I acquired an old corporate laptop after retirement, a Dell 5500 series. The company had done their typical corporate image after it was purchased. The machine became useless to them when they tried to load the new security system so they replaced it. I did a reset on the machine which blew everything out. I went into the registry and found a backup of the Windows 10 Pro code. I tried to enter it but it’s rejected. The registry showed Windows 10 Pro 64 bit but I’m guessing the image that the company did is not the key that’s in the backup, it keeps rejecting it.

Any suggestion on what to do with it? I guess I can always buy Windows 10 Pro 64 on EBay. Is there a way to just buy a key file? I have Windows 11 that I can load but because of the age of the computer, I’m not sure that I want to. It’s an I7 with 8gb of RAM.

 

If Windows is already installed and working (just not activated), you can purchase a key to activate it. Alternatively, you can download Windows 10 (or 11) for free from Microsoft and do a "clean" install. Of course, if you do this, you'll have to install any apps that you need. Either way, you'll still need an activation key.
The key that you found is likely a Volume License key. This no longer works since you're no longer with the company and the computer can't connect with your company's VLK server.

 

Any suggestions to where to buy a reasonably priced key? I see some pretty inexpensive sellers but the reviews are up and down. Everything from they’re great, to they’re a scammer.

 

You can often find some low prices for Windows keys on eBay. However, for the very cheap keys, I suspect something isn't right. While the keys may work (or not), they may be stolen or somehow not legitimate. If you purchase a key from a reputable seller such as Newegg.com or Amazon.com (there are many others), you can be assured of getting a legitimate key.

 

Thanks, I forgot about Newegg.

 

Most laptops or computers have the license key embedded in BIOS.

You can try the following command to see if it is there:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

 

That’s actually where I got what I thought was the original license key. I’m guessing that the company imaged this machine when it was new and that license key is no longer valid.