Check Windows License Status

In a previous tip we explained how you can use slmgr, a built-in VBScript, to check Windows licensing state.

Accessing the Raw Licensing Data in PowerShell

The core information used by this VBScript actually comes from WMI, so in PowerShell, you can directly access the raw licensing data like this:

PS> Get-WmiObject SoftwareLicensingService

You can also check the license status of your copy of Windows:

PS> Get-WmiObject SoftwareLicensingProduct | Select-Object -Property Description, LicenseStatus | Out-GridView

And you can find out which Windows SKU you are actually using:

PS> Get-WmiObject SoftwareLicensingProduct | Where-Object { $_.LicenseStatus -eq 1 } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Description
Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, RETAIL channel

To investigate all the other logic found in slmgr, have a look at the VBScript source code:

PS> notepad (Get-Command slmgr).Path

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