Windows 10: Reactivating fails after hardware change

I changed out my motherboard and RAM due to my motherboard starting to die and spit out errors, and it was time for an upgrade anyways. Before I went through with the upgrade I made sure my Windows Activation was connected to my Microsoft account using the instructions here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change


I tried following the other set of instructions on that page to reactivate Windows... however even after selecting that I'm using this PC it just says "Unable to activate".


I don't have a product code because this was originally a Windows 7 way back when that I upgraded to 10, and of course I have lost that little slip of paper over the years.

I really don't want to have to buy Windows again. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

:)

 

Windows 10 reactivation on hardware changes

Hi Florea,

It is possible that Windows won't be able to identify your computer correctly that is why the operating system is not activated. To address your issue, we suggest that you follow the steps in this
article on how to reactivate your Windows 10 after a hardware change.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

 

Win10 reactivation after hardware change fails

Before a recent hardware upgrade (mobo, cpu) I read through this article : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

My activation status was listed as "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account".

The article claims you can reactivate using the activation troubleshooter with that status. After the hardware change I attempted to use the activation troubleshooter, and used the "I changed hardware on this device recently" option, but my machine was
not listed in the options. Strangely, the only machine that was listed was my surface pro, which doesn't show up in my devices when I log into microsoft.com. The device I'm trying to reactivate IS listed in my devices on microsoft.com.

I tried phone support but the guy went immediately to, "... you need a product key ...", and never asked about my account. This is from an update copy of windows 7 as far as I can remember and I think it's unlikely I'll find the product key.

The article doesn't mention the possibility that the troubleshooter might not work, which seems like an oversight when the result of a troubleshooter failure could force the user to spend a couple hundred bucks.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

windows 10 reactivation after hardware change

I just changed motherboards, and When I follow the the steps listed in the "reactivate windows 10 after hardware change" support page, it gives me the message "unable to activate windows" message after I sign in and identify my device,
with no error code, just a subheader that says "can't activate windows 10 on this device, try again later."