Windows 10: I moved Win10Pro retail license to new system which died in about a week. How to move now?

I successfully moved my WinPro10 license to a 'new' Mobo, CPU, Memory system. Worked fine for about a week but then died. I returned to manufacturer and purchased a different Mobo. Microsoft Activation fails and the troubleshooter recording claims that there is nobody available to take a customer service call. Does anyone have a contact for Support that works or a way around this issue?

:)

 

Purchased Windows 10 pro retail version and want to move it to a new motherboard

Yes, a retail purchased license includes unlimited transfer rights. Its a full version and you can move to new motherboard without hindrance. Learn more:

• How to Transfer your Windows 10 License to a New Computer

 

Moving a Windows License

I have an old computer which has a valid Window 10 Professional license attached to it. I would like to move that license to another (much newer!) computer which has a valid Windows 10 Home license attached to it.

First question; how can I tell if the Win10Pro license is movable? I have run slmgr.vbs /dlv and it returns a message that says "Retail". I cannot remember how I got this license. But the machine was running Windows 7, and then upgraded to Windows 10
when it first came out. In fact, after upgrading the machine to Win10, I then had it set up as an Insider build on the Slow ring. Ran it that way for at least two years.

I tried using slmgr.vbs /upk to unload the license and then on the new machine, installed the latest edition of Windows 10 Pro and then tried to add my license key, but it failed to activate.

I then rebooted the original computer that the Win10Pro was licensed to and it had been re-activated!

I did not slmgr.vbs /upk the Win10Home license from the new machine before trying to add the Win10Pro license key to it. Was that the wrong thing to do?

Anyway, if anybody can offer me some assistance on this I would greatly appreciate it.

Greg

 

"Saving" Retail Pro licenses for use in future systems

Not sure. From the age of these systems, they were Win 7 upgrades. I'll have to check my records. Or, can I retrieve the product keys?

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In technical terms, what are the steps?

• Do I need to deactivate the licenses first on the old systems?
• Where are the licenses stored? Or, how do I retrieve them?
• Do I just apply the retrieved keys to the OEM licenses? At that point, do the systems become Retail licensed?

Understood.

Good deal. Did that auto salvage yard system boot up? Or did you somehow extract the license after retrieving the hard drive from the salvage yard system?

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So I look at this problem as an opportunity to extend my technical knowledge.

As I pointed out in another thread, I'm not an IT professional, but I still seek to increase my technical knowledge. I'm often the go to person for my family and friends on Windows/systems issues. Right now I'm about to install an SSD into the laptop of a friend who runs Linux on his laptop (for his work) and is extremely reluctant to open up any of his hardware. He will plug in cables, but that's it.