How to Read Out Legally Our Windows 10 Licence Key from Your PC for a Reinstallation of Windows on a SSD

Last Updated on November 17, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org

  • Download and install Hiren’s BootCD
  • in one folder, there is a tool to read out the Windows 10 licence key from your PC
  • We tested it on a HP Compaq 8100 Elite Minitower-PC
  • We have a legal licence for Windows 10, but no installation medium
  • The hard drive of our HP Compaq 8100 stopped booting, but we could read out the Windows 10 licence key with Hiren’s BootCD
  • We then downloaded a Windows 10 installation .iso file from Microsoft
  • We burned it to a DVD
  • Then, we were able to reinstall Windows 10 on a SSD drive on the HP8100
  • We could enter our Windows 10 licence key and could reinstall our genuine Windows 10 which we bought together with the the HP8100
  • We could also read out the Windows 10 licence key from a Windows 10 mini PC stick with Hiren’s BootCD
  • In theory, it should also be possible to start a Windows 10 mini PC stick from an external usb SSD drive, but Windows 10 sticks often have only usb 2.0, which is too slow for our needs.
  • The same procedure as discussed above can be done with a LattePanda V1, which is sold with an activated Windows 10 licence.
  • The LattePanda V1 has an USB 3.0 port, which is almost as fast as a SATA III port.
  • With the instructions discussed here and on the previous pages, it should be possible to run Windows 10 on an external drive of our LattePanda V1.