[SOLVED] changed hardware....can't reactivate W10

vwcrusher

Distinguished
Oct 16, 2012
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18,995
Sucessfully linked W10 with my Microsoft account. Changed hardware. Followed the process documented here to the letter. MS won't let me reactivate. I tried everything....went into my MS account and saw that I had two devices; thought maybe I should delete the old HW...no difference.

Quite frustrated....any ideas?
 
Solution
So I needed to somehow deactivate the license on the old PC before I disassembled it...yes?

How does one do this?
"Deactivating" the license from the old system is not really needed.
That function only tells that specific PC is no longer has a license. It does NOT phone home and tell the activation server farm that the license in question is free to use on different hardware.

Assuming your license was linked to your MS account and it appears there...there should be a clicky to tell the Activation Troubleshooter about "this is the system I'm using now"

If there is not...this is when you contact Microsoft and get them to fix the issue.

britechguy

Commendable
Jul 2, 2019
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Yes, contact Microsoft support.

If you are supposed to be able to transfer your license they'll get things fixed for you in a matter of a few minutes. There are many times when, for whatever reason, the automatic process doesn't work and human intervention is required. There is no charge from Microsoft Support for calls of this nature.
 

vwcrusher

Distinguished
Oct 16, 2012
698
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I changed everything...complete system upgrade....here is it:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BBYbnH

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB FTW2 GAMING iCX Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: Auria EQ276W 27.0" 2560x1440 60 Hz Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
External Storage: Western Digital My Book 4 TB External Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-01 18:20 EDT-0400
 

britechguy

Commendable
Jul 2, 2019
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And I have to say that something "odd" must have happened. In the typical "it won't activate" situation the Microsoft techs have it solved in a few short minutes. An hour for this is highly atypical (and would feel like several lifetimes!).
 

britechguy

Commendable
Jul 2, 2019
1,479
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Any time one changes the motherboard you are, in essence, creating a new computer as far as Microsoft Windows 10 licensing is concerned.

And that's whether or not a license is linked to a Microsoft account the servers also have a primary key to locate said existing digital license created based on the motherboard itself.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
So I needed to somehow deactivate the license on the old PC before I disassembled it...yes?

How does one do this?
"Deactivating" the license from the old system is not really needed.
That function only tells that specific PC is no longer has a license. It does NOT phone home and tell the activation server farm that the license in question is free to use on different hardware.

Assuming your license was linked to your MS account and it appears there...there should be a clicky to tell the Activation Troubleshooter about "this is the system I'm using now"

If there is not...this is when you contact Microsoft and get them to fix the issue.
 
Solution