Windows 10: Unable to Activate my windows 10 pro on new motherboard.

I go through the standard troubleshooting steps. Which I have gone through 4 separate times with the support staff. who all hang up after this step does not work great staff Microsoft............... I have purchased windows 10 pro. From the Microsoft store directly. I do not know why it says unable to activate. There is NO error code for this. As much as the support staff disagrees with me. I spent over 200 on this and it worked for 2 years. I do not want to have to drop another 200 for something I already have.

:)

 

Activate Windows 10 after motherboard change

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I built the PC myself and it is\was a retail Windows 8 Pro license upgraded to 10.

The guide listed that I should be able to transfer the license, and following the steps given when selecting "I recently changed hardware" in the activation process it does not list my previous device to select from.

My Microsoft account is logged in on both my old and new motherboard, and my old motherboard is unable to boot at all to deactivate or retrieve any keys.

If my license is indeed available for transfer, how can I proceed from here?

Thanks.

 

Windows 10 Pro Activation after motherboard replacement

Hi Greg,

Thanks for all the information.

But in one of the iterations of attempting to activate the license (while my account showed the $99 Windows 10 Pro Upgrade) I did login with the email account as you suggested (was the last tech I talked to after talking to the activation tech suggested). It still did not work and produced the exact same error messages as attempting it under my local account with my MS account being open (and also used for my Office 365 license). After it failed that was when he said the "$99 upgrade was single-use-for-a-single-motherboard only upgrade and could never be used again on a new motherboard". So I asked do you mean that when HP replaced the motherboard because the original had failed, I LOST that license forever, and he said yes, you need to purchase a new license.

I couldn't believe that was absolutely true, but then after trying all the additional suggested steps and it still failed, I was starting to believe it was true. Finally last night I clicked on the Store link and clicked Buy on the $199 Windows Pro Upgrade (only option that came up) and then after selecting PayPal for payment and clicked on the button to complete the payment - 1 second later IT WAS ACTIVATED...

So, as I mentioned, I have now paid $330 for a Windows 10 Pro license ON THE SAME PC.

If the $99 license is such a piece of ****, Microsoft should not be selling it. And when I bought it on 9/26/21 I don't remember a warning being displayed that stated "This is a single install, single use only upgrade for a single motherboard and will never work to activate Windows 10 Pro on your PC if your motherboard fails and is replaced by the OEM. That will require a new purchase of the Windows 10 Pro license." I knew it was for 1 PC only and was not transferable, but not that it was 100% tied to ONLY 1 MOTHERBOARD.

I am hoping now that I have given Microsoft another $220 for a 2nd Windows Pro License this will not be an issue in the future if the motherboard fails again, which of course, I hope that doesn't happen either. I also told the HP tech I talked to that they need to warn their users about this issue if they have purchased and installed the $99 Pro upgrade.

The odd thing now is, I only see the $199 Pro upgrade, not the $99 Pro upgrade. When I searched for the upgrade on 9/26, the only thing I remember seeing was the $99 upgrade. So I selected that. Had I known it was a waste of money I never would have bought it.

And the other odd thing is my MS account shows this PC twice - I assume the latest entry is for the new motherboard and the earliest entry is for the original motherboard, but not 100% sure. Both descriptions are the same, even the same serial number. One does state the OS is "Windows 10 Professional" while the top entry only shows it as "Windows Professional". BUT there is NO mention of the motherboard... If Microsoft is actually tracking "devices" only by their motherboard then that should be listed also. It should also list the date the device was added and it doesn't.

Anyway, my PC is officially licensed again, at a much higher price than I thought it would cost. So the license activation issue is resolved for me. But my concerns on wasting money on a 2nd purchase of a Windows 10 Pro upgrade are still there. But thanks for the reply.

Ray

 

Can't activate windows 10 after changing motherboard

Hello,

I can't activate my windows 10 license after changing my motherboard.

The license I have is a Windows 7 Pro license, that got changed into a Windows 10 license, when the upgrade was free.

Steps I took previous to the motherboard change:

- I linked my Microsoft account with my device, so that my license is registered under my account (it showed up with my mail in the accounts section)

Now, with the new motherboard built in, I can't activate Windows 10 anymore.

I tried the support steps listed by the Microsoft helper (Activation -> Click Troubleshoot), but that did not work.

In the Activitation settings I get the error code: 0xC004F213

Does anybody know a solution for this, as I haven't found one so far.