Cannot Activate Windows

axel

axel

axel

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I have just set up a new PC and I am unable to activate Windows 10. I used the product key from my old PC which I found with Belarc Advisor and double checked with Magic Jelly Bean. I deactivated Windows on my old PC before shutting it down and it says device disabled on my Microsoft Account. I have now also removed the device from the account which has made no difference.

I put the key in during the installation and it appeared to accept it OK, but when set up it said that Windows was not activated. I have tried several times putting it in using "change product key" in settings to no avail.

I had a retail copy of Windows 7 then upgraded free to Windows 10 a few yes ago. I still have the Windows 7 retail box and tried the different key from there as well which obviously did not work.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Does the change product key process time out or give an error code?

Last time I moved a license the activation server seemed to be down when I first tried bug was back the next day (had "could not connect to activation server" or something similar)
 
It's no longer possible to activate windows 10/11 using license keys from windows 7/8/8.1 as the loophole to do so has been closed.

You'll have to buy a windows 10 license key to activate the install.
 
Yeah bit of a mess
Microsoft closed the free upgrade recently
If you had upgraded prior to this
Then should still work (in theory)
But a change in hardware or even a bios Update
For some people who had upgraded before
The shut off point
Is making theirs inactivated
 
I had long been activated having upgraded all the way to Windows 11. I then made major hardware changes and was no longer activated.
I followed the prompts to contact MS, but links didn't work or take me anywhere useful. Even tried emailing them (unsurprisingly no response)!
Bought a £2 product code and had no problems.
 
The "correct" way (if you had the old PC signed in to your Microsoft account) is Settings -> System -> Activation, then under activation state where it says no product key found, click on the troubleshoot button. Click "I changed hardware on this device recently", and then select the old PC. It should transfer the license over. Not sure if it still works if you deactivated Windows.
 
Think I'm having the exact same issue as others in this thread.

- Been using an old Windows 7 key and just kept taking up the free upgrade offers, tied that key to my MS account.
- Rebuilt my PC & moved from Win10 to Win11 at the same time in August '23 and just used the "I've changed hardware." button and activation was fine.
- Updated my BIOS 2 days ago and now windows refuses to activate, even using the "I've changed hardware" button wont allow it.

I thought when I took up the free upgrade offer that would be that key enabled on Windows 11 for life, but it seems not, it seems if you change anything you're basically stuffed because the offer has ended now.

I clicked the button to get a call from Microsoft but that ticket hasn't had an agent assigned for about a day now.

Don't particularly want to pay some Russian five to twenty quid for some volume license key, but at the same time don't exactly want to pay microsoft 200 quid either!

There's sealed retail boxes of Win10 Pro Retail about for £45, but I'm assuming they are just high effort counterfeits, anyone got experience of that?

Considering just sacking the whole thing off and installing Linux, at least then I can mention it any time I make a post on the internet.
 
Pulseammo said:
Think I'm having the exact same issue as others in this thread.

- Been using an old Windows 7 key and just kept taking up the free upgrade offers, tied that key to my MS account.
- Rebuilt my PC & moved from Win10 to Win11 at the same time in August '23 and just used the "I've changed hardware." button and activation was fine.
- Updated my BIOS 2 days ago and now windows refuses to activate, even using the "I've changed hardware" button wont allow it.

I thought when I took up the free upgrade offer that would be that key enabled on Windows 11 for life, but it seems not, it seems if you change anything you're basically stuffed because the offer has ended now.

I clicked the button to get a call from Microsoft but that ticket hasn't had an agent assigned for about a day now.

Don't particularly want to pay some Russian five to twenty quid for some volume license key, but at the same time don't exactly want to pay microsoft 200 quid either!

There's sealed retail boxes of Win10 Pro Retail about for £45, but I'm assuming they are just high effort counterfeits, anyone got experience of that?

