MSI GE72 2QF Win 10 Upgrade then Restore = Lost Key?

Summary:

I've had my GE72 for a few weeks. Loving it, but stuffed my OEM 128 SSD after upgrading to Win 10 (Free). So I tried to restore it (back to Win 10) but without old files. Essentially a clean Win 10 install. I made sure to back up all my files and drivers for reinstalling, but didn't think I needed to create a backup system image.

Now I have win 10 freshly resinstalled.. it's asking me for for the Win 10 activation code XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX... I can't find it on my laptop, OEM documents or box.. Windows prompt says that I can look inside my battery, but I haven't tried because I will have to tear through "warranty sticker void if tampered" and I'm not even sure if it will be there...

Can anyone help me out where can I find it?

Thanks in advance..

 

The edition you've installed is not accepted by the key in the BIOS.
The key only works with matching edition.
Try restoring the original OS and then do an upgrade again.
Create an ISO for the Win10 generated from the upgrade so you can reuse it later on.

 

Thank you Kevin. I shall try your suggestion tomorrow.

 

NOW: When attempting to use F3 at startup I now get a message that says Windows 10 is unable to be re-installed because a drive partition is missing.

HINDSIGHT: Looks like my re-installation without using F3 as per clear instruction "Hot key F3 Recovery Function" hand out has wiped out my drive partition and now I think I am stuck with a "clean Win 10".. I'm not making any excuses and MSI has no fault in my dumb move.. But if anyone can help me figure out how to get my GE72 2QF back to stock I would very much appreciate the direction.

 

It's best to contact MSI to obtain a recovery disc set, see if they can ship you a set for free, but if not, then we all understand.
Another thing, you can try to install a different version of Windows 10. For example, if you had used OEM, then try Retail version instead.

 

Hey, maybe this will work. I currently have an Asus laptop, but was poking around here checking out choices to go MSI. My Asus is Windows 8 from restore, so I have to upgrade to 8.1 first THEN upgrade to 10. I was so sick of how long it took and the loss of space on a 128GB SSD for a restore partition I decided to try this order of things. Obviously you need a working PC to do this.

Grab the 64bit Windows 10 media creation tool from https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10


Run the file and make sure you chose " Create for another PC" then select language etc along with 64bit and version should be " Home". This will create your Media on DVD or USB (I created the USB)
I booted my laptop from the USB Stick that was created
At some point you get to chose upgrade or clean install. The clean install choice will eventually lead you to do an advanced section that allows you to chose where you want to install. This is when you can view and delete partitions. I deleted every partition and then pointed it to the primary drive.
During the install it requested a key. If you look carefully, you should be able to click "skip" entering the key. If I remember rightly it came up a few times, but I kept skipping it. Once I logged in with my MS account and finally got to my desktop. Windows was classed as activated. Of course then I had to install drivers and utilities, but a clean install with one partition for my SSD and one for my Mechanical drive.

Not sure if any of this helps, but maybe give it a whirl and see.

Edit: Oh and keep in mind if this does work, your F3 key will never be used again to do a restore. However booting from the USB key should always w