If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
I was thinking about setting up 1 laptop (W11 Pro ,digital license),
then use Macrium Reflect or something similar to create an image and
then restore that image on the other laptops (same hardware).
But what about the license key? I'm pretty sure the devices will have a (activated) digital license. Is this connected to the hardware? Would it
be different if all the devices had a separate key?
(I tried AI, but I'm hoping for a better response here.)
As you suggest, there may be issues with the license keys.-a Three of my laptops had W8 keys in the BIOS, and two had W7 stickers in the battery compartment.-a I was able to get the original W7 build to authenticate on the two with stickers simply by entering the key from the stickers, but
but for those with W8 keys, I had to use the telephone authentication service.-a However, once that was done, I was able to just run upgrades
to W10 and then W11, AFAICR without any authentication problems thereafter.-a As your PCs should have suitable keys in the BIOS, I would expect that your clones would be able to authenticate themselves using those.
If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
I was thinking about setting up 1 laptop (W11 Pro ,digital license),
then use Macrium Reflect or something similar to create an image and
then restore that image on the other laptops (same hardware).
But what about the license key? I'm pretty sure the devices will have a (activated) digital license. Is this connected to the hardware? Would it
be different if all the devices had a separate key?
(I tried AI, but I'm hoping for a better response here.)
I was thinking about setting up 1 laptop (W11 Pro ,digital license),
then use Macrium Reflect or something similar to create an image and
then restore that image on the other laptops (same hardware).
On 09/05/2026 17:24, s|b wrote:
I was thinking about setting up 1 laptop (W11 Pro ,digital license),
then use Macrium Reflect or something similar to create an image and
then restore that image on the other laptops (same hardware).
That's the best approach. Don't worry about the digital licence |ore4rCY it will update as soon as your device connects to the internet. I have done
this many times before and have never experienced any issues. Even when building a new machine, I used old image files and updated the licence
key when prompted. This is only necessary if the new machine is not recognised by the Microsoft servers. Otherwise, it just works.
On 09/05/2026 23:33, Jack wrote:
On 09/05/2026 17:24, s|b wrote:
I was thinking about setting up 1 laptop (W11 Pro ,digital license),
then use Macrium Reflect or something similar to create an image and
then restore that image on the other laptops (same hardware).
That's the best approach. Don't worry about the digital licence |ore4rCY it >> will update as soon as your device connects to the internet. I have done
this many times before and have never experienced any issues. Even when
building a new machine, I used old image files and updated the licence
key when prompted. This is only necessary if the new machine is not
recognised by the Microsoft servers. Otherwise, it just works.
Yes but have you checked the product key before & after?
Yes but have you checked the product key before & after?
There are generic keys in the old key registry entry. See if
the "last five characters", match these sorts of things. These
keys are not suitable for any practical purpose.
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T (Windows 10 Professional)
YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 (Windows 10 Home - multi language)
BT79Q-G7N6G-PGBYW-4YWX6-6F4BT (Windows 10 Home - single language)
The actual key is on the server, or, is in the MSDM table.
And a good key printing utility, should be able to check
multiple of these places for info.
Paul
As you suggest, there may be issues with the license keys. Three of my laptops had W8 keys in the BIOS, and two had W7 stickers in the battery compartment. I was able to get the original W7 build to authenticate on
the two with stickers simply by entering the key from the stickers, but
but for those with W8 keys, I had to use the telephone authentication service. However, once that was done, I was able to just run upgrades
to W10 and then W11, AFAICR without any authentication problems
thereafter. As your PCs should have suitable keys in the BIOS, I would expect that your clones would be able to authenticate themselves using those.
... however, to guard against any possible problems, you could run
something like Product Key Scanner or ShowKeyPlus on each target machine
and note down carefully and legible their original product keys.
On Sat, 9 May 2026 18:13:59 +0100, Java Jive wrote:
As you suggest, there may be issues with the license keys. Three of my
laptops had W8 keys in the BIOS, and two had W7 stickers in the battery
compartment. I was able to get the original W7 build to authenticate on
the two with stickers simply by entering the key from the stickers, but
but for those with W8 keys, I had to use the telephone authentication
service. However, once that was done, I was able to just run upgrades
to W10 and then W11, AFAICR without any authentication problems
thereafter. As your PCs should have suitable keys in the BIOS, I would
expect that your clones would be able to authenticate themselves using
those.
