Win 11 activated with digital license, but can't link to MS acct.

Try3 · Nov 17, 2025

Ghot said:
when I flash my BIOS to 5201, it breaks the activation

Mike,

I'm confused now.
Was the inability to link your activation to your MSAccount the only problem caused by the change in Bios version, or
Did your computer really lose its activation?

Denis

Ghot · Nov 17, 2025

Try3 said:
Did your computer really lose its activation?

Yep.
About 15 minutes after I went to 5201, I got the watermark in the lower right corner.

AMD fTPM is code in the CPU. I'm guessing that MS thinks I changed CPUs.
And I never had this device registered on my MS account.
It always said: Windows is activated with a digital license. (top pic in 1st post)

I was hoping there was a way to stay on a Local Acct, and still register this device on my MS account.
Then I could flash the BIOS and just log in to my MS account and re-activate.

Try3 · Nov 17, 2025

Understood.

Ghot said:
AMD fTPM is code in the CPU. I'm guessing that MS thinks I changed CPUs.

Quite astounding, really.
The hardware signatures the activation servers record for our computers must therefore include some hash of the Bios version / its properties. It's a bit like the early days of Windows 7 SFC that would report a fault if you had changed your installed printer.

All the best,
Denis

Ghot · Nov 17, 2025

Try3 said:
Quite astounding, really.

I couldn't have said it better.

I never checked Win 10. But I'd imagine it de-activated too, when I flashed the BIOS to 5201.
After all, it's running on the same hardware.
Remember my setup...

And if all that isn't enough...
I cloned my Win 10 to another 500GB SSD and then did an In-Place upgrade on that SSD, to get Win 11.

All my previous BIOS flashes caused no problems, until 5201.
I've done 14 BIOS flashes since I built this in May 2020.

When I was in 1st grade my dad's company had to go to Puerto Rico for a year to electrically wire a bank.
He took the whole family. Sitting at stop lights my mom would teach us how to count in Spanish.
We could only count to 15.
We'd sit at the red light and she would count till it turns green.

We'd say: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince... and when the light didn't turn green, we'd all say: "Quince doesn't work".

Same with my BIOS I guess. "Quince doesn't work". LOL

quince (keen-say)

KevTech · Nov 17, 2025

Not sure what commands you tried but this works for me.

Code:

wmic baseboard get product,manufacturer,version,serialnumber

Ghot · Nov 17, 2025

KevTech said:
Not sure what commands you tried but this works for me.

Code:

wmic baseboard get product,manufacturer,version,serialnumber

View attachment 153349

Ooh, that may work. The serial I got is not the serial that came on the motherboard box.
I'm gonna try that.

MS doesn't recognize that serial either. :/
But unlike the other wmic command I used, the one you used, worked.

The wmic command I originally used came from a Microsoft link. :/

I guess one of these days I'll call ASUS and ask if BIOS version 5302 avoids this mess.

Thanks everyone, I'm just gonna let this ride for a while. Maybe after the holidays.

Bree · Nov 17, 2025

Ghot said:
All my previous BIOS flashes caused no problems, until 5201.
I've done 14 BIOS flashes since I built this in May 2020.

If it helps to know you're not alone in this, then this 60-page thread that's been running since 2022 may be some comfort....

Windows activation after bios update - Microsoft Q&A

After updating the bios, im unable to activate windows 11, which was already activated. You're telling me I can't update the bios without windows freaking out. I paid for this product and now the only thing the troubleshooter is telling me to do is to…

learn.microsoft.com

Perhaps this one may be of more help, if you know your Windows key, that is...

WIN 10 Activation after BIOS Update

I've just taken dleivery of my new Z4 G4. Boot up was fine. Win 10 64 Pro Workstation updated itself. updated the BIOS using the latest version from the support page. then noticed windows will not self activate...error code 0xC004C003...in short wrong product key any help or similar...

h30434.www3.hp.com

...and if you don't, there's always ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Help Forums

Ghot · Nov 17, 2025

Bree said:
if you know your Windows key, that is...

Yes, there's even more to the story.
I built this comp in May 2020. I had a Win 7 Home retail key (paid for). which I used to upgrade to Win 10.
But...

Back in 2012 when I installed Win 7, I installed it about 7-8 times in one week, to get all Win 7 in ONE partition.
MS, back then informed me, that I had used up all the Win 7 key reinstall limits.
They let me have Win 10 and said, no more. LOL

So, I went from an iffy Win 7, did a free upgrade to Win 10... then did the clone and In-Place Upgrade to Win 11.
Maybe MS is mad at me.

So, yes, I know the Win 7 retail key. I still have the DVD.

Try3 · Nov 17, 2025

Bree said:
Windows activation after bios update - Microsoft Q&A

After updating the bios, im unable to activate windows 11, which was already activated. You're telling me I can't update the bios without windows freaking out. I paid for this product and now the only thing the troubleshooter is telling me to do is to…

learn.microsoft.com

Mike,

The last page of that long thread says Palcook [?] reversed the unactivation by disabling TPM.

Denis

Ghot · Nov 17, 2025

Try3 said:
reversed the unactivation by disabling TPM

Well, if I'm gonna disable TPM, do I really wanna update to the 5201 BIOS?

The 5201 description, sounds fairly serious...

