Windows 10: I have a license tied to my microsoft account; I make hardware changes frequently and never...

I'm a PC enthusiast; I change motherboards, GPUS, CPUs, entire computers, etc often.... so I made sure to buy retail versions of Windows 10 (for awhile I bought a new license for every new machine but it eventually became too expensive) so for the past two years anytime I had a major hardware change; windows 10 activated itself once I logged in.... now here I sit and it will not activate; even when I say I changed hardware (which I never had to do before; simply logging in did the trick) and pick any of my old computers... it says still can't activate... I've been at this for days and Im pulling my hair out. I'd just buy a new license but I've bought at least 3 in the past few years its too much.


Please help ASAP; do NOT want my brand new machine @ risk.

:)

 

Is Digital activation tied to a microsoft account as well as hardware?

It's optional. If you only ever signed in with a local account then it will just say 'activated with a digital licence' and it will just be tied to your hardware, but you can link the digital licence to your Microsoft account. In fact, this is recommended practice if you intend to upgrade the motherboard and run the activation troubleshooter afterwards if it doesn't activate. See these tutorials...

Link Microsoft Account to Windows 10 Digital License

Use Activation Troubleshooter in Windows 10

 

Undo/Un-sync Administrator Account tied to a Microsoft Account

Hi,

It seems that there are changes made on your administrator account after logging in to the Microsoft Store as one of your children. For us to resolve the issue, we suggest that you switch the administrator account to local account and switch it to your own
Microsoft account. To change account types on your computer, follow these steps:

• In Cortana search, type control panel.
• Choose Control Panel from the list.
• Under User Accounts, click Change account type.
• Select your user account and then click Change the account type.

If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out.

 

How to check which licence is tied to your Microsoft Account?

Hi,

licenses are not tied to Microsoft accounts, Account ha information about digital licenses but not licensed themselves.

To successfully activate reinstalled Windows on same hardware you need just install the correct edition.