Windows 10: Windows 10 not activating through my microsoft account even though they were linked.

I had bought a prebuilt pc that came with windows 8, I later got a free upgrade to windows 10 and a few days ago i linked my microsoft account to the windows 10 copy, I replaced my motherboard, cpu and ram today, and reinstalled windows only to find that windows no longer recognizes my machine. Ok i thought, i guess i just have to sign in, I did and it still does not activate windows for me. Help?

:)

 

Windows 10 Activation through Microsoft Account Fails

Just for the record, what account you log in with has no effect on activation. The "Linked to your Microsoft account" is just an optional extra. If you switch to a local account it will just say "activated with a digital license". Switch to a Microsoft account and it will say "activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". You could do a clean install using an account you have never used before and it will still activate. As long as there is a digital license for that device on the activation server matching the installed edition, it will activate. The account used has no bearing on that.

And deleting / removing a device from the list won't affect activation. You just won't see it listed. Reinstall Windows 10 again latter on, on that device and it will be back in the list. That list is just another optional extra.

 

Strange Windows 10 User Account issue.

Unfortunately I had done those steps numerous reboots, it just, reappears for no good reason. The base account isn't even a Microsoft account, it's a local account.

I haven't quite tried the built in administrator account on W10, but so far in my experience on my own computer, the built in account seemed to have absolutely no more control than I did on my own.

It's just strange, I go in, it warns me twice about deleting the account, then it's gone. Reboot, and it's back?

EDIT: Just to specify, both command line and Netplwiz both say only HIS account exists on the computer, it doesn't list this rogue account. This is what I meant in my first post about the fact that even Windows doesn't seem to believe it exists, HALF the time. *Frown

 

Loophole Lets You Freely Upgrade to Windows 10 After Offer Expiry

If you upgrade your 7 install to 10, which is worth it IMHO, make sure you link to a Microsoft Account. Otherwise you might not be able to easily regain the key if they block using 7 keys in the future.

You don't need to use the Microsoft account as your profile on so you can still bypass logging in at setup and creating a local account. All you gotta do to link your 10 account to your MS install (if you choose not to use your MS account as your profile), is to simply do the following:

• Click Start
• Click Settings
• Click Update and Security
• Click Activation
• As or with Admin permissions, click Add Account
• Login with MS Account credentials.

Then you should see a message that reads:

More info: Need to reactivate Windows 10 after a hardware change? Here's how. , Link Microsoft Account to Windows 10 Digital License , Link a Microsoft Account to a Windows 10 license - gHacks Tech News