Summary:
- Reactivating Windows 10 after a significant hardware change using the Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter
Comments:
- Reactivating Windows 10 after a significant hardware change using the Activation Troubleshooter requires the device’s digital license to be linked to Microsoft Account(MSA)
- The Microsoft Account must be an administrator account on the device in order to use the Activation Troubleshooter
- The Activation Troubleshooter is only available if Windows 10 is not activated(i.e. If Windows 10 is activated, the Troubleshooter is not available).
- A device can only be linked(or re-linked) to a Microsoft account after Activation. Activation occurs prior to linking or relinking the device to a Microsoft Account.
- Signing on to a device(before or after a significant hardware change) with an Microsoft Account(admin or standard) does not activate Windows 10. (Ed. Note – surfing the net or reading news groups may yield contrary, ignorant, misunderstood information on Windows 10 activation erroneously claiming that ‘Activation or Reactivation on Windows 10 occurs with a Microsoft Account(MSA)sign on’ – Don’t waste your time ===> signing on with an MSA in Windows 10 does not activate Windows 10…never does, never has.
- The Microsoft Account is only a conduit for reactivation(and only after a significant hardware change or failure to activate) of a device using the Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter. The mere presence of linking a digital license to a Microsoft Account does not ensure Windows 10 activation.
- The activated digital license on the device is stored on the Microsoft server’s activation database using a hashed value(i.e. Installation ID) with the product key used to initially activate the Windows 10 installed edition(e.g. Home, Pro…)
- The Activation Troubleshooter provides the option to view existing digital license linked to your Microsoft Account and identify the device. As noted above, linking device’s Windows 10 digital license to a Microsoft Account does not activate Windows, only providing an option to identify a device having a significant hardware change for reactivation)
- Significant hardware change comments
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- Motherboard replacement
- Transfer license to a different pc(applies to retail versions of Windows 10) – all new hardware.(Note: OEM editions, Home or Professional, of Windows 10 are not transferrable licenses)
- Microsoft’s Windows 10 Activation servers are quite tolerant and don’t consider hard drive, video card, memory changes as ‘significant changes’
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How To/More Information:
After a significant hardware change and previously linking a Microsoft Account(required) to an activated Windows 10 digital licensed device one can use the Activation Troubleshooter to ‘help’ reactivate Windows 10.
- Sign on to Windows 10 with an administrator account(e.g. Administrator privileged Microsoft Account)
- Select in sequence – Start Button, Settings, Update and Security, then Activation
- Select Troubleshoot (Note: The Activation Troubleshooter is not available if Windows is activated)
- Select ‘I changed hardware on this device recently’
- If prompted for a Microsoft Account enter the username and password(if previously signed on as indicated in Step 1, then step 5 may not be necessary). If Step 1 was not followed(e.g. signed on with a Local Administrator account, then Step 5 is necessary to proceed)
- Identity and Select the device(ComputerName of the device that is currently being used) from the list of devices linked to the Microsoft Account
- Select/Check the box ‘ This is the device I’m using right now’
- Click on ‘Activate’ (Note, if you do not see your device in the list of devices, ensure you are signed on with the same Microsoft Account linked to the digital license for the device in use)
- If successful, Windows 10 will be activated/re-activated. If activation/reactivation fails see Footnote [1]
Additional Information:
- Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change
- How to Link a Microsoft Account to digital license for Windows 10 (Cf. Tenforums.com)
- Microsoft tweaks activation rules for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update(Cf. Ed Bott, Zdnet.com)
- How to install, reinstall, upgrade and activate Windows 10 (Cf. Ed Bott, Zdnet.com)
Footnotes:
[1] Cf. Microsoft article – Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change
“If you’re signed in using the correct Microsoft account, here are some additional reasons why you can’t reactivate Windows:
- The edition of Windows on your device doesn’t match the edition of Windows you linked to your digital license.
- The type of device you’re activating doesn’t match the type of device you linked to your digital license.
- Windows was never activated on your device.
- You reached the limit on the number of times you can reactivate Windows on your device.
- Your device has more than one administrator, and a different administrator already reactivated Windows on your device.
- Your device is managed by your organization and the option to reactivate Windows isn’t available. For help with reactivation, contact your organization’s support person. ”
Revisions:
Feb 1 2019: Initial Draft Date
Feb 3 2019: Original Publish Date
Feb 6 2019: Added Footnote reference, How To Step 9; Added Footnote quoted print from Microsoft article
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