Windows 10: Changed HDD for SSD now windows not activated

Hello,

I just cloned my HDD to an SSD, and now Windows is no longer activated.

The troubleshooter doesn't fix the problem.

The process returns the code 0x004f034

The Microsoft Account method does not work

The chat bot doesn't come up with anything helpful

I don't really want to call the US for help, but I can't see a UK number for Microsoft support ?


Have other people had this problem. I'm not doing anything at al unusual here. When I did this with another PC it just worked straight away. Maybe the difference here is it is not the original OS & key this machine was bought with.


Any help much appreciated.

:)

 

Switch HDD to SSD + Add m2 2280 SSD then Activation? Or Activate then swap all the HDD/SSDs around?

Good Afternoon,

Just purchased a brand new desktop PC (it still in the box). Its preinstalled with Windows 10 Professional (awaiting activation) on the a single drive which is a 2.5" HDD. I don't' want that drive in the computer and I've purchased two new SSD's to upgrade
the system. Once I remove the HDD, its no longer part of my equation.

Current out of the box setup:

2.5" HDD with Windows 10 Pro awaiting first startup / initiation and activation.

Where I want to go:

M.2 2280 SSD as Primary drive with Windows 10 Pro installed and activated here

2.5" SSD as secondary drive for my files/documents/data.

How do I get the preinstalled Win10Pro off the HDD, and activate it on the M2 SSD as the primary OS boot drive? Should I activate windows before making all these hardware changes? Or should I clone/reinstall Windows 10 Pro to the M.2 SSD then activate?
Last step is adding the additional SSD for data, but that's not a priority … or is it? Add it before activation?

This is the headache I get for buying an pre-built system that wasn't originally spec'd the way I wanted. Oh well.

Do the HDD/SSD changes make a diff to the activation process? or is it all hardware encoded to the motherboard which remains unchanged?

Advice?

 

How to change a HDD being listed as SSD

Hi Peter,

Welcome to Microsoft Community and thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

I will definitely assist you, as per your query.

Based on the description, please be informed that manually we cannot change the SSD to HDD. However, let’s try running hardware troubleshooter and check if it helps. Follow the below steps:

• 
  Press Windows + X keys on the keyboard and select Control Panel.
  
• 
  Type Troubleshooting in the search bar on the Control Panel.
  
• 
  Click on Small icon on the left navigation pane.
  
• 
  Click on Troubleshooting and click on
  Hardware and Device.
  
• 
  Click on Advanced on the Hardware troubleshooter dialog box and click on Run as administrator (Enter the credentials if required).
  
• 
  Click on Next and follow onscreen instruction complete the Hardware troubleshooter.
  

If the issue remain the same after hardware troubleshooting, I suggest you to go to BIOS and check what is HDD is listed on BIOS and let us know.

Hope the above information helps. If you need further assistance with Windows, let us know and will be glad to help.

 

Activating windows 10 after changing HDD

My problem is solved, by doing the following steps.

1. Remove the SSD and put the old HDD back in -start up the laptop with the old activated config.

2. Ran slmgr.vbs /ato as admin and installed all Windows updates.

3. Make sure you're logged in on your Microsoft account -I also turned on the sync setting to all my devices(not sure if it's needed).

4. shutdown, remove the HDD & put the SSD back in -startup the laptop with the new ssd.

5. The clean windows 10 install is still not activated -same error code 0xC004C003.

6. restart the laptop in to advanced boot options(or boot from the boot-able windows 10 installation).

7. Reset your pc & remove all files.

8. Login to the same Microsoft account as in step 3 when the wizard asks for it.

9. After the setup was done, my windows 10 installation was activated! All of my drivers were still installed as well, so that was definitely a nice thing..

Before doing this I also phoned support and they just told me to wait, I suggest you don't as I've seen loads of stories on the forums of people who've been waiting for +1month.

It seems like Microsoft is giving out the same(blocked) activation key(*****-8HVX7) to everyone doing a clean install after changing hardware/ upgrading w/o waiting for all windows updates.