Windows 10: Forced to reactivate Windows 10 on new hardware and I can't.

So I just recently got a new motherboard and I quickly realized that my installation of Windows 10 was no longer activated and I don't know how to reactivate it. I originally installed Windows 7 and upgraded to Windows 8 and then Windows 10 for free. I tried using my old Windows 7 product key, but it didn't work. Then I tried using Troubleshoot >"I changed hardware on this device recently" and it listed my computer, which I selected, but then it just throws a "We can't reactivate Windows on this device. Try again later." error at me. At this point, I'm out of options. Apparently I was supposed to link my Microsoft account to my Windows installation which I didn't do, and even if switching back to my old hardware would allow me to fix this issue that's way, way too much to just be able to activate a copy of windows which I genuinely own. Does anyone know how to fix this? I don't want to have to sink $200 just to be able to use Windows normally again.

:)

 

Windows 10 reactivation on hardware changes

Hi Florea,

It is possible that Windows won't be able to identify your computer correctly that is why the operating system is not activated. To address your issue, we suggest that you follow the steps in this
article on how to reactivate your Windows 10 after a hardware change.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

 

windows 10 reactivation after hardware change

I just changed motherboards, and When I follow the the steps listed in the "reactivate windows 10 after hardware change" support page, it gives me the message "unable to activate windows" message after I sign in and identify my device,
with no error code, just a subheader that says "can't activate windows 10 on this device, try again later."

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.