Windows 10: Need to Activate Windows after getting a new PC and keeping my hard drive

I first got my computer 4+ years ago and 2 years ago I made my own custom built PC, I didnt keep any of my hardware besides my hard drive. Ever sense then I have had a Activate Windows watermark on my screen in the bottom right corner. I have always had to make due without many of the features because whenever I try to activate windows it says I need to buy a new copy. Does anyone know what I should do? I have no idea where to start.


Misc Info

OS: Windows 10

I updated from windows 8 to windows 10 when it first came out

I have tried the troubleshooting



:)

 

Samsung M3 portable hard drive not getting recognised on Windows 10.

Hi,

Thank you for your response with the current status of the issue.

To assist you better, please provide us the below information

• Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall the external hard drive on the computer?
• Are you logged into the Administrator Account while assigning the driver letter to the external hard drive?

I recommend you to follow the steps below to update all the pending Windows updates and also try to reinstall the hard drive driver in the Device Manager. Check if it helps.

Step 1: I suggest you to update all the pending Windows updates in the computer and check if it helps.

1. Click on Start Menu.

2. Then select Settings.

3. Choose Update & security >
Windows Update >Check for updates. Install any available updates and restart your PC if required.

Step 2: I recommend you to uninstall and reinstall the Hard drive as suggested in the previous post. Also you can run Hardware and Device troubleshooter.

Step 3: Then try to boot the computer in safe mode and check if the hard drive is getting recgonized in it or not.

Start your PC in safe mode in Windows 10:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-10/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

Please get back to us with an update on issue in connecting External hard drive into Windows 10, we will be happy to help.

Thank you.

 

Hard drive/ OS issue

a guy suggested :

• shutdown
• unhooked HDD
• restarted
• yay !!
• reconnected HDD
• restarted
• yay !!

also , try method 3
Fix: 'The Drive Where Windows is Installed is Locked'

 

Install Windows 10 on new hard drive.

Hi Arzlo,

Thank you for being a part of Windows 10.

I appreciate you for providing details about the issue and we are happy to help you.

Please be informed that you cannot install the activated Windows 10 on to the new hard disk.

If you are replacing the hard disk then you may get Windows 10 activation errors.

If you are purchasing a new hard disk then, you may have to install genuine Windows 7 (SP1)/8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10 to get Windows 10 activated.

I suggest you to run check disk on the hard drive to see if there are any corruptions.

Follow the below steps:

• Windows key + X, click Command Prompt (Admin).
• Command Prompt, type the following command, and then press
  ENTER:

chkdsk /f

Disclaimer: While performing check disk on the hard drive, if any bad sectors are found then check disk will try to repair that sector. Any data available on a bad sector might be lost.

Once Check Disk completes, boot the computer and then check.

Reference: Refer to the following Microsoft article on Windows 10 Q&A.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq?ppud=4

Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.