Loss of one place to check activation status?

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I have just performed a clean install of Windows 10 Pro x64 20H2 (build 19042.631) on my new PC. I used an installation image which I created on a USB flash drive using the MCT.

After installation I clicked Control Panel (All Control Panel Items) > System to check the activation status but, to my surprise, I discovered that the activation status is no longer listed on that page. It was listed there in version 2004. In fact, after some investigation, this page appears to be the same page that you get to by clicking Settings > System > About. Can anyone confirm that all this is as it should be in 20H2?

So, other than by running the slmgr command, it now appears that the only way of checking the activation status is by clicking Settings > Update & Security > Activation.

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TonyC wrote:

After installation I clicked Control Panel (All Control Panel Items) > System … In fact, after some investigation, this page appears to be the same page that you get to by clicking Settings > System > About. Can anyone confirm that all this is as it should be in 20H2?

Yes: Where Did the System Control Panel Go on Windows 10?

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.2361 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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TonyC

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Hadn’t seen this. Thanks. It explains everything.

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b

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One of the new features of 20H2 is they made various changes in how you access various control panel items.

That’s just one of the many changes they’ve made or plan to make to the “classic” control panel that’ll send you to one of the new “settings” menus.

FYI, you can still access the classic system control panel using the following:

1. Press Windows+R to open the Run dialog
2. Enter explorer.exe shell:::{BB06C0E4-D293-4f75-8A90-CB05B6477EEE}
3. Press Enter

If needed, you can also use the above command to create a shortcut to the classic system control panel.

BTW, the above command also works for 21H1.

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oldfry, TonyC

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Thanks for the information about how to access the “classic” control panel. But I don’t think that I will use it.

When I started to use Windows 10 after using Windows 7 for many years, I considered using something like Open Shell to make Windows 10 look like Windows 7. But then I thought, what’s the point? The world is continually changing and life will probably be a lot easier if I just flow with the change.

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steeviebops

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TonyC wrote:

Thanks for the information about how to access the “classic” control panel. But I don’t think that I will use it.

When I started to use Windows 10 after using Windows 7 for many years, I considered using something like Open Shell to make Windows 10 look like Windows 7. But then I thought, what’s the point? The world is continually changing and life will probably be a lot easier if I just flow with the change.

I started doing the same and didn’t mind Windows 8.1 because of it! It actually puts me off now when I use a machine with Classic Shell because I’m expecting it to be standard.

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You could just type ‘activation’ in the search box.
For all settings use GodMode

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Alex5723 wrote:

For all settings use GodMode

Then what for activation?

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.2361 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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I also looked thru the GodMode settings and couldn’t find one that displayed the activation info.

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Interesting phenomenon…

Yesterday, I used the trick I mentioned in my post to open the classic system info panel and now, if I click the system icon in the control panel, it opens the old “classic” system info panel instead of the new “about” panel in settings .

There’s been no new updates installed or software changes made to my system and the change in behavior persisted across multiple reboots and shutdowns.

So it seems if you force the old panel to open using that command, it somehow resets whatever Microsoft changed so it defaults back to displaying the old system info panel.

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Found a way to fully restore the old System Control Panel.

Learned about Mach2, a utility that allows you to enable/disable Win10 features, while trying to figure out how to disable the new Settings banner the Aug update turned on (see the What is this? topic.)

Looking thru the list of Win10 features on their site, I found the following entry.

• RedirectSystemControlPanel: 25175482

So I downloaded Mach2,  extracted the files to C:\Mach2 and then ran the following from an elevated command prompt (i.e. right click cmd.exe and select “Run as Administrator“.)

C:\Mach2\mach2.exe disable 25175482

It immediately restored the old style System Control Panel when right clicking “This PC” and selecting “Properties” as well as selecting “System” in the Control panel.

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Perhaps you can drop to an elevated CMD some how and use:

slmgr /xpr

more info by:

slmgr /dli

(Not going past 10..)

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You can also use PowerShell. Copy/paste the following into a PowerShell console (which doesn’t have to be elevated):

slmgr /xpr

Alternatively, use the following – but be warned… it’s very slow to return a result (25 seconds on an i5):

Get-CimInstance SoftwareLicensingProduct -Filter "Name like 'Windows%'" | where { $_.PartialProductKey } | select Description, LicenseStatus

A result of ‘1’ shows that Windows is permanently activated.

Values:
0=Unlicensed
1=Licensed
2=OOBGrace
3=OOTGrace
4=NonGenuineGrace
5=Notification
6=ExtendedGrace

Hope this helps…

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oldfry

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When you are in the “new” system panel, click on “change product key or upgrade” and the activation status is shown.  Yes I know that doesn’t seem rational…but there you have it.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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