Win 10 won't activate after new mobo?

Brazo

Brazo

Brazo

Soldato
Joined
22 Apr 2016
Posts
3,579
I have changed the motherboard 4 times (I know!) in one of my pc's and each time I sucsessfully go through the reactivate Windows malarkey. Anyway it won't recognise the activation key this time.

Why could this be?
 
I had a motherboard fail twice in my Windows 10 PC and each time I had to ring MS to reactivate even though it was the same model. The process was much more complex than it used to be with earlier windows (wuich was quick and automated) and they had to remote session the PC to do it (they also have to reissue a new key).

Remember that if you took advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offer then (even if your previous license was retail) any motherboard upgrade requires a new license (excluding warranty replacements like I had).
 
Thanks all

So MS are going to make me buy another key?

Seems silly when I already have one or can I just ring them up and they'll sort it? If so anyone know the tel. #?
 
We probably aren't allowed to talk about how to get ms to activate a now ineligible key, but when you try to activate, it should give you a number to call, from there you just follow the instructions and give your reason for the reinstall. Assuming the phone activation process hasn't changed much since Win 7 and 8 that is :)
 
Up to you what you say to them if you ring them, many people do ring and get reactivated (e.g. replacement for failed board), but strictly under their license upgrading a motherboard is a new PC (and the license you have is for the old PC). Remember this is for the Windows 10 free offer upgrade only (or OEM license). If you now get a new (more expensive) retail license then I think you can still upgrade as much as you want on the single license.

If you did take advantage of the upgrade offer then MS gave you Window 10 for free while previous Windows upgrades had often been chargeable. The restriction to only that PC was acceptable for getting it for free. Always in the past, for frequent upgraders, it has been advised to get a new retail copy as the PC can then be upgraded with that license. The problem is that it has been so easy and seen as acceptable to reactivate Windows XP/Vista/7/8 OEM licenses after upgrades (as it was a simple automated process).

The telephone number is available from the activation/support screen you see when it fails activation.
 
Give them a call, they are actually quite helpful.

Last time I called, it was automated, but I got it a bit wrong and got put through to a person who sorted it out for me within minutes. Whole phonecall was literally less than 3 minutes.
 
Just to update the thread.

I went through in the automated telephone system today which failed. I went into an almost hour long 'text chat' with an MS representative who eventually took remote control of my pc and 'sorted it'.

I say 'sorted' they wouldn't honour my existing licence but gave me a 'complimentary' copy of win 10! Either way I'm back to where I was a weeks back.

Going a week with an inactivated copy of win 10 was exactly the same as having an activated copy. Bar being able to change the screen saver and occasionally having a watermark it's pretty much the same.
 
Brazo said:
I went through in the automated telephone system today which failed. I went into an almost hour long 'text chat' with an MS representative who eventually took remote control of my pc and 'sorted it'.

I say 'sorted' they wouldn't honour my existing licence but gave me a 'complimentary' copy of win 10!
Click to expand...
Exactly the same experience as I had. Quite a drawn out process. I think you will find that the replacement copy uses an OEM licence key. So you probably want to avoid further motherboard changes.
 
Was the upgrade (if the original was retail) a retail copy too? (Not quite related to the OP but some of the replies there looked like they were saying that ANY free upgrade was OEM only).
 
Yeah I had to go on live support with them but it was pretty quick for me, they were pretty helpful on there for me at least, I hadn't bothered with the phone. They activated my HTPC no quibbles, it was stuck on pro after using the insider program and my key was for 7 HP.
 
Mercutio said:
Was the upgrade (if the original was retail) a retail copy too? (Not quite related to the OP but some of the replies there looked like they were saying that ANY free upgrade was OEM only).
Click to expand...
Yes and no.

The initial free upgrade from retail is a Digital Entitlement licence. This uses hardware fingerprinting to lock to your device and is valid for the lifetime of your device. In many ways it behaves like an OEM licence.

If you change hardware significantly you may run into activation issues. Automated telephone activation will not be successful. You need to tell MS chat support that you have changed your motherboard. MS support will then remote onto your PC and inject a new key. There were some unconfirmed reports of people getting full retail keys in the early days. But more recently these have been OEM keys.

In the Anniversary Update you can now link your Windows 10 licence to your MS Account, this allows you to self fix activation problems after a hardware change. This does however mean that you have to login to Windows using an MS Account from now on rather than using a local account.
 
Last edited:
IT Troll said:
Yes and no.

The initial free upgrade from retail is a Digital Entitlement licence. This uses hardware fingerprinting to lock to your device and is valid for the lifetime of your device. In many ways it behaves like an OEM licence.

If you change hardware significantly you may run into activation issues. Automated telephone activation will not be successful. You need to tell MS chat support that you have changed your motherboard. MS support will then remote onto your PC and inject a new key. There were some unconfirmed reports of people getting full retail keys in the early days. But more recently these have been OEM keys.

In the Anniversary Update you can now link your Windows 10 licence to your MS Account, this allows you to self fix activation problems after a hardware change. This does however mean that you have to login to Windows using an MS Account from now on rather than using a local account.
Click to expand...

I upgraded my MB last night and the machine had been running on the Anniversary update, activation was linked to my MS account and it still failed on Activation. Chatted with an MS support guy and he recommended activating again with my old Win 7 key. It was pushing 3 am, and my Win 7 box was up in the attic. I'm kinda stuck now because I'm expecting a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 on Friday so thats another hardware change.
 
robbiecfc said:
Yep - And selected Significant HW change hence the chat with MS.Weird thing is, my Memory, CPU, Disks are all the same, only true difference would be the NIC went from a Realtek model to an Intel version.
Click to expand...
Well that's a pretty useless feature then. Sounds like your only option is a 30 - 60 min chat session with MS Support.
 
Brazo,
had you anticipated that microsoft would need to access your pc remotely, so that you had already opened up any ports on the router/pc to allow rdp protocol (if it was that) - did that take a long while ?
 
the Troubleshoot option should have worked. I've used once without issues.

does anyone know if the windows 10 retail boxes have transfer/hardware changes limits? as I've bought windows 10 home retail just as a backup if i can't get my windows 10 pro free to activate anytime in the future.
 
Last edited:
jpaul said:
Brazo,
had you anticipated that microsoft would need to access your pc remotely, so that you had already opened up any ports on the router/pc to allow rdp protocol (if it was that) - did that take a long while ?
Click to expand...

The majority of "remote support" applications don't require you to open up router ports.
I've had remote sessions with companies in the past and all you do is go to a website, download a file and off you go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom