ProductKey
ProductKey specifies the key used to activate Windows.
Important
Entering an invalid product key in the answer file will cause Windows Setup to fail.
There are two Product Key settings you can configure.
- Use the ProductKey setting in the Microsoft-Windows-Setup component to specify the Windows image to install during Windows Setup. This Product Key specified by this setting is stored on the computer after installation. If you choose to activate Windows, this Product Key will be used.
- Use this
ProductKeysetting to specify a different Product Key to activate Windows. For example, you can specify one Product Key to install Windows with ProductKey (Microsoft-Windows-Setup), and then specify a different Product Key to use to activate Windows.
If you specify a product key in the windowsPE configuration pass with ProductKey (Microsoft-Windows-Setup), then Windows welcome will prompt for a product key. If you specify the ProductKey (Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup) setting during the specialize pass, then Windows Welcome will not prompt for a product key.
Note
Sysprep does not reset the grace period for MSDN or lab installations.
Values
Product_key |
Specifies the key used to install and to activate Windows. Product_key is a 29-character string. |
This string type does not support empty elements. Do not create an empty value for this setting.
Valid Passes
Parent Hierarchy
Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup | ProductKey
Applies To
For the list of the supported Windows editions and architectures that this component supports, see Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup.
XML Example
The following XML output shows how to set the Product Key.
<ProductKey>AAAAA-BBBBB-CCCCC-DDDDD-EEEEE</ProductKey>