Windows 10 Volume Activation Tips
Hi,
Today’s blog is going to cover some tips around preparing your organization for activating Windows 10 computers using volume activation
Updating Existing KMS Hosts
The first thing to do is to update your KMS host to support Windows 10 computers using the following hotfix
3058168: Update that enables Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 KMS hosts to activate Windows 10
Notes:
- When downloading this fix make sure to choose the correct operating system and architecture (x86 or X64) so you get the right update. There is an update for Windows 8/2012 and an update for Windows 8.1/2012 R2. So if you get a “The update is not applicable to your computer” message, you may have incorrect version.
- We are updating this KB title to reflect that 2012 and 201 2R2 are supported also
You may notice that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS hosts are not covered by this update. An update has been released (3079821) to support Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 but we would encourage everyone to update to a later KMS Host OS.
Obtain Your Windows Server 2012 R2 for Windows 10 CSVLK
Today there are 2 Customer Support Volume License Keys (CSVLK) for Windows 10 available.
- Windows 10 CSVLK: Can only be installed on a Windows 7 (with update 3079821 installed), Windows 8 (with update 3079821 installed), Windows 8.1 (with update 3079821 installed), or Windows 10 KMS host and only activates client operating systems.
- Windows Server 2012 R2 for Windows 10 CSVLK: Can only be installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS host (with update 3079821 installed), Windows 2012 or 2012 R2 (with update 3079821 installed) and activates both client and server operating systems
Generally most KMS hosts are setup on Server operating systems so you need to get the Windows Server 2012 R2 for Windows 10 CSVLK. To find it do the following:
- Log on to the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).
- Click License.
- Click Relationship Summary.
- Click License ID of their current Active License.
- After the page loads, click Product Keys.
- In the list of keys, locate “Windows Srv 2012 R2 DataCtr/Std KMS for Windows 10.”
For example:
The Windows 10 CSVLK is located in different area of the website.
If you have an open agreement, you will need to contact the VLSC support team to request your CSVLK.
Once you obtain your key you will need to install and activate it using the following steps
Cscript.exe %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk <your CSVLK>
Cscript.exe %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato
After you install the key you can run Cscript.exe %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /dlv it will show the following
Description: Windows(R) Operating System, VOLUME_KMS_2012-R2_WIN10 channel
Once installed and activated this CSVLK will activate Windows 10 and all previous client and server volume license editions
Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT 3.1)
You should update to the latest version of VAMT 3.1 which can be found in the Windows 10 ADK
Note: We are aware of 2 issues with VAMT 3.1 with Windows 10 currently. First issue is if you try to add the above CSVLK to VAMT you will get error “The specified product key is invalid, or is unsupported by this version of VAMT”. For additional information see the following article
3094354: Can't add CSVLKs for Windows 10 activation to VAMT 3.1
The second issue is that you cannot discover Windows 10 computers unless you use IP address. This issue is still being investigated. Check https://support.microsoft.com/en-usfor the latest information by querying on VAMT
Proxy Servers
If you are using a proxy server with basic authentication in your environment you should review the following article for list of exceptions you may have to add. The list of addresses have changed since previous operating systems.
921471: Windows activation fails and may generate error code 0x8004FE33
Additional info
The Generic Volume License Key (GVLK) for Windows 10 editions can be located at the following link:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
Hope this helps with your volume activation.
Scott McArthur
Senior Supportability Program Manager
Comments
- Anonymous
September 26, 2015
The comment has been removed - Anonymous
December 31, 2015
If someone need windows 10 key can go site www.vinhugo.com to got. My key got here and after i used is works properly. Hope can help you. - Anonymous
May 19, 2016
i want to activate windows 10 give me any suggetion - Anonymous
August 02, 2016
If my Open License agreement only have Windows 10 Volume License (quantity 50) and do not have Windows Server 2012 R2 license, can I still request for a "Windows Srv 2012R2 DataCtr/Std KMS for Windows 10" to be generated? - Anonymous
September 19, 2016
Will this article apply to Windows Server 2016 or will there be another hotfix required? Thank you! - Anonymous
March 07, 2017
Olá Dear Sir/madammePlease help me activate my office windows 10 please - Anonymous
April 26, 2017
It would be nice if this information got passed down to the support staff on the Volume Licensing Support hotline. They don't have a clue about this and are absolutely rude and unprofessional. - Anonymous
April 30, 2017
good- Anonymous
June 11, 2017
Need answer, if we buy ms office license under Open licensing policy. We donot want use 50 Msoffice keys to my computers which are already in LAN but using KMS server, we can get rid of using 50 keys to each computers. one single key can have better control
- Anonymous