Windows 10: Windows 10 Activation after changing motherboard

Hi all,


I put my very first PC together in the past month. When it came to installing Windows 10, I initially thought that I would have to purchase a license to do so, before realizing that my old computer which is running Windows 7 kept notifying me that support for Windows 7 had ended and encouraging me to update to Windows 10. So, I decided to install the installation media for Windows 10 on a USB drive for my new PC.


I installed Windows 10 on the new PC using the USB drive only to experience some issues with booting up the PC itself. Successful boot-ups would occur only 1 out of every 5 or so tries. After a few days of troubleshooting, I and my tech-helper of a friend came to the conclusion that the motherboard was most likely the culprit behind the spotty boot-up issues. Hence, I exchanged the motherboard for a new one.


Good news - PC is all good now, no more issues. Neutral news - because of the hardware change, I saw that Windows was asking to be reactivated. Bad news - only at that point did I realize that I did not associate my Windows 10 installation with my Microsoft account when I initially installed Windows on the previous motherboard. I realized this after pressing "Troubleshoot" from the "Activation" menu. I signed into my Microsoft account, but it told me that no hardware was associated with this account.


Am I stuck, at this point, in having to buy another Windows license? Or can anything be done to activate Windows?


Appreciate any help!!

:)

 

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.

 

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 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.