Windows 10: Windows 10 Pro N unable to activate after hardware change - Errors 0x803FABB8 and 0xC004F211

Hello, yesterday I installed a new motherboard and processor in my computer. It's a custom built one from years ago and it was time to upgrade as my hardware had become somewhat dated.


Upon turning the computer back on Windows booted up just fine, was able to login, everything functioned as expected. However when I went to modify some personalization settings it said I would be unable to because Windows had not been activated.


Knowing Windows sometimes encounters errors after hardware changed I tried to run the troubleshooter and it returned the error 0xC004F211 and told me to either buy a key, or asked if I'd recently made hardware changes. I selected recently made hardware changes.


The window popped up that showed my computer, and it said it was manufactured by MSI which is who made the old motherboard. My new motherboard is an ASRock but everything else seemed fine. I selected "This is the computer I'm using right now" and pressed activate. Which gives the error "Unable to activate Windows."


Poking around online some people suggested checking the devices on my Microsoft account to see what devices are associated and see if this computer is. My computer is actually there twice...


Same name, same hardware specs minus change to processor and motherboard, one says MS-[Four Digit Code] and it and the other says "To Be Filed By O.E.M." Both report being up to date as of yesterday, with Windows 10 ProfessionalN Version 1909 installed.


Unable to resolve the issue last night I went to bed and figured I'd try again today. This morning the error has changed to 0x803FABB8 simply stating "We can't activate Windows on this device right now. You can try again later."


I decided to call Microsoft and I finally got through to a representative. I explained the situation, he walked me through the same steps, and tried to have me activate the hardware changed device the same way I had done myself. He then told me to install updates to Windows only thing was a minor security patch and reboot. This also did not solve the problem.


Finally he asked me the origin point of my key. I said it was from a Windows 7 Home Premium edition I've actually got two copies and at some point I had paid to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from 7 home because it was offered at a discount around the time Windows 8 launched and I wanted to have Pro instead of home.


He fought me on this saying that was never a program and Microsoft only sells upgrade keys for $99. Which isn't true at all.Microsoft on their own Amazon store page is currently selling Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Keys for $72.


And there are old articles scattered throughout the internet indicating Microsoft was offering a $39.99 upgrade to Pro at the time of the Windows 8 launch.


He effectively told me that my Installation of Pro was bogus and I'd need to activate my system using the Windows 7 Home Premium Key and then reinstall my OS as Windows 10 Home instead of Pro. I said I wasn't going to do that and need to go back into my stuff to find the lineage of all this and would call back later.


I was actually able to dig back into my email and find the upgrade key I purchased in a customer support email from Microsoft that list the seller of origin as "arvato digital services, llc."


To add another wrinkle to all this I was figuring maybe I'll have to just buy Windows again because I've stretched this install for so long. However when I click "Go to store" all I get is an informational page about upgrading to a genuine version of Windows yet no option to purchase or direction to a point of purchase.


So all this backstory aside I guess my questions are:

• Is it possible to just reactivate my existing OS somehow?
• If not where should I go about getting a product key? Do I just buy one and then do the "Change Product Key" option? Do I go somewhere in the store and purchase it and then let some wizard handle activation automatically?
• Is it safe to clear the duplicate device/old hardware version of this PC from my Microsoft account device list?

:)

 

Windows reactivation after hardware change - error 0x803FABB8

I've replaced my old motherboard + processor today and since then windows (10) is demanding an activation code. I had already activated windows before on this computer and it tries to activate it with the information it already has but then it fails with
the error 0x803FABB8. It says that I should try again later or buy a copy in the store. It's been about 6 hours since I first booted my pc into windows with the new hardware. The help pages about reactivation problems couldn't help my case. Any ideas about
what I can do now?

 

Reactivating Windows 10 Pro after hardware change

I upgraded my hardware just today.

Changed pretty much all of it, new motherboard, CPU etc. and now my Windows isn't activated anymore. I get the 0xC004F211 error code.

Troubleshooting doesn't help, coming up with "We weren't able to activate Windows on this device." message.

Pressing I recently changed hardware on this device leads me to "Reactivate Windows 10" page, where I select my PC (the only one displaying on the list) and press Activate button.

This leads me "Unable to activate Windows" page.

We can’t reactivate Windows on this device. Try again later.

I did the free upgrade, when it was available.

I'm pretty sure that I have Windows 7 Pro key somewhere if that helps? Pretty sure I can find, not 100%.

All I know my Windows has been "Activated" for years.

 

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