Windows 10: Activating windows 10 after major hardware change help

After my motherboard died I have installed new Skylake hardware so obviously my windows 10 installation wants to re activate. In my previous experiences of this I have phoned microsoft to explain my predicament and they supplied me with a new activation code. Now after talking with support this is no longer possible and I have to go back to 8 or 7 and re upgrade. Unfortunately I dont see an option to rollback to 8.1. Do I have to start again from a fresh install of 7 and then upgrade back to 10?

:)

 

Recently installed a new motherboard, now having troubles activating Windows 10.

Hi Peter,

To activate your Windows 10 after a major hardware change, we suggest that you check and follow the steps from the following links:

• Re-Activating Windows 10 after major hardware replacement (Thread).
• Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change.

We would appreciate it if you could get back to us and provide us your feedback.

 

Win 10 Activation Woes

Please
Click HERE to bring you to the Microsoft Web Page to explain the Hows and Why's'of activating Windows 10 after a major hardware change

I hope this Helps!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum! *Smile

Did Microsoft support tell you that you should go back or is that what you think would help? I am asking, because I am not so sure that your Windows 7 or 8 license (depending on what you previously had) is still valid... I don't want to scare you, but I always thought that after you upgraded to Windows 10, you would no longer be able to use the basic license for the old system (except in the 30 days go-back period maybe).

 

Hello spoons27 Welcome to the Ten Forums!

You got that right! Since the board was replaced that is a bit more extensive then what was seen here when simply swapping out 4gb of Mushkin memory for 8gb of Kingston Hyper X! I still saw the "Windows needs to be activated" showing in the change product key screen reappear but only for a few startups and then found it was reactivated since the change was minor in comparison.

You can wait a day or so to if the activation records the change and then automatically activates things for you before proceeding to perform the clean install of 7 as well as see SP1 installed on 7 being the mandate. But I wouldn't count on you having the same fortune I saw due to the activation process mostly being tied to the board of all things! MS allows for a few hardware changes over a six month period with past versions allowing for people wanting to swap out video cards or better their system with more memory or a new sound card over onboard, etc. But swapping boards is the major hardware change for sure!

 

Well I am now in the process of installing 7 so we will see.

 

Windows 7 activated ok. It is kind of nice to see windows 7 again maybe I will just stick with it.....No! I must resist its charms and press ahead to 10.

 

I set up a dual boot across two drives on the second remote tower case as well as on the main build here with no plans to dump 7 any time soon! I cloned the 7 host/boot drive now the secondary OS drive with 10 set as the default OS as well as added in a second drive into the smaller portable mini tower I access remotely and am presently using to test things on as I go along before seeing any changes on the main case.

And don't forget to download SP1 if you haven't already. You can get that in stand alone as well as in the dvd iso file. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB976932) Here I save the two since the download button will bring up a half dozen for the dvd ISO, the 32bit at the bottom and four others in between where you check off the one you want.

Rumors about SP2 anyone? SInce SP1 came there have been over 100 security and other updates released for 7 while still no SP2. You can get all of those rolled up into one download however. Waiting to Download Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2?

 

Ok I got 7 up to date and the notification came for 10 but as I was an Insider how do I get my status back?
Do I just sign in with my microsoft account and it recognises me and upgrades me to Pro? Or do I re download an ISO from the Insider site?

 

What version of Windows 7 did you upgrade from. The version of 7 that you upgraded from will determine what version of 10 you will be able to activate. If it was Home, you will now have to pay for the upgrade to Pro.

To get back on the insider program, you will have to set it up under the advanced options of Updates & Security in Settings.

 

How the license should work if MS were to do their job properly and in accordance with both the EULA and their 'unwritten policy':

If the original Win7 or Win8 license was a retail version then you can transfer it to another device and take Microsoft up on their free promotional Win10 upgrade. New motherboard is not a problem. '30 Days' is also not a problem

If the original Win7 or Win8 license was an oem version then you cannot transfer it to another device. Although if you replaced a broken motherboard with a like-for-like replacement then activation would by possible by 'phone and it would again be eligible for the free promotional Win10 upgrade. (However, in this instance the Skylake board should be considered an upgrade as it is not a like-for-like replacement of the broken board. Therefore, the license would be dead).

 

Not having logged into the Insider Program for several months due to some other obligations that came up and not having a chance to review the various builds I would be out in the cold as far as how to go about downloading there. But you can always use the Media Creation tool to accomplish the same as far as seeing the present build downloaded and saved locally to a drive as well as seeing the installation media made up.

Here I have both combination 32bit/64bit downloads for both editions as well as having each stand alone ISO image plus made up a 4-in-1 16gb stick from the retailer and OEM system builder's page to see the combination Home/Pro iso downloads. I have to eventually upgrade multiple systems.





You can even perform an upgrade install by way of mounting the ISO file saved to a separate drive since while in virtual installation mode the files are unpacked to the C drive before the system restarts unloads 7 to see the upgrade take place. That's where the 10 installer leaves the desktop at the start until the restart initializes the set up process. when then packs up the 7 installation into the Windows.old as the substitution takes place.

If the 7 installation media was the retail release as pointed out that should activate without hassles despite the board change especially when not in use on anything else. Then the upgrade should go well. 10 will than activate itself to the new hardware configuration having first detected a valid 7 install.

 

As an original insider before release of 10 I was given Pro version even though I had 8.1 home to start with. Now all I get is Home version just because my PC failed and I had to replace the motherboard. Everything is activated and I am using the same Microsoft account.

 

I thought you just put 7 on? Is that 7 Home Premium or Pro there? If Pro simply use the tool and never mind upgrading back to 8.1 first but go for the 10 Pro ISO download. Since 7 Pro would be the Pro edition already in use the upgrade will take place for 10 Pro. Once activated you may want to grab the new OEM key seen to save that in a safe place and then see to the clean install of 10 if the upgrade happens to go buggy on you. Product Key - View in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums[2]=Installation%20and%20Setup

On the main build here what I would see is "OEM Key: OEM key not present in firmware" being that it is a custom build while the 7 laptop read out was OEM key present in firmware being a 2012 purchase of a 7 laptop. That saw the 32bit 7 Home Premium replaced with the 10 Home 64bit clean install once the 32bit upgrade and even a followup 32bit clean install had been seen to. That was where the Home Premium edition came preinstalled while you are saying you have 7 installed now. Which edition of 7?

 

I just put 7 home premium upgrade on got it validated downloaded 10 from the insider page and ended up with Home. Should I have used the tool to get the pro version? I only had Pro originally because I was in the preview program. OK I am now downloading Pro should I install over the top of my Home version?

To clarify before hardware replacement > Windows 7 Home Premium to 8 Home to 8.1 Home to 10 pro (Being in the insider program)

After new hardware > Windows 7 Home Premium to 10 Home
Nevermind I have paid for the upgrade to Pro