Windows 10: Reactivation problems after replacing motherboard

Hi everyone,


Yesterday, I replaced my motherboard on my PC, and now my Windows won't reactivate.

I had the free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 Pro, and I'm fairly sure there is supposed to be a licence attached to my account, but I don't know how to find it.


I had to reinstall Windows from scratch last year, after a HDD failure, and I was up-and-running again in no time - so I'm pretty sure I do have a means to activate, I just don't know what I'm missing.


Please can anyone help me?

Thanks!

Jason

:)

 

Reactivating Windows after replacing an OEM motherboard.

can not reactivate after replacing an oem motherboard

[Original title:
reativating]

 

New Motherboard and Reactivation

I **think** that if you are replacing a broken motherboard with an identical replacement then you have a good chance of successfully re-activating your current Win10 installation

Once you have installed your new identical motherboard to replace the broken one I recommend you do the following:

• Speak to a Microsoft Activation Customer Service Representative on the phone.
• You will be able to get the phone number via the activation screen in "Settings"
• Clearly state that the motherboard used to initially activate Windows 10 had failed and needed to replaced
• Clearly state that this is a repair and not an upgrade
• Clearly state that you are replacing a defective motherboard with an identical like-for-like replacement (same make and model)
  
• Clearly state again that this is definitely not an upgrade of your existing hardware

FYI, I have successfully re-activated previous versions of Windows after replacing a broken motherboard with an identical make and model. I used the method to ensure success.

If you are not 100% clear in the way you are expressing your self then you may not be successful. ie They will not re-activate if they believe you performed a major hardware upgrade

Good luck.

 

Can't reactivate Windows 10 Pro after replacing motherboard

Hi,

I've just replaced a faulty motherboard in my PC and tried to reactivate Windows 10 Pro via the Windows Activation troubleshooter. The license linked to my account is an upgrade from a retail version of a previous version (so i should be able to reactivate
it). After selecting the correct device to activate I am presented with the following error message:

Unable to activate Windows

We can’t reactivate Windows on this device. Try again later.

Learn more

You can also activate this device by going to the Store and purchasing a genuine copy of Windows.



Go to Store

The "Learn more" page referred to does not help as I have just followed the steps listed on that page to get to where I am now.