Considering just sacking the whole thing off and installing Linux, at least then I can mention it any time I make a post on the internet.
Click to expand...
Yeah as I said earlier
They just meant to stop anymore free upgrades
But however they did it
There's some people getting deactivated
By changing hardware or updating bios

Even if you actually get through to a Microsoft agent
From what others have said
You won't find them sympathetic
Will most likely be told you need to buy a new key

I wouldn't risk £45
Unless it's somewhere reputable
 
Pulseammo said:
I thought when I took up the free upgrade offer that would be that key enabled on Windows 11 for life, but it seems not, it seems if you change anything you're basically stuffed because the offer has ended now.
Click to expand...
Most of my keys are upgrades too, so it is concerning, especially as even no meaningful changes can still deactivate a previously working system and Microsoft apparently tell you to get lost :o

Pulseammo said:
Updated my BIOS 2 days ago and now windows refuses to activate, even using the "I've changed hardware" button wont allow it.
Click to expand...
Did you change the Windows update version at the same time?
 
Pulseammo said:
Don't particularly want to pay some Russian five to twenty quid for some volume license key, but at the same time don't exactly want to pay microsoft 200 quid either!
Click to expand...
So do you pay full price direct from steam/epic/gog then for all your games? Or do you use the key sites?

Why would you care where it comes from if it's a legit key, **** microsoft, given the choice I'd rather pay game dev's full money and hurt microsoft instead. It's a no brainer which one deserves our money...
 
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Tetras said:
Most of my keys are upgrades too, so it is concerning, especially as even no meaningful changes can still deactivate a previously working system and Microsoft apparently tell you to get lost :o
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Yeah from what I can see on Microsoft's support forums a few other people seem to have been caught out by this. Apparently these free upgrades didn't upgrade the key, they upgraded the machine for the lifetime of the machine. MS Support still hasn't picked up my ticket.

Tetras said:
Did you change the Windows update version at the same time?
Click to expand...

Not sure I follow? I suspended bitlocker (keys are in TPM which is about to be wiped when you flash, so suspending reinstalls those keys automatically) and flashed my bios to the latest version and rebooted. Everything was fine, I then enabled secure boot. (I thought I had it enabled since it said so in the bios but I realised that you have to manually install the platform keys if it's not set to automatically do it in setup mode - which it wasn't when I installed the OS a couple of months back).

I tried to use the "I've changed hardware" button on the activation menu and it showed the Windows 11 install that I was using (and was still using) - funnily enough though a windows update came in last night, I updated and then thought I'd try activation again and found that the old "device" has now disappeared, yet my much older X99 motherboard windows 10 install (Which this was an upgrade of) is still there. (Doesn't let me move the activation either).

keef247 said:
So do you pay full price direct from steam/epic/gog then for all your games? Or do you use the key sites?

Why would you care where it comes from if it's a legit key, **** microsoft, given the choice I'd rather pay game dev's full money and hurt microsoft instead. It's a no brainer which one deserves our money...
Click to expand...

Ok good point, the answer to that is I try to use Steam, Epic, Gog, Humble or Greenman gaming when I can, if the price is so absolutely out of sync with those I've used the site "CD Keys" twice (once was an EA game if it makes you any happier). Obviously money could be going to a bad place there, but I'm guessing those sellers are mostly taking keys from one market where pricing is cheaper and placing them for sale globally (although I have read of stolen keys, etc). In my (admittedly non-cohesive) world view this is a shade more acceptable than just using a volume license from some corp, which I don't consider a "legit key" in the first place, regardless of whether it activates the software. If I knew I was buying a fully legitimate retail copy from another market I'd have no issue with that. And I'm sure you'll roll your eyes at where my apparent line is drawn but such is life.
 
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Pulseammo said:
Ok good point, the answer to that is I try to use Steam, Epic, Gog, Humble or Greenman gaming when I can, if the price is so absolutely out of sync with those I've used the site "CD Keys" twice (once was an EA game if it makes you any happier). Obviously money could be going to a bad place there, but I'm guessing those sellers are mostly taking keys from one market where pricing is cheaper and placing them for sale globally (although I have read of stolen keys, etc). In my (admittedly non-cohesive) world view this is a shade more acceptable than just using a volume license from some corp, which I don't consider a "legit key" in the first place. If I knew I was buying a fully legitimate retail copy from another market I'd have no issue with that. And I'm sure you'll roll your eyes at where my apparent line is drawn but such is life.
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Good, EA are scum mate and ruin dev's/beloved game series and shut them down/turn them to ****.