These laptops will have W11 (Pro) already installed on them (I think).
I'm using an older model and there's no stickers with product keys on
them. I checked under activation and it says it has a digital license.
You did not describe the devices at all.
Let us say I go to the Dell site, I see a laptop I like
which "comes with Windows 11 Pro", and I buy three of them.
The license key is carried in the BIOS ACPI tables.
That means, each of the laptops has a "unique" BIOS
image, in a manner of speaking. The table in question,
on such a laptop, is the MSDM table.
You can dump the MSDM table in Linux if you want.
Older laptops are "SLIC activated", suitable for a
Royalty OEM OS installation on a branded device.
A Dell OS on a Dell laptop. A Fujitsu OS on a Fujitsu laptop.
On such old laptops, there is a COA (certificate of authenticity)
sticker with a license key on it, but the license key does
not match what is on the disk. The license key is intended
for re-installation of the OS, using a Retail Disc.
These are some examples of potential differences between
what posters ask about in a news group. Unless we can
ascertain the epoch of the device, we cannot guess which
situation applies. As far as I know, MSDM was deployed around
Windows 8 time (when Windows 8 laptops started shipping).
*******
So if I had three brand-new W11 laptops with W11 Pro on them,
the MSDM key would activate W11 Pro and it would activate
a fresh install of W11 Pro (even using a Retail disc).
*******
You can move disk drives between the laptops. The disk drive
will boot. The licensing is another matter, and you can
use slmgr to attend to the details.
Now, if you clone a drive from laptop #1, and install clones
in laptop #2 and laptop #3, they will boot. You can attend
the licensing issue with slmgr, using the key in the MSDM
which travels with the laptop and cannot be scraped off
the way a COA sticker can be scraped off.
This affects Microsoft ability to "track" the installations.
The install has some "unique identifiers", you have cloned
the identifiers. Because the device has a NIC MAC address
as well as for some brands, a serial number, the OS should
be able to tell it has been moved. Now, I did this *on purpose*
way back when, on the Insider. I cloned a partition and made
two identical C: partitions, then I did Windows Update on
one, then I did Windows Update on the second. At first,
it seemed that just maybe, Microsoft was tracking these things,
as the software "seemed a bit confused". But I think eventually
the issue was handled better in the OS, after a few changes.
Today, they should be able to handle the cloning of identifiers,
without going through the OOBE on each device to make it
easier for the OS to disambiguate itself. In an Enterprise,
you can SYSPREP an image and deploy it to multiple machines
(and there is a licensing scheme just for Enterprise that
takes care of the license part). During OOBE, you would expect
the OS to be able to make itself unique, as if the install
had been done with a DVD.
Summary: Go ahead. Make clones. Disperse them. See what happens.
Look at the license status.
slmgr /dlv # Puts a dialog on the screen with the details
Partial product key: 8HVX7 # Home install
License Status: Licensed # I'm good
Microsoft should have figured out by now, how to track these.
Even though they haven't gone through SYSPREP and OOBE or whatever.
The license key on a "W11 laptop" is in the ACPI MSDM table and its entry. Since I have no device with an MSDM, I cannot demonstrate the dumping
of such a thing. But the usual Showkey and such, can show the item.
Note that Windows Defender will "detect" Showkey and its ilk as
"Hackerware" and that's not why we have Windows Defender, to be
making bogus detections like that.
I think the models will be refurbished with W11 Pro already installed.
On Sat, 9 May 2026 18:18:48 +0100, Java Jive wrote:
... however, to guard against any possible problems, you could run
something like Product Key Scanner or ShowKeyPlus on each target machine
and note down carefully and legible their original product keys.
I used ShowKeyPlus on a laptop that I have (the other laptops will be similar, but with better hardware). and it shows a OEM key. Settings >
System > ... leads me to activation info and the option to change the
key.
So I could check the key, restore the image of the original laptop on
the new laptop and then simply change the key on the new laptop?
