.

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[MAndr57]

Again, Hi Scott.

Again, thank you for your time. I recognize you are not an Intel employee and appear to be helping on your own time. Once again thank you.

Sorry I am still having troubles, seems like I am stuck in a frustrating loop. I have Intel factory pre-installed Windows 10 home in "S" mode on the Compustick, so am unable to install/run the 3rd party SW that your have refrenced in you last post with-out first navigating to the "windows store" to install a normal windows edition. It appears the "windows store" will not let me unlock or remove "S" mode on the OS until I activate, provide an activation code, or purchase a copy of windows"

Looks like I'm stuck in a catch 22. any other thoughts? s other then returning the computstick to the vendor I purchased for a refund?

Myles

[n_scott_pearson]

When I finally got to the point of trying these scripts on my SC iCS, I found that, no, there was not a backup of the license key in the BIOS flash. 😡

Do you have an old Windows 7 license key? It can be used to activate Windows 10.

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[MAndr57]

Again, thank you for your time Scott.

This unit is only a couple days old, I should not be having this much trouble activating a windows license on a preinstalled device.

Are there any Intel employee`s monitoring this thread that can help shed some light on this problem?

At thsi point I beleive I will return this devie to the store I bought it from.... along with the three others I bought. If at some point I need/want to factory reset any of them I'll run into the same problem and will likely need to buy new keys to have them fnction going forward, this I would say is unacceptable. it is too bad as I would likely have bought several more. for other jobs I have in the que.

Myles

[AlHill]

You may find this useful: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4020089/windows-10-in-s-mode-faq

[n_scott_pearson]

So let's start at the beginning. Why did you have to do a factory reset? Why had you never logged onto the stick, with networking, before getting into this state?

[Aside: if you had logged into the unit back at the beginning with a MS-attached account, it would have saved the digital entitlement associated with this device on the MS site and you would have never, ever had to specify a license key -- and this is one of the reasons why MS is making it more and more difficult to use local accounts. Just saying.]

Intel employee's are monitoring this site (and the chat service) - during normal M-F business hours for the Pacific time zone. The support team in Costa Rica may be on sooner; I am unsure.

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[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello MAndr57

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

Regarding your concerns with the Windows® product key, could you please elaborate more on the steps you followed to restore the Intel® Compute Stick STK1AW32SC to factory defaults or by any chance did you follow the steps mentioned in the below link using F8 option from POST screen menu:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005987/intel-nuc.html

You may also try to run the following command in Windows® PowerShell to display the Windows® Key:

Type:

(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey

Then, press Enter.

For more details, please refer to the following link under section: Find the Windows® 10 Product Key for Intel NUC Mini PCs

Note: The link refers to Intel® NUCs, however, we tested the command on an Intel® Compute Stick and confirmed it works fine to display the Windows Key.

Also, it is worth mentioning that if the reset/restore process was not properly performed and if that caused the recovery partition to be deleted, the Windows® Key will not be recovered.

Also, it is not possible for us to recover the product key even knowing the Serial number of the Intel® Compute Stick.

Regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello MAndr57

We would like to know if you were able to check our previous post and if you were able to try the PowerShell command. Should you have additional inquiries, please feel free to post back in the thread.

Regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello MAndr57

We have not heard back from you so we will proceed to close this inquiry. If you need further assistance, please post a new question.

Regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel