Windows 10: Failed Activation - Failed to move Windows 10 Retail from an old PC to a new PC

Discus and support Failed Activation - Failed to move Windows 10 Retail from an old PC to a new PC in Windows 10 Updates and Activation to solve the problem; I would like some advice on how to proceed: Situation: I'm scrapped my old PC for a new one. I checked the installed Product KEY using an app and... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Updates and Activation' started by HarakhunTanatavikorn, Mar 7, 2020.

  1. Failed Activation - Failed to move Windows 10 Retail from an old PC to a new PC


    I would like some advice on how to proceed:

    Situation:

    I'm scrapped my old PC for a new one. I checked the installed Product KEY using an app and noted it down before deactivating the KEY from the old PC.
    The following info for my old PC:

    Product Name: Window 10 Home Retail

    Product ID: 00326-10000-00000-AA248

    Build Number 18362

    Computer Name: DESKTOP-7A6S4US


    My mistake:I was at the PC store and the old PC was not connect to the internet at that time. Also I am not sure if my digital license was linked to my Windows Live ID. Though I previously changed some hardware Mainboard, RAM, and main SSD which had the OS on it and that turned out fine, no issues with activation.


    Then the PC store did an installation using a USB media they had and I thought that it would be easy with just signing in using my Windows Live ID for Activation. But I was unable to activate windows on the new PC. I tried both via Trouble shoot > Change hardware method and Product KEY method for activation, both failed.


    What I did so far: Remove old devices from my Windows Account Management page. I though not connecting to the internet when de-activating causes the Product KEY to be stuck with the old PC. So I deleted it....but now the old PC doesn't even show up in the "change hardware" activation screen. It seems that I have a digital license but didn't link it properly with my Windows Live ID. Anyway to check?


    So what should I do now? I'll have to wait until Monday to try and talk to local support Thailand but would be great if there's a way to recover/check if my digital license is still valid....or did I accidentally DELETE my digital license by deleting the associated device?

    Any advice or recommendation would be appreciated.

    :)
     
    HarakhunTanatavikorn, Mar 7, 2020
    #1
  2. Ivanyiu2 Win User

    Fail to activate Windows 10 on my new PC build

    I currently obsolete my 7 years old PC and moving to a new build. I do the following as suggested by Microsoft but it is not working to correctly activate my Windows 10 Pro on my new build.

    1. on the old PC, sign in Microsoft Account and get the Windows linked to the account.

    2. Clone the boot drive containing the Windows 10 to my new PC.

    3. Boot up, sign-out then sign in again with the Microsoft account. Try to activate the Windows but failed.

    4. Okay, I manage to get my previous Windows 10 Pro key, try to use "change product key" function, input the product key again, failed.

    My copy of Windows 10 is form a retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. expected that the license should be transferrable. But nothing work for me.

    And the virtual assistant is not helpful, I just want to get a email support contact but it just give me a USA toll free number to call, but I am living in Hong Kong.

    What else I can do??????
     
    Ivanyiu2, Mar 7, 2020
    #2
  3. CK011885 Win User
    Installing Windows 10 on New PC?

    I'm going to be building a new PC on Christmas and want to install Windows 10 on it. I have Windows 10 on my current PC, which I installed upgrading from 8.1 with the files on a USB. How do I go about installing a clean copy of Windows 10 on this new PC? I think I recall something about installing it once makes Microsoft recognize your hardware, but since this will be a PC I'm not sure what steps I need to take. Do I need to go 8.1 -> 10 or is there a method of going directly to 10?
     
    CK011885, Mar 7, 2020
    #3
  4. BKLB Win User

    Failed Activation - Failed to move Windows 10 Retail from an old PC to a new PC

    Built New PC Windows 10 Activation Failed

    I recently built a new PC, complete overhaul. I was using my friends PC it came with windows 8.1 Pro, I did the free upgrade to windows 10 pro it was activated as a digital license. When I built this new PC and selected I made a hardware change recently,
    clicked my device and it says Windows was unable to activate at this time. I will list all of the solutions I tried.

    -Old PC deactivate windows key through cmd prompt, New pc Activation failed.

    -Showkey Plus and other key programs to unveil the key is giving me the generic Windows 10 pro key, doesn't Work.

    -I don't know how to uncover the original Windows 8.1 key after upgrading it to Windows 10 pro. My friend that gave me the computer purchased a genuine version of windows 8.1 but he is unable to find the product key.

    - I have tried all of the CMD prompt options slmgr / ect.. to try and find the original key, I'm unable to roll back to windows 8 to test that method on the old PC because it's past 30 days for the roll back.

    - Microsoft support phone number was absolutely horrendous, I tried multiple times to fix this issue and the service rep is unable to even speak English or help me out in any way. I read online that support can fix this problem but I have yet to see any
    possible way for that to happen.

    I have a few possible fixes/questions, if I hooked up my old HDD from the other computer and put it into my new one could this possibly fix my issue? If I try and hook the old computer back up with my new SDD and try and clone windows 10 pro onto the SSD
    from the HDD is that a possible fix?

    thanks for the help I am really trying to get to the bottom of this as I don't want to pay 100$+ for windows when I have a genuine version of it sitting here in my old computer.
     
    BKLB, Mar 7, 2020
    #4
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Failed Activation - Failed to move Windows 10 Retail from an old PC to a new PC

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