First a little info about me. I have been working on computers since the early 80's and I have been reinstalling OS's as clean installs that long. Now a lot has changed over the years as to how installs are done and today with the ability to boot from usb and activation via the internet it has become increasingly easier to re-set or re-install windows operating system. Aside from my personal computers which I do 2 or 3 times a year (I have 3 laptops and 2 desktops). I work at a college where I am part of the team that manages over 1000 computers and we use clean installs as a tool to help maintain them.d Whenever a computer starts acting up it's very easy to just do a clean install. So I seriously doubt anyone here has done more installs than I have.
We have a few embedded PCs running on Windows 7 embedded standard. Recently on of the PCs had an issue and the SSD failed, we have replaced the SSD, but now we need to put in the serial number for Windows. Upon first boot, the Windows 7 embedded thin client will boot to the screen as seen below: Enter a computer name for the thin client. Iskysoft pdf editor pro. The “computer name” is the same as if you were to name your PC in My Computer -> Properties. This is a required step.
The USB I used is a PNY 32GB USB3.0 Flash drive, the ISO was created using WIndows Media Creation Tool and the bootable USB was created using Rufus
@ Time Lady - Thank you for the correct answer you were the only one who got it right. I found a similar thread at
https://superuser.com/questions/1020961/prevent-windows-10-installer-from-using-the-preinstalled-serial-key-without-disa
which says basically the same thing but adds that you can create an ei.cfg file with the text in it of https://cleverfunds889.weebly.com/blog/mp3-cd-converter-serial-key.
save it in the sources folder of your installation media and you will get the menu window asking you which version you would like to install and based on your computers architecture (32 or 64 bit) you'll be able to select from 3 versions of windows (Home, Pro, and Enterprise).
Did I test this? Of course I did. I put my 32GB PNY flash drive into the USB port and started the install. I deleted all partitions from within the installation program and proceeded to do my clean install without the ei.cfg file in the sources folder. Sure enough no menu allowing me to select which windows version and no where to enter a PID either.
After allowing install to finish and checking the version I have a brand new copy of WIndows Home installed on my computer. Just as I expected.
Next step without removing flash drive just so the conditions remained constant and nothing changed except adding of the ei.cfg file which I created in notepad and saved in the sources folder of my installation media. I rebooted my computer, selected installation media, deleted all partitions and before it started copying files I got a menu asking which version of windows would I like to install. I selected Windows Pro and proceeded with the clean install. Once the install finished I verified which version was installed and found out that the correct OS Win 10 Pro was now on my computer. Only thing was that I still never got an option to enter PID. I checked and install used a generic PID. I found a config file called product.inf on the install media that listed all the windows versions including server versions and their generic PID values. I am sure install pulled from here. So Thank You Time Lady!!!
Easeus data recovery serial key 5.8.5. @DaveM121 WIndows 10 still stores PID in bios. Digital entitlement is only under a select number of instances and upgrading using a PID is not one of them. See this link.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activation1
also I check PID using ProduKey from Nir Software
Web Site: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html
here you can clearly see the BIOS key listed and different from the generic WIndows 10 Pro key
@Andre De Costa although your information is technically correct it never really addressed the real question because you don't always get the option to choose the version and/or enter the PID.
I know I can change the PID from the generic one to mine but at this point I don't see the need. I got the result I wanted which was to install Windows 10 Pro in one pass on a machine with an embedded PID for a different OS version.
If it came preinstalled with Windows 7 Embedded, then there should be a COA sticker with the product key. Here is an example of what one looks like. Not it says Windows 7 Pro EMB (Embedded).
The product key is usually located on the COA sticker attached to the bottom of your laptop or in the battery compartment. In some rare cases it can also be found in the memory compartment. For tower systems, look at the top or the side of the system unit.
Windows 7 Embedded
Also see: http://www.msembedded.biz/en/embedded-software/windows-embedded-standard-7-wes7/pid-number-coa-and-alp/
Serial Key For Windows 7
If the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker is damaged or letters or not legible, you will have to consider the following options:
Find Windows Serial Key
- Use a digital camera to capture a picture of the COA then enlarge it on your computer.
- If the COA sticker is damaged, then you would need to use the recovery partition to reinstall Windows 7, this will exempt the need to use the product key to activate your Windows 7 installation.
Windows 7 Embedded Purchase
- If your recovery partition is not available or damaged, you should contact the manufacturer of your computer and request a recovery disc set you can use to reinstall Windows 7. They might charge a small shipping and handling fee. This will exempt the need to use the product key also.