Windows 10: Why am I unable to activate Windows 11 after a hardware change despite following all the...

Good day everyoneTo provide a short timeline, I upgraded to windows 10 for free using my Windows 7 product key when Windows 10 released, which is a few years back. In 2020, i did my first hardware motherboard and CPU change in 2020 and was able to reactivate Windows 10 successfully. Now, a week ago, I changed my hardware as well, which also included installing a new motherboard and CPU, and decided to upgrade to Windows 11. After this recent hardware change I am unable to reactive Windows 11 despite following all the troubleshooting guides, as well as trying out methods suggested on other fo

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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

 

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."

 

Unable to reactivate Windows 10 after Hardware Change

Also in regards to the Microsoft account I believe I only signed into it after I changed the hardware. I've been trying to follow steps to see if I can now link the Microsoft account and add it on the Activation page.

At this step: "

1. Once you confirm that you’re an administrator and using your Microsoft account, go back to the Activation page, select Add an account, enter your Microsoft account and password, and then select Sign in.
   " I am unable to continue due to their being no 'Add an account' tab present for some reason. I can only see 'Windows', 'Activate Windows now', 'Where's my Product Key?', 'Do you have a question?' and 'Make Windows better'.