Windows 10 installed without activating

[corvette93]

i bought a OEM windows 10 i installed on a new machine i skipped the activation,
do i even need to activate windows 10?

 

[johnb35]

Yes you do. Why wouldn't you think you wouldn't have to activate it?

 

[corvette93]

well it has never ask me to yet to activate it and it been work find, one thing i don't like about windows 10 is some of my older programs don't work

 

[johnb35]

Try running them in compatibility mode for windows 7. Go into your system properties to see if its activated. It will usually activate by itself when it has internet connection.

 

[corvette93]

how do i run in compatibility mode? and yes its not activated

 

[johnb35]

Should be a link to activate next to it.

Right click on the program exe files and click on properties. Click on the compatibility tab and choose windows 7.

 

[spirit]

i bought a OEM windows 10 i installed on a new machine i skipped the activation,
do i even need to activate windows 10?

If you sign in with a Microsoft account sometimes it automatically activates Windows 10 to your Microsoft account meaning you never need to type in a key or activate using a key or the phone. It does that for me on clean installs with a retail version of 10 Pro - I don't type in the key during setup, but I sign in with my Microsoft account and it automatically activates to my account (I never type the key or manually activate and yes it is a legal copy of 10). If I use a keyfinder to see what key it has used it's the same on all of my systems with 10 Pro and it's not the same as the retail keys I have.

 

[corvette93]

thanks for every ones help