Windows 10: Windows Product ID change after Motherboard change, no longer activated

Purchased a used computer with Windows 7 roughly 2 years ago, and used the free upgrade at the time to change to windows 10.


My ex gave me a product ID, and a product Key that was displayed after the upgrade.


Today I did some hardware changes, and got a new motherboard. The shop said I only needed to re-enter the product key and everything would be re-activated.


For whatever reason, the product ID is now different on the computer, and it's saying my key is no longer working.


I have NO IDEA what is going on or how to fix this. Can someone please help. The harddrive is the same, my computer is working right now, everything works so I'm also wondering if I'm on a countdown until windows shuts down???

:)

 

Changing motherboard and Windows

assuming you have the same SATA controller (and set to the same mode, EG IDE/AHCI/RAID) it will just install your other drivers, ask to reboot and then likely ask you to activate.



To be honest, its best to reinstall windows when you change hardware like that.

 

Changed my motherboard. I can't activate windows.

I've changed my motherboard. When i try to activate the Windows with the product ID, it gives me the 0xc004c003 error. I click the troubleshoot but it says that windows can't be activated.

 

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