Windows 10: Unable to activate windows after changing motherboard

I recently upgraded my hardware with a new motherboard. I was one of the many people who upgraded from windows 7 to windows 10 years ago and never had any issues. When I changed the motherboard windows insists that I Activate my copy of windows again.


I have tried to use the activation trouble-shooter to reactivate windows but it refuses to do it. The trouble-shooter shows my pc prior to upgrade but when I select "This is the device I am currently using" (or words to that effect) it immediately says "We cannot activate windows on this device. Try again later"

I've tried using the "Get help" app but it just tells me to use the troubleshooter and I cant get a human being to talk to. The phone number that the get help app isn't even a UK telephone number so I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I'm not paying £120 for another copy of windows when I already had a perfectly good license.


Before anyone tells me, I know that this is a common enough issue that plenty of other people have had in the past but so far none of the suggestions that I've seen have been helpful to my particular case.

:)

 

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.

 

Unable to activate Windows after hardware change

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

Usually the error code 0xC004F213 comes when there is a hardware change done on the computer (like Motherboard or Hard drive). The Windows license is associated with the device hardware. If there is any significant hardware changes, such as replacing
motherboard or hard drive, Windows won’t be able to recognize the license.

I suggest you to try the troubleshooting steps from the article
Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change and see if Windows gets activated.

If you are using an OEM computer that came with Windows 7, and the motherboard has not been changed, then you can follow the steps to retrieve the product key that came with your OEM computer. To retrieve the product key follow the steps mentioned
below:

1. Type Command prompt in the search bar, that is on the taskbar.
   
2. Right click on Command prompt icon and select Run as administrator.
   
3. Type the command and press on Enter: wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
   
4. You will find the product key.
   

Hope it helps.

Please reply with the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

Unable to activate after changing motherboard

As I asked, what is your build number - run winver?