Windows 10: windows 10 won't activate after factory reset

I have a dell laptop, that came from dell with windows 7. Years ago I did the free upgrade to windows 10 when Microsoft was offering that. I was wanting to repurpose the laptop, so I did a factory reset, which got me back to a clean install of windows 10.


But now it says windows needs activated and it fails to activate. It suggests I buy a product key. The only product key I have is the Windows 7 product key that came on the device straight from dell. But it won't accept that one.


Is there a way for me to get windows 10 activated again on this device?


I don't especially care what OS is on it. I'm assuming that if I find a windows 7 install cd I can install 7 and activate it using the original product key? Or did they deactivate that key when I did the free upgrade to 10?

:)

 

Windows 10 activation problem after factory reset. Error 0xC004C003





See the windows is activated. And this is the screen which asks the product key. I can only skip this step if I boot from the dvd and select the clean install option.

"slmg /ato" returns Activating Windows core single language edition (a string of numbers and alphabets)
Product activated successfully.

 

Windows 10 license after factory reset

Hi Pavel,

Whether you Reset Windows or Re-install Windows 10 you have no need to worry about activation . .

If you reset Windows, no activation is required

If you re-install Windows 10, as long as you re-install the same Edition (Home, Pro . . . etc.) activation is automatic and you won;t even need a Product Key!

 

Windows 10 factory reset

Hi Charlie,

We can see here that you are having issues with doing a factory reset on your Windows 10. There are several factors
why you get the said error and that's what we are going to figure out. To isolate this concern, may we know the following:

• Any changes made on the computer prior to this concern?
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?
  
• May we know the reason why you want to perform a factory reset?
• Did you experience any issues on the computer before you tried performing a factory reset?