Windows 10: Microsoft account says I have a registered Windows 10 device but will not activate after...

Hello! I just got a new motherboard and processor and I have attempted the following steps to reactivate my Windows but it will not reactivate. What can I do next?Attempted to activate via Activation screen in settings no options to activateRan troubleshooter from Activation screen and the troubleshooter failed with code 0xc004f213Attempted to recover key from OS via VBS script returned key was all BBBBB-BBBB...Confirmed machine is listed under my microsoft account, where the key listed there is "default string".Ran through an additional online troubleshooter from Microsoft for this proble

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Windows 10 Activation through Microsoft Account Fails

Just for the record, what account you log in with has no effect on activation. The "Linked to your Microsoft account" is just an optional extra. If you switch to a local account it will just say "activated with a digital license". Switch to a Microsoft account and it will say "activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". You could do a clean install using an account you have never used before and it will still activate. As long as there is a digital license for that device on the activation server matching the installed edition, it will activate. The account used has no bearing on that.

And deleting / removing a device from the list won't affect activation. You just won't see it listed. Reinstall Windows 10 again latter on, on that device and it will be back in the list. That list is just another optional extra.

 

How to format hard drive and still keep windows 10?

Incorrect. Activation is done via devices registered to your Microsoft account. At least for the update then you get the ISO format and install,and then use your Microsoft account as your sign in,and it'll activate if the device is registered to the account. You need to check this before hand.

 

Register device with Microsoft account.

The activation (digital license) is stored on Microsoft's Activation servers. The same edition of Windows 10 (IE: Home or Pro) will always activate on the same motherboard after the first activation, even without a product key because the digital license for Windows 10 is stored on Microsoft Activation servers based upon the unique Hardware ID generated by information from the motherboard. There is nothing the user can do to prevent that. You sell the motherboard, the buyer just has to install the same edition of Windows 10 that was on it before, connect to the internet, and Windows 10 will activate.

What you get with a Microsoft Account is a link to the digital license stored on Microsoft Activation servers. So if you log onto a new motherboard with the same Microsoft Account, the activation troubleshooter can then see the previously existing digital license via the Microsoft Account (since it won't have access to the unique hardware ID of the old motherboard), and it will copy the old digital license to the new motherboard's unique hardware ID and activate Windows 10 for you. If it wasn't for the common link to the two motherboards being the same Microsoft Account, the activation troubleshooter would have no way of locating the digital license from the old motherboard on Microsoft's Activation servers.

The alternative is to obtain a full retail product key for Windows 10 and always keep access to it. Then you would use the product key to activate Windows 10 on a new motherboard.