Windows 10: Windows 10 home activation after a hardware upgrade

I recently did a hardware upgrade on my PC. This included a new motherboard, CPU and two RAM sticks. After the upgrade I got a message on my screen saying: "Activate windows, go to settings to activate Windows". However, I can't activate it since I don't have my product key anymore. (I have upgraded to win 10 for free from a genuine windows 7) And because of that, the windows 7 digital license has been lost for years and I can't find it. Is there any way to even hide the watermark on the screen? It feels stupid to buy a new windows license just because of a hardware upgrade.

:)

 

DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 10 NOW - Upgrade and ISO direct from microsoft

this search might help you https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sou...o+to+get+it+activated+windows+10+blocked+keys

From http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/why-activate-windows-10

If you upgraded to Windows 10 for free and ended up in a non-activated state, try following these steps:

• Go to Start
  
  , then select Settings > Update & security > Activation.
• Select Go to Store, and check to see if a valid license is available for your device. If a license isn't available, you'll need to buy Windows from the Store.
  
  Note
  • This only applies if you haven't made changes to the hardware for your device.

or you could hack it with a crack but please note this is always risky and you don't know what's in the hack

 

DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 10 NOW - Upgrade and ISO direct from microsoft

Click to expand... Yeah I went to that site, why do I need to buy a key?
I won't buy a key, stupid.

I'll revert back to windows 7 then.

When I still was on windows 7, about a year ago I added 4GB extra ram which is a total of 8GB now,
is that causing the problem?

 

Windows 10 Activation (Insider)

This kinda sucks. However, if one is upgrading from a retail W7/8, then it should activate on different hardware, with possible phone activation required if it's been over 120 days or whatever the timeout period is now since the last activation. Remember to erase the copy on the old hardware, of course.