Have you formatted your computer recently and after installing Windows you can’t remember the activation key? In case you did not know, many manufacturers save the Windows license in the BIOS and it can be easily recovered through different methods.
The BIOS is a safe store that computer manufacturers use to store the operating system license there, so that, if the user loses it at any time and does not remember, with a few specific steps they can bring it back and apply it to activate Windows .
This method comes to replace the well-known and now almost extinct OEM labels , those adhesive stickers that came under the laptops with the Windows version installed on the PC and the serial one. The problem they had is that the passage of time ended up deteriorating them and, consequently, their content was erased.
These labels have practically disappeared, now the serial is embedded directly in the BIOS so that it is never lost, both in laptops and in computer towers that are already fully assembled and ready to use.
Through CMD
One of the methods that we can use to recover the Windows key stored in the BIOS is to make a query through the Windows CMD , this is the Command Prompt. It is an easy and fast procedure, follow these steps:
- Press the key combination Windows + Q and type “CMD” .
- The Command Prompt opens, what we have to do now is just execute a command that will allow us to know the license , it is the following without the quotes: “WMIC Path SoftwareLicensingService Get OA3xOriginalProductKey”.
- In a few seconds the key will appear on the screen and you can write it down in a notepad application or write it down with a pen that you have on hand at that moment.
Another command you can use is “powershell” (Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’). OA3xOriginalProductKey “. The same will appear, the license of your operating system that you can write down anywhere.
Using Windows OEM Product Key Tool
If you do not want to use any of the two previous commands, you can use specific software to extract the BIOS license easily, although in this case you will not need to install anything because it is a portable utility that you can take with you on a USB memory stick.
It is Windows OEM Product Key Tool , just run it and in just a few moments, you will see your Windows key quickly that you can use later to activate your Windows if you previously had a problem.
- Download Windows OEM Product Key Tool for Windows
Through ProduKey
ProduKey is another small utility for Windows that will allow you to know not only the license saved in the BIOS, but also other keys of other programs that you have installed on your computer, for example, you can easily view the Office key.
The interesting thing about this tool is that it is compatible with Windows 10 and much older versions of Windows , that is, from Windows 98 through all the versions that are in the middle of these two systems.
In this case, simply download ProduKey and look for the key that says (BIOS OEM Key), which is that it is stored in the BIOS and that corresponds to the license that we want to recover . We notify you of this detail because others may appear, but in particular we are looking for only that one.
