Windows 10: Upgraded for free from 8.1 to 10. Reactivation after hardware change

I had a Windows 8.1 license, which I upgraded into Windows 10 when Microsoft was providing the possibility. However, I'd like to do a hardware update soon (motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM. SSD drives will remain the same). Will I be able to re-activate my Windows 10 license?

:)

 

Win 10 Activation

Trying to reactivate win 10 free upgrade from 7 after changing motherboard and disk. Troubleshooter and selecting major hardware changes still fails.

 

How do I reinstall Windows 10 after changing my mother board? It was downloaded by upgrade.

Did you try starting it up on the new hardware? Windows 10 is remarkably adaptive that way. Then you can reactivate using phone activation if the Upgrade was from retail Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, or insert a new Product Key if the old OS was factory or Builder's
OEM.

If necessary you can also
Clean Install Windows 10 Upgrade.

As Andre said, only if the WIndows you Upgraded came installed on the PC from factory may you not change the motherboard and reactivate the free Upgrade. If you instead upgraded retail and not OEM Windows then follow

How to Use Your Free Windows 10 License After Changing Your PC’s Hardware.

 

What hardware are you changing then? Some changes, such as a hard drive, don't count as a significant change and Windows should activate automatically. If not, see this tutorial...

Use Activation Troubleshooter in Windows 10

 

It's well known that changing out hardware components can trigger a reactivation prompt. In Windows 8 and higher, OEM product keys are stored in a protected region of the BIOS firmware, instead of on a sticker on the PC. Hopefully 10 will see that key and reactivate fine.

Extract product key from BIOS:
https://itsolutionsblog.net/3-ways-t...8-product-key/

I used RW-Everything for this, only takes a minute or 2: The program has a portable version that doesnt need to be installed, so you can cleanly delete it when done. If you dont see a PK then it's safe to assume that there isnt one one embedded into your BIOS. But if what you have is an OEM PC manufactured by one of the OEMs, then it should almost certainly be there. If it's a custom build, then probably not.

 

And as soon as the OP upgrades the motherboard that product key is gone.

 

None of this applies as OP is changing mobo.

 

Ah, somehow I missed the part about the mobo. If he were only changing out less important components then the PK would still be in the BIOS on that mobo. But since it seems he is changing out almost everything, he might as well build a new PC, LOL.

 

I'm changing everything minus the SSD... probably won't change everything all at once, though.

I guess that, yes, I'm building a new PC. Given that I won't go back to my previous components, I'd like to know if I can reutilize my license.

 

I just replaced my motherboard and now my Windows 10 will not be activated and I am not sure how.

 

See post #2.

 

see post#2