On Mon, 5/11/2026 12:08 PM, s|b wrote:
I think the models will be refurbished with W11 Pro already installed.
That's a different story then.
When a brand new W11 machine ships, the key would be stored
in ACPI MSDM. Linux has acpidump and friends. I don't have
any MSDM-equipped machines, my laptop being old enough to be
SLIC activated instead (different).
When you refurbish a machine, you think about where the
original key came from. Let us talk about my Test Machine.
1) Not an OEM machine, not SLIC and not MSDM.
2) Bought a copy of Win7 Pro, as that was needed so the
entire 64GB of RAM could be used. That has a key,
printed on a card.
3) Upgraded to Windows 10, using the Free Upgrade (W7/W8-->W10).
The key shows as the "generic" value.
4) Upgraded to Windows 11, using the Free Upgrade (W10-->W11).
The key shows as the "generic" value. ShowKeyPlus *may* still
be able to display the Win7 key value, but only as some sort
of secondary key, not as the digital license stored on the
Microsoft server.
*******
On my Dell refurb, that started as SLIC activated. As explained in
a previous post, the COA stick has a *different* key value than the
one used in the SLIC original installation. The original installation
should not be on the machine. The COA is scraped off and is not to be shipped.
Microsoft has Refurb Kits. At the time, a Holographic DVD shipped
with the refurb kit, and the DVD content is similar to a Retail DVD.
The key that Microsoft cuts, is "in exchange" for the key originally
on the machine. Scraping off the COA, is because Microsoft gives
a card with a new key. The OS is no longer a Dell Royalty OEM OS,
it is an OS installed from the Hologram DVD (and in a pinch
you can use the downloaded Retail DVD instead).
When you receive a refurbished computer, the key is *ONLY* in
the OS. You must immediately capture that key and keep the value
safe. As that is your proof of purchase as it were. If the license
needs to be traced, that is what you use.
Such a license key should work for reactivation, as it is NOT
the generic key of a Free Upgrade. You should be able to
use that key, to return the licensed status to the machine.
This should normally not be necessary, as the digital activation
on the Microsoft server, keeps track of the NIC MAC, and re-activation
should really be automatic. But you *still* keep your sweaty
little hands on that key, just in case.
Let's work another example. Machine is Royalty OEM Win7,
A refurbisher "trades" the COA value plus a small cash sum,
and receives a card with a Win10 key. And they install Win10.
If we are working with Windows 11, the boost from Win10 refurb
key to Win11 activation, can only work for as long as the
Free Upgrade from W10 to W11 applies. After the Upgrade is
over, if we change hard drives and mess about, we have our W10
key we captured with ShowKeyPlus when we got the Refurb, and
we can use that (if the server based automation does not work,
or if we are in conversation with a human regarding the issue).
It's slightly easier if you received a W10 Pro refurb, and
you are swirling about Win10 drives. The key then, should work
for such a purpose (that's if this is not handled automatically).
Remember that *some* license is held on the Microsoft server,
based on a hardware signature. The NIC MAC is an important
part of that identity, and has a larger weight than say,
the amount of DRAM in the machine or the DRAM serial numbers.
By all means, use the ShowKeyPlus as soon as you receive
your refurb, as the Hologram DVD is no longer provided
in the refurb box (Microsoft stopped that in the middle
of Win7 refurbs). And no "new COA" is provided, the key
is in the OS only, and it is your job to snag the
value (make SURE it's not listed as a generic), and
keep that key for later "in case something happens".
I have run into one case of fraud, involving a refurb
"prepared" on Ebay, where the scum installed Windows
and the listed key was the generic one and not the
refurb key to be expected. This means the scum did not
process the refurb properly, did not buy a refurb kit,
and just winged it (could have used the graveyard for
all I know). I was helping someone with this at the time,
and the situation was going south by the minute. The recipient
of the machine, then stopped talking about it and no more
was said. He was in contact with the individual, or at least
tried to contact him.
This is one of the reasons, you only buy refurbs from
reputable sources. If it comes from a big corporation
like JoySystems, there's no reason to be jerked about
like this.
