Windows 10: Need Help Activating Windows 10 After Complete Hardware Change?

Ok, sad to say, but my 8 year old died on me. I am in the process of collecting some spare change to save up for my new Ryzen Build.

OK, so someone told me, you have to run the activation troubleshooter. I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro on that computer from Windows 8.1 Upgrade from Windows 7. Will Windows Activate, or will I have to phone them up?

:)

 

I can't reactivate my windows 10 after a clean re-installation

In event of a hardware change, windows might not be activated. You need to contact chat support, see the section Activation after a hardware change here:

Activation in Windows 10 - Microsoft

 

Uninstall (delete, remove) the Windows 10 digital license from old hardware, after reactivating it on new (similar) hardware, after hardware change

Hi,

I recently was able to reactivate my Windows 10 digital license on new (only on similar, same type laptop to laptop) hardware, by linking my Microsoft account. I followed the steps mentoned in

Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change .

I find that the old hardware, still has an activated digital license of Windows.

I need to uninstall the digital license from the old hardware, in such a way that it will not activate, on its own, and will not invalidate the digital license on my new hardware, at all.

Please advice me, as I would like to transfer my digital license to my new hardware, completely, and permanently. I require my old hardware to not be having the digital license, at all, and the digital license to be completely deleted from it.

 

One of these links may be useful:

Microsoft activation and hardware change https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...-10-activation https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...?os=windows-10

 

Thanks but this didn't help

 

Then what help were you looking for? The next to the last link above gave you step by step instructions on how to activate Windows after you change the motherboard.

 

There are 5 ways that Windows 10 will activate:

1. It will read a Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 product key stored in BIOS or UEFI firmware on the motherboard and use that to activate. This only applies to computer manufacturers that put a license/product key in their BIOS/UEFI and won't be there on a motherboard bought at retail so Windows won't activate this way.

2. Windows 10 will calculate a unique Hardware ID based upon the characteristics of the computer it is installed on - a motherboard change will change the Hardware ID. Windows 10 will send the Hardware ID to MS Activation Servers and if there is a matching license for Windows 10 stored there, it will retrieve that and activate Windows. A new motherboard that has never had Windows 10 installed on it before will not have a digital license stored, so Windows will not activate this way the first time it is installed on that motherboard.

3. The user supplies a product key. If you have a retail product key for Windows 7/8/8.1 or 10, you can enter that and chances are better than not that it will activate without a call being required to Microsoft.

4. You use the activation troubleshooter to copy a digital license from one device on your Microsoft Account to the new device. You haven't told us if the current broken device is linked to your Microsoft Account nor if you are replacing with the same class of device (laptop, tablet, desktop, virtual machine). Therefore we can't know if this option is available to you or not.

5. You call Microsoft, tell them your sad story, and they activate Windows 10 for you.