Windows 10: Windows won’t activate after hardware change?

I built my own PC 3 years ago and bought a Windows 10 key + installation disc off amazon. Activated with no problems and never had a problem until this week. I upgraded my PC and changed the motherboard and processor. Now I’m greeted with the ‘Activate Windows’ watermark in the bottom corner. I made sure before upgrading my PC to link my Microsoft account to get a digital license which was done successfully before upgrading. Now, when I run the activation troubleshooter and click ‘I recently changed hardware’ the troubleshooter fails and tells me ‘Unable to activate windows’ because ‘we can’t find any devices linked to your microsoft account that can be used to reactivate the device you’re using at the moment...’

I rang Microsoft and explained the problem. He asked for my product key and then told me that it had been used on other PCs before mine and so couldn’t be used to activate my upgraded PC? I asked him if this was a problem why was it not flagged up when I activated the PC 3 years ago and why is it a problem now. He didn’t have an answer for me and forwarded me to someone higher up than him. 40 mins on hold and no one answered so I ended the call in anger. I was going to ring again tomorrow but wondered if I was wasting my time and cane here to see if anyone had any advice. What can I do about this?

Thank you

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Activate Windows 10 after a hardware change !

Hi !

I ve just did a hardware change and I reactivated Windows 10 using the Microsoft account ! But I see that Windows 10 still activates on my old hardware !

I was expecting that It won t activate any more on the old hardware ! Can anyone help me ?

 

windows activation—hardware changed siginficantly

From time to time on my thoroughbred PC, I get a Windows activation message that says my hardware changed siginificantly and I have to re-activate Windows. My hardware hasn't changed any more than a network card (went from a wireless g card to onboard lan to a wired network card), and the install is legit. Why is it doing this, and how can I stop it?

 

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