Windows 10: Win10 motherboard change activation saga

I recently changed the motherboard and CPU in my primary system. It was running Win10 Pro X64, upgraded from Win8.1 . That was an upgrade from Win 8, which was an upgrade from Win7, which was... you get the idea. The ancestral OS was retail. The most recent license I had purchased was the Win8 upgrade, from January of 2013.

The old MB was an Intel X99 one. The new, AMD x470. After Win10 detected the change and installed some different drivers, it ran normally. It didn't activate online. However, when I changed the key to the Win8 upgrade one, it activated OK.

The motherboard turned out to be defective. The RAM slots A1 and A2 weren't working properly. So, I returned it, and replaced it with a different X470 MB.

That swap went fine also. However, nothing I could do would permit it to activate online.

I called MS activation support. After they led me through a number of steps (all of which I'd tried previously), I was referred to another level of support. I went through that a couple of times. The first time, the support person suggested that I re-install Windows 8 and upgrade that to 10. I managed to avoid screaming obscenities at the man, but it was a near thing. On the second try, I got a tech who asked to be allowed to remotely log into to the system. I agreed. He tried a number of things, none of which worked.

He finally took a screen capture of the invoice for the new MB, which I purchased online a few days ago. His boss permitted him the generate a new Win10 key for me. That worked. I don't know whether the key is equivalent to a full retail license, but I hadn't expect to be given any sort of new key.

The short version: if you swap motherboards, and have a Win10 installation with retail origins (not OEM), I expect that Microsoft will support re-activating Windows on the new hardware. If you have to deal with humans, you may encounter some who offer nonsense solutions. Persevere, and you may eventually find a support person who is both considerate and competent. (Thanks, Kamalesh.)

:)

 

Win10 won't activate after RAM change

Hey! I replaced my old RAM cards with two new ones, and now I'm stuck with a "activate windows" prompt in the bottom right corner of my screen. The troubleshooter does not seem to do anything (tried checking the changed hardware option + chose my device
in the list of devices + it said win10 was now activated.... but the prompt won't leave.)

I got win10 during the free upgrade period, and thus I don't have a product key... Any suggestions?

 

Windows 10 License (after motherboard change)

Hi Harsh,

Please be informed that your copy of Windows 10 should get activated automatically after changing the motherboard (once you enter the linked Microsoft Account details). But if you face any issues,
I suggest you to go through Phone activation to activate your Windows 10 copy.



To run Phone activation please follow the steps below:

• 
  Press Windows + R key.
  
• 
  Type slui 4 and hit enter.
  
• 
  Select the Country or
  Region.
  
• 
  Follow the on screen instructions.
  

Hope this helps. Please respond if you have any further related query.



Thank you.

 

windows activation after motherboard changed.

Hi Raed,

To reactivate your Windows 10 after changing your motherboard, we suggest that you check this
article, and follow the Activation troubleshooter steps/instructions to resolve it.

Another possible resolution, you may refer to this thread, and look for
Andre Da Costa's post.

We would appreciate it if you could get back to us and provide us your feedback.

If you think this was useful, feel free to "mark it as an answer" to help those who are facing the same problem.