You don't want your keys on a freshly received refurb,
to be these. You want unique keys, each of the three
machines being different than these, and different than
one another. So if these really are legit W11 Refurb
machines, the keys will not be these. If they were
W10 Refurb machines, where some twit installed W11 over
top, then you'll be seeing these values. And while
the automation mostly works all the time, having these
keys "in hand" is... useless. These keys don't prove
anything about where the original key of the chain started from.
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T (Windows 10 Professional) <--- X79 YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 (Windows 10 Home - multi language) <--- laptop!
BT79Q-G7N6G-PGBYW-4YWX6-6F4BT (Windows 10 Home - single language)
Paul
Linux requires none of this faff. </Channeling Lawrence>
However, if you meant note down the product key from the Windows 11 on
each new machine as supplied, then re-image the PC with your required
image, and if then the authentication process throws a wobbly (which I
don't think it should), entering the key you noted down from the
original image supplied would hopefully get you out of any difficulty,
AS LONG AS, as Paul as pointed out, the machines are supplied with valid 'new' or 'refurb' W11 keys in the first place.
So I would suggest noting down the serial number of each new machine supplied, either from the BIOS or a sticker on the casing, and then
booting it into the supplied W11 and running ShowKeyPlus and noting down
the Windows product key next to the serial number, so that you know
which product key applies to which machine.-a Then reimage, etc.
If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
On Sat, 09 May 2026 18:24:36 +0200, s|b wrote:
If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on
several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
I've been in contact with our project leader and the hardware we'll be
using is a Samsung Galaxy Book4 / Model: NP750XGJ-KS4BE with W11 Home installed.
Told him about setting them up with an image, but apparently we'll not
be installing a lot, so maybe an image is overkill. There will be 3 or 4
of us setting up 15 to 20 laptops and we have all day, so...
You can dump the MSDM table in Linux if you want.Would I want to? (How?)
I would say 15 to 20 laptops is definitely worth an image, but at very least, draw up in advance a check list of the configuration changes to
be made and items of software to be installed, print one out for each PC
to be set up, and tick off the tasks as each is completed. That way you have a better chance that all the PCs are set up identically, and so
avoid the hidden gotchas from they're not being so.
On Sat, 09 May 2026 18:24:36 +0200, s|b wrote:
If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on
several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
I've been in contact with our project leader and the hardware we'll be
using is a Samsung Galaxy Book4 / Model: NP750XGJ-KS4BE with W11 Home installed.
Told him about setting them up with an image, but apparently we'll not
be installing a lot, so maybe an image is overkill. There will be 3 or 4
of us setting up 15 to 20 laptops and we have all day, so...
On 2026-05-11 18:08, s|b wrote:
You can dump the MSDM table in Linux if you want.Would I want to? (How?)
Laicolasse:~ # hexdump -C /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM
hexdump: /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM: No such file or directory
hexdump: all input file arguments failed
Laicolasse:~ #
It fails because the laptop was bought without an OS.
I had forgotten the trick because I don't have a computer that has MSDN, so I asked chatgpt to remind me. It gave me more methods.
On Sat, 09 May 2026 18:24:36 +0200, s|b wrote:
If I wanted to install the same W11 set up (settings, software, ...) on
several devices, what would be the easiest way to do it? (W11 Pro is
already installed.)
I've been in contact with our project leader and the hardware we'll be
using is a Samsung Galaxy Book4 / Model: NP750XGJ-KS4BE with W11 Home installed.
Told him about setting them up with an image, but apparently we'll not
be installing a lot, so maybe an image is overkill. There will be 3 or 4
of us setting up 15 to 20 laptops and we have all day, so...
You and your (professional?) project leader should be aware that use of
an image benefits user support as well as the initial setup. Support is easier with identical installations and serious issues on a specific
machine are quickly resolved by reinstalling the current image.
You and your (professional?) project leader should be aware that use of
an image benefits user support as well as the initial setup. Support is easier with identical installations and serious issues on a specific
machine are quickly resolved by reinstalling the current image.
Methinks fixing one image the way you want and deploying that to all
laptops is still a lot faster than fixing them one by one.
