Solved New Mobo, unable to activate using troubleshooter

Sir_George said:

The short answer; because everyone else does.

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And l guess uninformed people will pay extra not knowing that Windows 10 and 11 use the exact same product keys.

Sir_George said:

It appears, from a web search, that the two companies are associated. Therefore, I would suggest you try to resolve your issue with Stack Commerce or choose another third party to purchase your license. Sorry, my initial suggestion didn't help!

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I did use another site ProductKeys and it's likely the same situation since they state that the key can only be used once. But ... it's also ony $12 USD.

I read somewhere, probably here, that MS always activates these on the first use -- so I am good until I change out the hardware again.

So, if I have to pay that every five years when I replace motherboards, I'm not going to complain.

Mark Phelps said:

So, if I have to pay that every five years when I replace motherboards, I'm not going to complain.

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I agree.

I wonder if anyone sells a “Bind Key” for Windows 11? You can buy them for Microsoft Office. Buying a cheap MS Office key can have it’s disadvantages and can get pulled just like Windows Keys, when reinstalling Windows, and after installing Office, the Office key can get rejected, doing a phone activation will tell you it’s not valid. I have experienced this..
But you can purchase (for a little bit more) A “Bind Key,” which binds the MS Office key to your MS Account & ensures that it always works. I can’t tell you how or why, it’s just something I found on the interwebs.

antspants said:

I agree.

I wonder if anyone sells a “Bind Key” for Windows 11? You can buy them for Microsoft Office. Buying a cheap MS Office key can have it’s disadvantages and can get pulled just like Windows Keys, when reinstalling Windows, and after installing Office, the Office key can get rejected, doing a phone activation will tell you it’s not valid. I have experienced this..
But you can purchase (for a little bit more) A “Bind Key,” which binds the MS Office key to your MS Account & ensures that it always works. I can’t tell you how or why, it’s just something I found on the interwebs.

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Thanks much for the information. I will have to do some research on that.

Isn't the Windows key supposed to be bound to your email address? I did a test over the weekend, installed Windows 11 on a laptop which has never had Windows 11 on, logged on with same MS account I had previously used, did the change hardware option, and the laptop activated, no code was needed.

My understanding is that Microsoft registers activation keys to a system board once they are initiated on installation. Perhaps I am not using the correct terminology here, but that is my understanding. Some keys can be used on multiple boards and are consequently registered to those system boards where they are initiated BUT only to a limited number of system boards. (I think it is three system boards in that case.) Other keys are only good for one system and one system only. There have been times when I've had to register my license key with Microsoft via telephone by entering a considerably long string of numbers and verifying them over the phone. This happened with operating system licenses that I purchased directly from the Microsoft Store. In any case I've tried to keep my Windows Operating systems legitimate. Over time I've learned that this does not really seem to matter much to Microsoft.

I've purchased keys from the Windows Store before and had "counterfeit" warnings regardless when trying to activate a fresh key from their store. My guess is that it might have something to do with my location, but that is only a guess. Another guess is that because I have purchased so many keys in the past, being a PC builder but not being in possession of "legitimate" credentials, Microsoft wants to know who I am. Perhaps that is jut a vain guess. I don't build PCs for others the way I used to. I'm old now and my sight is starting to go. I mostly just refurbish old used PCs for kids and people in need now and just give them away to help keep PCs out of dumpsters.

I've used a lot of grey market keys. Only had an issue with one. knock-on-wood. I have one AM4 motherboard that has been replaced twice. The last time it didn't auto-activate. I ran the troubleshooter but didn't help. So I just manually reentered the license key and it worked. The keys I used are marketed as OEM keys but a license check shows them as Pro keys or VL keys. I have an account that I log in to and use my PayPal acct to pay.

MS is less-than-clear about some of the details of their activation scheme. For example, if you change out the memory or video card on a PC, that will not affect activation, nor will changing out the HDD or SSD. But if you change out the motherboard, MS considers the changed PC a new "device" and will require reactivation. If you have a retail license, this should be no issue as they don't have a posted limit on activation attempts. But like everything else MS says, this is not always the case as too many reactivations (say you are testing video cards, one after another) will cause the PC to become deactivated. How many? MS will not tell us. Which specific hardware items? MS will not tell us.

So, my "Retail" license should have survived the motherboard swap but did not because the vendor sold me a one-time license -- and did not tell me that. MS checked the product key and said it could not be used a second time.

I like local accounts and use them by default, but I don't think the license is tied to your email address. That is tied to your MSN account, but you can only use a single license on one PC, even if you use the same login on several PCs.

So, my "Retail" license should have survived the motherboard swap but did not because the vendor sold me a one-time license -- and did not tell me that. MS checked the product key and said it could not be used a second time.

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I have never heard of that.

SIW2 said:

I have never heard of that.

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I had not either -- before this -- so I was surprised when the automatic reactivation did not happen.

I complained to StackCommerce and they have since sent me another key, but my guess is that it is of the same variety.

I've just purchased an excellent-value refurb that comes with 11 Pro preinstalled and activated. I'm copying my current system and programs to it, and re-registering the couple of software licenses tied to my current machine. I think that since the key is tied to the MB, I shouldn't have any probs about activation. True?

Mark Phelps said:

I had not either -- before this -- so I was surprised when the automatic reactivation did not happen.

I complained to StackCommerce and they have since sent me another key, but my guess is that it is of the same variety.

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Good to hear they agreed to compensate you though!

Wisewiz said:

I've just purchased an excellent-value refurb that comes with 11 Pro preinstalled and activated. I'm copying my current system and programs to it, and re-registering the couple of software licenses tied to my current machine. I think that since the key is tied to the MB, I shouldn't have any probs about activation. True?

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From all the diverse reports of what’s been happening to different people, it’s anyones guess these days?

Wisewiz said:

I've just purchased an excellent-value refurb that comes with 11 Pro preinstalled and activated. I'm copying my current system and programs to it, and re-registering the couple of software licenses tied to my current machine. I think that since the key is tied to the MB, I shouldn't have any probs about activation. True?

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How are you copying your programs to it? You can't just copy files; instead, you have to use special utilities to do this, and the ones I've used don't overwrite the Windows OS already loaded. So, the existing activation would not be affected.

Wisewiz said:

I've just purchased an excellent-value refurb that comes with 11 Pro preinstalled and activated. I'm copying my current system and programs to it, and re-registering the couple of software licenses tied to my current machine. I think that since the key is tied to the MB, I shouldn't have any probs about activation. True?

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In some cases perhaps. My opinion is that you will likely have to reinstall whatever apps and programs you used originally on the other system. Yup. It's a PITA. I recommend that once you have everything as you like, make a Drive Image of the entire drive on a different hard drive and tuck it away in a nice dry, dark place that you will remember in case of an emergency. Keep personal files archived on a separate drive in your PC. For what it's worth keep a File History on another separate drive. Bear in mind that File History often fails so archiving personal files isn't really an option. If you follow this formula backups are indeed an option and you can make them at your leisure.

Tx, @Scannerman
Good counsel. 34 of my current 38 are “portables” and I can handle the “installed” remainder. And I’m practically an ambassador for Macrium Reflect, so I’m good in that regard, too. Don’t use File History, cuz with my images and backups, that would be superfluous.

:::Chuckles::: If you're already using Macrium you should be good to go. I'm not even sure what you're needing help on because you seem to know what you're doing. I get teased a lot about having so many hard drives but I don't regret it in the least. Better to have an abundance than not enough.