Windows 10: Will I lose the Old license linked to my Microsoft account if I enter a new product key?

My home PC is running on Windows 10 Pro. I activated it using a cheap key from an online store, 1-2 years ago.

Today, when I run slmgr /dlv, it shows VOLUME_MAK Channel, which indicates it's a volume licensing key.

I got a RETAIL key now. If I change the product key to retail key, what will happen to theold license that tied to my account?

Will I lose it or can I activate another pc using that license, just by logging in using the same account while installing windows?

:)

 

Can't activate Windows 10 Pro with license linked to Microsoft account or product key

I'm trying to activate a new Windows installation using the digital license that's associated with my Microsoft account. On the old (activated) pc, I can go to the activation setting and see the "Windows is activated with a digital license tied to your Microsoft account" message.

On the new PC, if I log in with the same Microsoft account, Windows is not activated. I get the message that a valid product key has not been found (0xC004F213).

Using the trouble shooter, I get the message that Windows cannot be activated on this device. I then click "I recently changed the hardware for this device."

I then get a dialog showing me the device with the old motherboard. If I click "Activate", I get a simple "Windows cannot be activated" message.

If I go back to settings and try to change the product key, and enter the old pc's product key, I get an error that says the key is invalid (0x80041023).

I'm kind of at a loss now. How do I get this working?

Windows 10 Pro x64 was installed on both devices using the same USB drive.

 

Wìndows 10 full format without losing license

Unless you change to new hardware (motherboard), you should not need to do anything. You should be able to clean/reformat your harddisks and reinstall without an explicit windows 10 key (leave the windows key field empty during the install).

To be safe, I would recommend that you link your windows 10 product key with a Microsoft account. This should allow you to login with that account to re-verify your Windows 10, even if you have new hardware.

Step 1. Make sure you are using a Microsoft account:

Keep in mind that if you did not already have a Microsoft account, that your new login information will change to the email address/password associated with the Microsoft account.

1. Open "Settings"
   
2. Select "Accounts"
   
3. Select "Your info"
   
4. Select "Sign in with your Microsoft account instead" link.
   
5. Fill the information required
   
6. "Sign in" and follow the remaining instructions.
   

The next step is to verify that your microsoft account is associated with the windows key.

1. Once again, open "Settings".
   
2. Select "Update & security".
   
3. Select "Activation" on the left bar.
   

If everything is good, it should say next to Activation: "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account".

When you now reformat your machine, simply login with your Microsoft account.

Step 2. Hardware Change

As the others have mentioned, if you have changed motherboard you would lose the "windows key" associated with it. That is why you will need to notify Microsoft about "Hardware change".

1. Select "Settings"
   
2. Select "Update & security"
   
3. Select "Activation" on the left side.
   
4. Select "Troubleshoot". It should say something about it failing to be activated on your device.
   
5. Select "I changed hardware on this device recently".
   
6. Login with your Microsoft account (if you haven't already).
   
7. Select the device you are using now, and select Activate
   

Sidenote: I have recently changed my own hardware (motherboard, CPU, GPU), and followed the steps above in order to keep using my same Windows 10 key.
If for some reasons you had to take additional steps; please comment and let me know so I can update the step-by-step answer

 

How do I manage the link between a Windows 10 license and a Microsoft account?

This is an answer to your first question: See which Microsoft account the license is linked to.

There is no direct way to show to which account a digital license is bound to. The account device list of the Microsoft account cannot be trusted: If I add another (non admin) user with a Microsoft account to my machine, the name of the computer will be added in the device list of the new account, too. Certainly, the digital license of my computer is still bound to my (admin) account and not to the new user.

Therfore you have to check the list of digital licenses in every Microsoft account you own.

The only method I know to list digital licenses bound to a Microsoft account is to try to transfer them to a new, "unknown" hardware. "Unknown" means, that on this hardware Windows 10 has not been installed before. "Try" means just to begin the transfer process until the last step and not to finish the activation process.

This new, "unknown" hardware can be a real hardware (new mainboard) or a virtual hardware (e.g. VMware virtual machine). It's important to note that the fingerprint of this hardware shall not exist in the database of Micrsoft's activation servers. Otherwise the hardware will be activated automatically and you won't get a chance to transfer a different digital license to it because it already has a digital license. The transfer process won't get offered.

My method for Windows 10 b1607 is as follows:

• Create a new virtual machine (VM)
  
• Install Windows 10 without any product key (the edition does not matter, Home or Pro, x86 or x64)
  
• Try to activate the VM
  
• Enter the windows activation dialog where it is possible to transfer your digital licenses to this VM ("Troubleshoot", "I changed hardware on this device recently")
  
• Enter your Microsoft account credentials of the account which you want to check
  
• Now you get a list ("Reactivate Windows", "Select this device from below") of devices which are bound to your Microsoft account and which have a digital license and which are in the same "device class" as your current device (the VM). This device list is the first part of the whole list of digital licenses of the account. "Device classes" are e. g. laptops, standalone PCs or virtual machines. In my opinion virtual machines are separated in different device classes, too (VMware, Oracle, etc.)
  
• To see the second part of the list of your digital licenses you have to list all devices which do not match the current VM, i.e. which belong to a different device class. Click on the link at the bottom of this page: "See other devices linked to your Microsoft account". Now you get the second part of the list of your digital licenses which belong to devices that cannot be transferred ("Device type does not match", Edition does not match")
  

This whole process seems to be reliable in respect to list my own digital licenses which I bound to different Microsoft accounts. However, some devices of the second list ("We can't reactivate Windows from these devices" ) migrated after some days to the first list ("devices which can be activated"). But this does not matter as the device entries stay the same.

And of course there is no guarantee that devices which are shown in the first list can be reactivated with the device with which you are currently checking the license. E.g. when I check with my virtual machine I also get some digital licenses in the first list which belong to a different device class (e.g. standalone PC). I am sure that a transfer from a license like this to a VM would not work in reality.