You'll probably be upgrading to Pro, or maybe even LTSC Enterprise, to
be able to protect them from your users installing whatever they want.
Find someone who knows how this works, having to hire someone later to
fix errors made now will probably be a lot more expensive.
On Fri, 15 May 2026 20:51:24 +0200, dillinger wrote:
Methinks fixing one image the way you want and deploying that to all
laptops is still a lot faster than fixing them one by one.
We'll see. There will be at least 3 of us and we've got time. He wants
us to paste sleeves/stickers on the laptops as well. (I'm imaging a lot
of air bubbles. :-)
Pretty sure that won't happen. He sent me a picture with some of the specifications and it had Home on it. He did ask out loud whether to
install as admin or as user.
Find someone who knows how this works, having to hire someone later to
fix errors made now will probably be a lot more expensive.
We're not going to hire someone. I know how to create images and restore them. The thing that was bugging me was the license key.
I could try creating an image for laptop 1 and then creating an image
backup of laptop 2 before restoring laptop 1's image to laptop 2.
On Sat, 16 May 2026 10:15:04 +0100, MikeS wrote:
You and your (professional?) project leader should be aware that use of
an image benefits user support as well as the initial setup. Support is
easier with identical installations and serious issues on a specific
machine are quickly resolved by reinstalling the current image.
He's not an IT professional at all. Half of the time he doesn't know
what I'm talking about and I consider myself to be a hobbyist. But he's
in charge, so...
I'll make sure I have my Ventoy flash drive with Macrium Reflect ISO
ready and an extra hdd to save the image to. I probably won't need that
if I make an extra partition on the internal drive.
Probably better to create enough Macrium rescue USBs in advance. You
can do this from an installed version:
1) Insert target USB stick;
2) Run Macrium;
3) Other Tasks, Create Rescue Media;
4) Choose the USB stick as the destination.
Note 1:
As the new PCs will almost certainly be configured with Secure Boot,
you may have to temporarily unlock this from the BIOS so that you can
boot via a USB stick, and you may then have also either to change temporarily the boot order to put the USB before the disk, or press a
key specific to the make and model of PC to obtain a one-time boot menu
from which you can choose to boot via USB.
Note 2:
AFAIAA, the last version of Macrium with a free option is 8.0.7783.
Yes, that's the best sort of approach.
I have on my site an old page about how to do this sort of thing; much
of the DETAIL is outdated now because it was written for W2k, but the PRINCIPAL remains unchanged, so it still might be some useful bedtime reading for you. Note particularly the points separating OS from data,
but the trouble is that you've only got a day ...
https://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/Windows/WindowsImageBuilding.html
On Sun, 17 May 2026 16:03:18 +0100, Java Jive wrote:[...]
Note 2:
AFAIAA, the last version of Macrium with a free option is 8.0.7783.
No, it's 8.0.7279. I have the EXE and the ISO created with Rescue Media.
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2026 16:03:18 +0100, Java Jive wrote:[...]
Note 2:
AFAIAA, the last version of Macrium with a free option is 8.0.7783.
No, it's 8.0.7279. I have the EXE and the ISO created with Rescue Media.
You're both right. The latest downloadable free version is (was?)
indeed 8.0.7279, but when you install that and check for updates, you
get one more 'Bug fixes' update, which brings the version to 8.0.7783.
[...]
On Sun, 5/17/2026 2:51 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2026 16:03:18 +0100, Java Jive wrote:[...]
Note 2:
AFAIAA, the last version of Macrium with a free option is 8.0.7783.
No, it's 8.0.7279. I have the EXE and the ISO created with Rescue Media.
You're both right. The latest downloadable free version is (was?)
indeed 8.0.7279, but when you install that and check for updates, you
get one more 'Bug fixes' update, which brings the version to 8.0.7783.
[...]
You can look around for a download.
# 8.0.7783
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html
# Whereas one like this, is the Home Trial edition 10.0.8843 .--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
# Not good for long-term usage executing from C: .
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_home.html
Paul
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 65 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 00:57:12 |
| Calls: | 862 |
| Files: | 1,311 |
| D/L today: |
10 files (20,373K bytes) |
| Messages: | 264,187 |