As for cd key sites and games...
Nope they're really not. They're all stolen keys, hence why all of them offer support around the clock to supply you with another one if it's already been used...

For example Running With Scissors who make Postal, literally said:
Screenshot-2024-02-14-at-21-28-18-Postal-Dev-Says-It-Doesn-t-Mind-When-Players-Pirate-Their-Games.png


And this isn't the first time a game dev has said we'd rather you pirate it and no-one makes a profit versus some thief selling it to you and getting OUR money...

There is no way in hell Steam would pay more for the keys and 'have' to charge more for them for example, so think about it, WHERE are these dodgy sites acquiring 'legit' keys from in such vast quantity that beat steam/gog etc etc, to the point they can STILL sell them for nearly half the price... They're ripped off plain and simple mate.

I just find it hilarious in general when people are precious about buying a £200 or whatever M$ key yet brag on forums about ripping a game dev off via kinguin/cd keys etc etc - speaking in general here, hence bringing it up originally, so not making this solely about you don't worry :)
 
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Tetras said:
Most of the recent activation issues I've seen come from the 23H2 update, so I wondered if you had done that together with the BIOS update.
Click to expand...
Ah-ha! I follow now, no I've just checked my updater and that's being offered now... The updates I got previously I think were just your usual .net framework stuff iirc and a cumulative update for 22H2.

I suppose it can't make it any worse updating to 23H2 at this point, I might give it a shot if I'm feeling like trouble.
 
keef247 said:
I just find it hilarious in general when people are precious about buying a £200 or whatever M$ key yet brag on forums about ripping a game dev off via kinguin/cd keys etc etc - speaking in general here, hence bringing it up originally, so not making this solely about you don't worry :)
Click to expand...

I don't want to pay Microsoft £200 for a key, which I already owned and was granted upgrades to through their own programmes, I feel slightly rug pulled that a BIOS update, which isn't a hardware update, de-activated the key. Hence I'm hoping MS support will sort this out for me (I don't hold my breath). I'm literally willing to start using linux as my daily to a) avoid a grey area key and b) avoid paying £200.

As for CDKeys, my understanding was that they were not as shady as G2A and Kinguin, which I have never used, because the other two are market places where you do get scammers and thieves buying keys with stolen CCs and reselling the keys. My impression was that suppliers who send the keys themselves (like CDKeys) are simply buying them from another region, and yes, regional pricing does exist - example of just how much cheaper that can be. None the less, I know you said not specifically about me, but I never "bragged" about this, I just took your bait which you decided to throw in because you obviously wanted to start posting about this subject and call out people's hilarity, my bad.

Incidentally if it's a small indie dev I just buy the game from steam, or their own site, or whatever supports them more, I really don't feel like I should have to defend my use (let me re-iterate: TWICE out of hundreds of games) of a shop. This is derailing the thread.
 
Pulseammo said:
Updated to that, no difference either way, not surprising though really :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wasn't expecting it would fix it :D

Pulseammo said:
I suspended bitlocker (keys are in TPM which is about to be wiped when you flash, so suspending reinstalls those keys automatically) and flashed my bios to the latest version and rebooted. Everything was fine, I then enabled secure boot. (I thought I had it enabled since it said so in the bios but I realised that you have to manually install the platform keys if it's not set to automatically do it in setup mode - which it wasn't when I installed the OS a couple of months back).
Click to expand...
Hmm, interesting. I was just doing some casual reading and an advisor on the MS forums (not sure if they're official) said that CPU and motherboard were most likely to cause problems and while I knew about motherboard, I didn't know about CPU.

With you mentioning secure boot and TPM, that makes me wonder how Microsoft might embed that hardware into their activation string and the TPM and secure boot keys could be a form of identifier? I wouldn't have expected that, since it is only recently that they were even required for Windows installs, but it does make me hesitant to mess with these features once they're enabled.
 
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