Activation after hardware and os upgrade

djdunn · Nov 27, 2023

updating your bios is enough to require reactivation, and if you have a pre 10 key it wont reactivate, and Microsoft support says all you can do is buy a new full version of 11

source: i updated my bios and it deactivated and contacted microsoft support and was told i had to buy new licence.

Bree · Nov 27, 2023

antspants said:
it was always my understanding that if you replaced more than one or 2 key pieces of hardware, a new key was required.

No, as long as you had linked the digital licence to your Microsoft account, then the Activation Troubleshooter should be able to transfer it to the new hardware. That used to work, I used it once to activate a Hyper-V VM that I was having trouble importing into a new host machine.

Unfortunately, as Wolfzz pointed out, by turning off the W7/W8 free activation MS have (apparently unintentionally) broken the Activation Troubleshooter too.

Wolfzz said:
Yes I just found this bad on you Microsoft

Microsoft confirms problems with Windows activation after blocking old keys

Microsoft confirmed that the company is aware of activation issues on some systems. The problem appeared shortly after Microsoft blocked old Windows 7 and 8 keys from activating Windows 10 and 11.

www.neowin.net

antspants · Nov 27, 2023

Bree said:
No, as long as you had linked the digital licence to your Microsoft account, then the Activation Troubleshooter should be able to transfer it to the new hardware. That used to work, I used it once to activate a Hyper-V VM that I was having trouble importing into a new host machine.

Unfortunately, as Wolfzz pointed out, by turning off the W7/W8 free activation MS have (apparently unintentionally) broken the Activation Troubleshooter too.

Yeah it’s a bit of a mess, Bree

djdunn · Nov 27, 2023

Bree said:
No, as long as you had linked the digital licence to your Microsoft account, then the Activation Troubleshooter should be able to transfer it to the new hardware. That used to work, I used it once to activate a Hyper-V VM that I was having trouble importing into a new host machine.

Unfortunately, as Wolfzz pointed out, by turning off the W7/W8 free activation MS have (apparently unintentionally) broken the Activation Troubleshooter too.

its more like they turned off all windows 7/8 license activation for windows 10/11, from what I've read and experienced with microsoft support, right now only win 10/11 license's will activate windows 10/11.

the troubleshooter doesn't recognize any windows 7/8 license's right now

do anything that requires a reactivation, like install new hardware or update bios, and you get deactivated with your only option for reactivation is to purchase a windows 10/11 license. It seems not accidental and by design. they assume that everyone will be using a laptop with no hardware changes no bios updates etc.

PurSpyk!! · Nov 29, 2023

I recently upgrade my motherboard, had to reactivate but it failed. MS support was useless. Landed up purchasing a new license, madness, but MS always find ways to irritate legitimate users

MisterEd · Nov 29, 2023

PurSpyk!! said:
I recently upgrade my motherboard, had to reactivate but it failed. MS support was useless. Landed up purchasing a new license, madness, but MS always find ways to irritate legitimate users

Did you replace the motherboard with an identical one or a totally different one. If it was a totally different model then Microsoft was right to deny activation. Of course I am assuming that Windows was OEM. If it was Retail then you should have been able to switch to any motherboard.

BTW, I replaced a faulty motherboard with an identical replacement. In my case I had no problem reactivating Windows.

Ghot · Nov 29, 2023

MisterEd said:
In my case I had no problem reactivating Windows

Well sure... that's because you're a talking horse. Who's not gonna reactivate for a talking horse?

MisterEd · Nov 29, 2023

Ghot said:
Well sure... that's because you're a talking horse. Who's not gonna reactivate for a talking horse?

A horse is a horse, of course, of course
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed!

antspants · Nov 29, 2023

MisterEd said:
A horse is a horse, of course, of course
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed!

I’d love to see you try using a touch-screen

Ghot · Nov 29, 2023

antspants said:
I’d love to see you try using a touch-screen

Naw... Mr. Ed is experienced with electronics. He even had his own TV set.

MisterEd · Nov 29, 2023

antspants said:
I’d love to see you try using a touch-screen

View attachment 79337

Well my son does have problems with phones...

cereberus · Nov 29, 2023

It is rather long forgotten but MS introduced the digital licence to enable people to reactivate pc if the mobo was changed for similar mobo in event of a mobo failure.

It was never intended as a means to transfer licence to a new pc build bypassing OEM restrictions although it usually works (but has always been hit or miss).

MS have always been deliberately vague about digital licence transfer

In the end, it is always a good idea to keep original pc keys safe of retail (or oem system builder keys). These will usually reactivate a new pc.

You can try using oem slp (embedded keys) but activation hit rate is lower (and I see no pattern as to why).

antspants · Nov 29, 2023

I know it’s hard days, cash strapped and living on a tight budget for many. But seriously, if it became a problem, I’d sooner buy a new key via the Stack Social affiliation links @z3r010 can provide. Sometimes it hits below $30. The stress does more damage to me than the cash layout does.

PurSpyk!! · Nov 30, 2023

MisterEd said:
Did you replace the motherboard with an identical one or a totally different one. If it was a totally different model then Microsoft was right to deny activation. Of course I am assuming that Windows was OEM. If it was Retail then you should have been able to switch to any motherboard.

BTW, I replaced a faulty motherboard with an identical replacement. In my case I had no problem reactivating Windows.

My Windows license was not an OEM copy, so the key should have still worked.

MisterEd · Nov 30, 2023

PurSpyk!! said:
My Windows license was not an OEM copy, so the key should have still worked.

You can use ShowKeyPlus to show what type of key it is to be sure. In ShowKeyPlus select Check Edition. You can get ShowKeyPlus from the Microsoft Store.

PurSpyk!! · Dec 1, 2023

MisterEd said:
You can use ShowKeyPlus to show what type of key it is to be sure. In ShowKeyPlus select Check Edition. You can get ShowKeyPlus from the Microsoft Store.

it was a full license code, I have since reformatted and bought a new license