z97-a board is goosed accidental dmg replacement advice

[XlordB]

Hi guys well yesterday when i was removing my gfx card from pci slot 2 the plastic click thing broke and accidentally burst a small resistor on the board. my fault tottaly. Im going to buy the same model mobo again. what im wondering is upon installation will windows 10 still be authorised when i boot up? if not idbe aswell maybe getting a better mobo version?? or if i bought say the asus maximus vii ranger would that be authorised? not sure yet what to do.

 

[USAFRet]

Win 10 upgrade and replacement motherboard.
You are probably one of the first to actually do this.

Still authorized? Who knows. MS has said both yes and no.

But since you don't have any choice...try it and see what happens. You can be our test case.
Please let us know how it goes.

 

[XlordB]

I have no other option but to try lol my system should boot normally with the same mobo replacement im just not sureif windows 10 uses the mac address on the mobo to define authorisation or not in any case ill have to wit till tomorrow to hopefully buy the replacement

 

[USAFRet]

I have no other option but to try lol my system should boot normally with the same mobo replacement im just not sureif windows 10 uses the mac address on the mobo to define authorisation or not in any case ill have to wit till tomorrow to hopefully buy the replacement

To be on the safe side, get the same model as a replacement.

 

[jimmysmitty]

You will probably be able to call Microsoft for a reactivation like with XP/Vista/7. Of course we will have to wait and see and even getting the same board the boards MAC address and NIC MAC address will change but I am sure they will work with you.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have no doubts it will work fine with the same model. What we want to know is if it will reactivate with a different model. Please get a different model so we can find out. Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't want to put you in that position in case it didn't work. But if you DO go with a different model, which according to Microsoft SHOULD be capable of being reactivated with the new hardware id string, we would CERTAINLY like to know about that.

 

[XlordB]

i think ill stick with the asus z97-a probably safer not much differnce between overclockability fromthat board and the maximus the other bells and whistles i dont really need would be nice to know though but windows too pricey to add to the extra cost of the mobo

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, I was just kidding around anyhow. Well, mostly.

 

[XlordB]

Didnt work with same mobo windows 10 activation has come up. called microsoft the guy said to reinstall windows 8.1 with my old product key which i cant see how that will work since its an oem key he says do that then go through registration with windows 10 again. going to try but not holding my breath

 

[jimmysmitty]

Now that seems pointless. They don;t have an automated activation phone wizard for 10? Should be able to just send the updated mobo info in instead of having to reinstall 8.1 then 10....

 

[Darkbreeze]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-activate-and-resolve-common-product-key/33f31475-93b3-4d1c-812f-4b21fbd807a7


http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5705-activate-windows-10-a.html

For all the RETAIL licenses: after I had read the above comments regarding the retail issue, I called directly Microsoft technical department and they explained me how things will be with respect to the Windows 10 license transfer to another PC or just motherboard upgrade. I have a Windows 8.1 retail license; after I upgrade to Windows 10, I will be able to use and reinstall that Windows 10 license unlimited in time. I will still retain my same Windows 8.1 license, which will not change, so I can revert and reinstall my 8.1 whenever I want. If and when I change my PC components, I will have to call Microsoft technical department: after I prove them that I have a valid Windows 8.1 retail license, they will transfer/activate my Windows 10 free upgrade to the new PC/motherboard and deactivate the old station (as it happens sometimes with OEM licenses, once I called and asked them to transfer my old OEM license because I changed the components, and they were that kind and they did it).

My question was pretty straightforward: will I be able to transfer my Windows 10 upgrade to a new PC/motherboard? The answer was "yes", as long as I can prove that I own a retail Windows 8.1 license.

My second question was: Why is it so complicated and why was not the actual license converted into a Windows 10 retail license, for easier future reinstall? Their answer was that this upgrade is just a free upgrade, and will be treated as such, as an upgrade. When I want to transfer the Windows 10 upgrade to a new system, I will have to install first Windows 8.1 retail on that new machine and after that to apply the Windows 10 upgrade; so being an upgrade means that they will have to manually reactivate it on a new machine each time I do such a modification. Well, it could have been made more convenient, but it's ok like this, hey, it's a free upgrade at least.

I hope this helps.

 

[XlordB]

So i reinstalled windows 8.1 oem. It asked for activation i got the id from activation screen called the automated service it asked me to input the id which i did then it asked me how many systems i had activated for the key obviously only 1 and it gave me a new 9 column id to type in. did that voila windows 8.1 oem reactivated then i installed windows 10 from windows didnt keep settings or files but saved me typing in the code again. Windows 10 up n runing activated etc etc happy days on heinseight im thinking it would have also worked with a diff z97 motherboard.

Edit- also i tried the activation on windows 10 before installing 8.1 but it asked me for the windows key which failed so i didnt get as far as the product id screen.

 

[jimmysmitty]

It would have worked with a different board. Remember the new board means a new MAC address for the board and the NIC which counts for 2 of the 10 in the activation count. The new install on the HDD makes it 3 so activation is required. So a different board would have meant the same thing, new MAC address for the board and NIC that needed to be updated to the activation server.

 

[USAFRet]

Right. If you had to go back to 8.1 and then through the phone robot to activate, that probably would have worked with any board.

I was interested in the Win 10 activation on a different board....oh well...we shall see.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I would say I can try it for you but I bought a FUll copy, the retail $199, so even if I change my whole system out I am covered.