This BIOS update for Picasso, Raven, Matisse, Vermeer, Renoir, and Cezanne systems includes a critical fTPM firmware upgrade, enhancing security and optimizing game compatibility. Before proceeding, back up your BitLocker recovery key and suspend BitLocker encryption in your operating system to prevent potential boot issues.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of calling ASUS, and letting them fight it out with MS.
ASUS probably won't like the idea of one of their BIOS updates, breaking activation, all over the place.
Bad for business and all that.

Well, I'm gonna go to bed and dream about a Windows with zero defects.

Scannerman · Nov 17, 2025

Ghot said:
Well, I'm gonna go to bed and dream about a Windows with zero defects.

Keep dreaming. Remember: ASUS is still in search of the incredible.

hsehestedt · Nov 18, 2025

I have not tried this yet, but intend to do so soon...

Couldn't you always just do something like this: Install Windows with a local account only. Create a secondary account an either tie that to an MS account or make it hybrid account so that it acts like an MS account at least as far as registering Windows goes. Active Window and will now be tied to your MS account. Delete the secondary account leaving only the local account.

XxXxX · Nov 18, 2025

@Ghot
i have just reactivated my system.
settings > system > activation

then click 'upgrade your edition of Windows'
on that menu 'change product key'

then i entered MY product key for this system
(which i kept a record of when i first got the computer)

click the activate button
and it came back as 'activated'

computer is now re-registered with my online account.
best of luck Steve ..

@Ghot
edit .. the system on my outlook account has vanished again ..

Scott · Nov 18, 2025

Win7ine said:
Give it some time and you need to be logged in under your MS account not just for a few minutes ...More like days, weeks.

I stay logged in and...no devices.

A lot of other things are blank as well...

Ghot · Nov 18, 2025

hsehestedt said:
Couldn't you always just do something like this

I don't know. Worth a try though.

XxXxX said:
then i entered MY product key for this system

I'll have to check again. But I think MS considers my Win 7 key dead now.
And the only keys I have for Win 10 and Win 11 are the generic keys.

I tried the generic key and it was a no-go.

cereberus · Nov 18, 2025

hsehestedt said:
I have not tried this yet, but intend to do so soon...

Couldn't you always just do something like this: Install Windows with a local account only. Create a secondary account an either tie that to an MS account or make it hybrid account so that it acts like an MS account at least as far as registering Windows goes. Active Window and will now be tied to your MS account. Delete the secondary account leaving only the local account.

That will not work. See my earlier post.

1) MS link only works if the primary account (one created during setup) is set to use MS account.

2) If you delete MS account linked to digital licence, the link disappears.

I tested various combinations in vms and tried to transfer digital licence to another VM. If I did not have an active primary account with MS account, the licence troubleshooter could not find the digital licence as link waa lost.

The ONLY combination that worked was to have primary account PERMANENTLY as MS account and secondary account as local account, using secondary account in normal use.

I originally tried just having secondary account with MS account tied to digital licence and thought that worked at first, but when I wwnt back to using primary local account, I found digital licence could not be found when trying to transfer digital licence.

Of course, it is possible MS have changed things since I did my tests.

The key point is when you login with a local account, you cannot tell if link to MS account is still active without trying to transfer digital licence to another device.

Of course it is possible MS have changed things, but given MS's fanaticism to using MS accounts, I would be surprised.

hsehestedt · Nov 18, 2025

cereberus said:
MS link only works if the primary account (one created during setup) is set to use MS account.

or you could make that primary account a Hybrid account. But I still want to play with other options, I just might not have a chance for a few days.

Win7ine · Nov 18, 2025

Scott said:
I stay logged in and...no devices.

View attachment 153370

A lot of other things are blank as well...

View attachment 153371

Turn on "Find my Device" this speeds up things sometimes ...

Do you see your own machine listed under Settings\Accounts\Linked Devices locally? If yes, all is well and it will eventually pop up in your MS account you access over the web.

unifex · Dec 10, 2025

Sorry for barging in, I am a bit confused by all the license/activation mess. And since I am about to build a new PC, I want to understand perfectly well, how things work.

Right now I will use the example of the laptop I am typing this on, but the situation with my desktop (about to be rebuilt) is the basically same. So, here on the laptop I have a Windows 11 Pro activated with a digital license (see the screenshot). The device itself can be seen in my Microsoft account on their website (see the second screenshot) even though the only account on the machine is a local account. What I don't understand, does this mean that the digital license is linked to the Microsoft account?

I'd like to know that since it's the same my desktop (the only difference, the Windows version there is Education) - digital license, PC in the Microsoft account. Once I build a new machine, the present desktop will cease to exist, so will I be able to activate just by logging into the Microsoft account? Or do I need to buy another license? (the latter seems unnecessary, since I already have one, but the rules are ... complicated).

Celery · Dec 10, 2025

@unifex:

Seeing your device on account.microsoft.com does not mean that the Windows license is linked.

These two activation messages are different:
- "Windows is activated with a digital license."
- "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account."

Your screenshot shows the first message, without the "…linked to your Microsoft account" part, so your license is not linked.

Also, the bigger issue on your desktop is the Education edition.

ChatGPT: "If your Windows 11 Education license came through a school program (Azure AD / Volume Licensing), it is usually not transferable to a new PC."

Win 11 activated with digital license, but can't link to MS acct.

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