this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2026
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You can click the small link at the bottom of the installer that says "I don't have a product key" and proceed through. It will then ask you what edition of Windows you want to install. This is because many PCs have hardware entitlements, so they never got a key.
The only limitation is you can't customize your desktop/themes and there will be a permeant watermark in the lower right corner asking you to activate.