[Windows 10 Tip #10] - Make a System Recovery Drive, NOW - Comments Page 1

Thanks! Is there a way to do this for Windows 7 Pro? My kid is taking a Win7 notebook off to college and there is no CD/DVD drive in the machine. The SSD has a recovery partition that I would like to back up. The information I am finding online is outdated or incomplete - I follow the steps and hit a message saying the USB is not a valid drive.

You can also use Belarc Advisor to find the Product Key. It will be listed under Software Licenses.

I made a System Recovery Drive on a CD after my routine Windows backup suggested that I do so. Is this just as good on a CD as it would be on a USB drive?

2 Questions:
If I have a Macrium Reflect Image backup along with a Macrium Reflect Rescue Media CD, do I still need a System Recovery Drive?

If so, can a System Recovery Drive be made on a CD instead of a USB drive?

Thanks for always having interesting newsletters Bob! I have learned a lot from you.

I opened powershell and pasted in (Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey . It took 1-2 seconds to respond and it did not respond with any data. It returned the same drive/folder that it opened with.

I wonder why it did not return the key.

I have a Win10 upgrade from Win7 and I'm up to date, automatically.

Great information (ignoring my key absence issue)

Do you advise updating your recovery drive from time to time? That is, does Microsoft change it to include updates, or does it just stay the same?

I entered this in Powershell: (Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService') and many lines of code were returned but no 25-character key. The line that said Product Key is empty. I have a Win10 upgrade from Win7. Thanks for the help.

I have used Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder for years to retrieve Windows keys. It's free, works,
and you can save the result easily. My understanding is that Windows 10 will "remember" your activation status (in BIOS?!) but I still save and back up my keys.

A VERY useful article! My thanks!

I too entered (Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey and nothing was returned. I'm running Version 1793 OS Build 15063.540 Anyone have a corrected PS command?

I cannot get a product key using that Powershell command either. My machine is upgraded from Vista via Win7. I have the 25 character Vista Product key from the label on the computer and the 25 character Win7 key from the upgrade disk but they are not the same as the 20 character Product keys reported by various software analysis programs. I have the 20 character key reported for Win10 also but do not know if any of those keys can still be used for recovery.

NIRsoft also has a free tool for Product keys, "Produkey." I like it as it shows the key in BIOS if your OEM put it there instead of a COA sticker. Free.

Waiting for an answer to what to do when the suggested (Get-Wm etc etc etc) does not provide the product key. Is Belarc the answer and don't bother with anything else?

My clean install from a win 7 upgrade does NOT return anything using above method. Last year I used a few methods to try to retrieve #, including ones mentioned here. While a product key was returned, it turned out to be a very common generic code and thus useless. The simple answer is that upgrades and similar simply do NOT have a product key !! We have a digital licence, as out lined by this Microsoft page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/12440/windows-10-activation

For those people having trouble getting their windows product key, i read this alternative solution on the internet and it worked great for me:

Open Notepad. Type the following code:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i > -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

Go to File, Save As and name it WindowsProductKey.vbs. Under 'save as type' choose 'all files'. After it's saved, then double click that .vbs file and you'll get the product key.

If the recovery files take up only part of the USB space, can the free space be used to store other (unrelated) files?

Just for curiosity, I used the powershell and vbs methods. I got 2 different numbers. Machine shipped with Win 7 pro, but now has the latest Creators update Windows 10. Are they both valid?

Like others on here, the PowerShell command returned nothing on my laptop.

I tried both Belarc Advisor and ProduKey from NirSoft as recommended by others on here, and they both worked and returned the same Windows 10 Product Key string.

( Further to my post above the VBS script )
Tried this vbs script and while it returned a product key = T49TD - 6VFBW ...
I googled the first string and determined this "key" is a common generic key: (thus useless)
https://www.tenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/40629-about-win-10-generic-product-keys.html

The Microsoft url in my initial post provides vital info.
BTW, I would recommend that any key found, by ANY method, should be checked by googling the first string (only) to see if it is a common generic key that would subsequently prove useless.

I got the product key using Powershell. My system will not let me copy it, however. (It just flicks off to the beginning.) If anyone else has this problem, please be very sure to write it down correctly.