Windows 10: I recently upgraded my PC and a watermark saying activate windows has shown up, I had it...

My dad bought me windows 7 a long time ago, When windows 10 came out I was prompted with a free windows 10 upgrade. Recently I have upgraded my PC by getting a new motherboard, RAM and CPU and when I boot up my PC it now says that I need to reactivate windows, how do I fix this?

:)

 

Windows saying not activated after motherboard upgrade

Hi,

I recently upgraded some PC parts (new motherboard, RAM, processor, video card) and ever since then I have a watermark in the bottom right of my display reading "Activate Windows - Go to Settings to activate Windows."

I took advantage of the free upgrade to Windows 10 back when they were allowing Windows 8 users to upgrade to Windows 10. I don't remember receiving an activation key during this upgrade.

I've read online that installing a new motherboard can occasionally cause issues with OS activation. How can I reactivate my Windows without having to purchase Windows 10.

Some things to note:

• This watermark was not there prior to installing the new motherboard
• As some places (and a Microsoft Tech Support member) suggested, typing the query "wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey" into CMD just returns with "OA3xOriginalProductKey". The Microsoft Support member seemed confused by this and said there was nothing further she could do.

Thanks!

 

'Activate windows' watermark after PC upgrade

So I recently upgraded my PC with a new CPU, motherboard, RAM and cooling system, but after getting everything up and running I noticed a had the 'activate windows' watermark in the bottom right of my screen, even tho I have a legit version of windows 10,
and I don't have access to my Windows 10 key anymore, is there a way to get rid of the watermark permanently without buying a new windows key?

 

Activate Windows Watermark

Hi Duncan,

The Windows activation watermark is usually appearing if the activation servers detect that a device is not activated. For further help with activating your copy of Windows 10, visit this
link. If the same issue persists after performing the troubleshooting suggestions on the link, follow these steps:

• Using Cortana, type Notepad and then click on Notepad (Desktop app).
• Type the following commands in Notepad:
  • @Echo off
    
    taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
    
    explorer.exe
    
    exit
    
    
• 
  Save the file and name it as Activation.bat.
  
• 
  Change the Save as type to All files.
  
• 
  Locate the file, right-click on it and then choose Run as Administrator.
  
• 
  After running the file, restart your computer and then check if the same issue persists.
  

Let us know if further assistance is needed.