BIOS Update

RazorKat83 said:

Surely he's not talking about any "driver" updates for the motherboard. . I've got an ASUS Motherboard and an MSI Motherboard, and like you said, CPU firmware updates come with the BIOS update.

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I did see an Intel utility to load processor firmware updates, but it looked somewhat convoluted so I decided not to risk it. If I brick the processor, I doubt it's coming back!

gunrunnerjohn said:

I did see an Intel utility to load processor firmware updates, but it looked somewhat convoluted so I decided not to risk it. If I brick the processor, I doubt it's coming back!

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I'm just wondering what hardware MS is reading that would require someone to re-activate their license. Perhaps it has more to do with the number of devices it "thinks" the OP is using.

Scannerman said:

I'm just wondering what hardware MS is reading that would require someone to re-activate their license. Perhaps it has more to do with the number of devices it "thinks" the OP is using.

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Not entirely sure. I updated my firmware about three times in the space of three or four months since I have a pair of Raptor Lake I5 machines that were affected by the firmware errors that were setting the voltages too high and cooking the processors. I never had to reset my passcode after the updates. When you fool with the Secure Boot configuration, then the passcode gets invalidated.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Not entirely sure. I updated my firmware about three times in the space of three or four months since I have a pair of Raptor Lake I5 machines that were affected by the firmware errors that were setting the voltages too high and cooking the processors. I never had to reset my passcode after the updates. When you fool with the Secure Boot configuration, then the passcode gets invalidated.

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Perhaps resetting the keys might improve the outcome? Just a guess.

@MrPig

I've looked at your My Computer listing, I assume this is your motherboard?

MW83 correct. Looking at my account<linked devices my PC appears twice. Going to my MS account & removing the MW83 it still shows locally as two devices!

How can I delete this locally? is this a registry hack?

bobkn said:

Providing a link could be instructive.

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This the instrument of misery: I upped the BIOS to R11 a few weeks ago, no problem

Scannerman said:

Perhaps resetting the keys might improve the outcome? Just a guess.

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I don't understand your comment. Gigabyte released new BIOS versions with new CPU firmware and I updated since my processors were affected. They did three versions in the space of three or four months. Since in the extreme cases, the problem actually killed the CPU, I didn't hang around to see if it was the last update, I did the updates as soon as they showed up. However, I pointed out that these didn't affect any normal operations or my secure boot settings, so it was a simple event.

From my own experience, BIOS updates change hardware IDs for sone motherboard components and this would result in BSOD since Windows 95 era or activation issues. That's why I always make sure I update the BIOS before installing Windows. Then I avoid any new versions, or take a backup and I am prepared for the worst. Thankfully this is rare in newer hardware running Windows 10 or 11. It seems updating the BIOS changed some hardware IDs making serm like you changed the motherboard. If anything fails, call Microsoft to activate by phone. Explain to the representative that it is the same hardware and you only updated the BIOS.

spapakons said:

From my own experience, BIOS updates change hardware IDs for sone motherboard components and this would result in BSOD since Windows 95 era or activation issues. That's why I always make sure I update the BIOS before installing Windows. Then I avoid any new versions, or take a backup and I am prepared for the worst. Thankfully this is rare in newer hardware running Windows 10 or 11. It seems updating the BIOS changed some hardware IDs making serm like you changed the motherboard. If anything fails, call Microsoft to activate by phone. Explain to the representative that it is the same hardware and you only updated the BIOS.

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Well, I had updated the BIOS before I installed when I was first firing up the computer. However, the succeeding BIOS updates came after I already had WIndows installed, then it was a little late to do the updates before install!

Kill me now!

I wouldn't touch it! Windows 11 Pro is like Windows 7 Professional, it has more features than Home, but not everything. Windows 11 Pro for Workstations is like Windows 7 Ultimate it as all features, except some system management and network management features of the Enterprise version that you will never use anyway! So just ignore it! I know many will argue it might not be a legit activation, but I wouldn't switch to Pro, unless I had any issues. This is a temporary activation anyway, you will have to activate again after some months. You can worry then about returning to Windows 11 Pro. In the mean time enjoy Windows 11 Pro for Workstations. You may not use most of the features, but you can select Ultimate Power Plan and enjoy a faster system due to better resource management.

Scannerman said:

I'm just wondering what hardware MS is reading that would require someone to re-activate their license. Perhaps it has more to do with the number of devices it "thinks" the OP is using.

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It has happened to me before, but I never had an issue re-activating the license.

I haven't had a license fiasco since Windows 7 and updating some hardware on my machine. The kicker was, I was a Microsoft MVP at the time and they were still harassing me! It's not like they were going to get any money from me!

Still need to figure out why I have 2 PC's the same in linked devices! How do I correct this?

Anibor_11 said:

There are several firmwares in a computer. The system UEFI firmware ("BIOS"), the TPM firmware, the PD (Power Delivery) firmware in the USB-C ports in a laptop, the internal SSD firmware... Check in Device Manager.

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Actually UEFI firmware is completely different to legacy MBR BIOS but we (pragmatically) use term BIOS interchangeably for UEFI firmware as it is less of a mouthful.

MrPig said:

Still need to figure out why I have 2 PC's the same in linked devices! How do I correct this?

View attachment 146274

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Probably this is the SAME PC registered twice because of some hardware change. As I said in an earlier post, even if you don't change your hardware but update the BIOS, it might change several hardware IDs on the motherboard devices and Windows think you changed the motherboard and deactivate! Yes, this was the case in XP or earlier. They had some hardware IDs for the sound, network, storage controller etc. Then the manufacturer decided to change the IDs in a BIOS update to add features or for better performance or compatibility. That's why once we installed Windows we never updated the BIOS or the chipset drivers again, unless we intended to reinstall Windows. And that's why I insist on first installing the chipset drivers (if available) and then any other driver on a new Windows installation. Probably is not important on modern hardware, but in 15+ years old hardware you could get a BSOD if you updated the chipset driver after installing other drivers because all others depend on it. In Windows 98 and XP you had only standard VGA graphics (640x480 with 16 colors), that's why I first installed the chipset drivers,. then the graphics drivers and then anything else. I still install drivers with that order out of habit, although in Windows Vista or later you get good enough graphics with the standard VGA driver. Installing the graphics driver before others also helps viewing all apps properly without manually changing the resolution, since some don't display well in default 800x600 resolution (very large window, out of screen buttons etc).

I upped the firmware by logging into WH-2 from WH-1 using MegaRAC, is this the cause of the issue?

glasskuter said:

Using the Windows Activation troubleshooter - Microsoft Support

Learn how to use the Activation troubleshooter to resolve common activation issues in Windows.

support.microsoft.com

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Tried that, I got some bizarre error message with try again later on the bottom!