W
Whywindowshatesme
So I recently upgraded some hardware in one of my computers and, just like I have always done, I took my old hardware and put it into another one of my computers to "upgrade" that one as well. Now I am having trouble activating Windows on one of my machines. So for clarity:
I am talking about TWO completely unique computers BOTH of which prior to upgrading this hardware had fully functional and activated copies of Windows 10 on them. One, which I will call PC1 had Windows 10 Pro and the other, which I will call PC2, had Windows 10 Home. PC1 is the computer that the NEW hardware went into. The hardware that I replaced in PC1 I took and put it into PC2 since it was better than the hardware that was currently in PC2. The hardware upgraded was the Motherboard/Processor/Memory. I have upgraded this specific set of hardware in the past with absolutely NO issues so I had no reason to believe this time would be any different. However this time I have somehow lost my Windows 10 Pro license on PC1 during the process. There is a lot of information to go over about this so please read entirely to get a full understanding of my issue.
During the PC1 upgrade I realized I needed a different set of power cables for my EVGA 1000W modular power supply to power the new motherboard. Since I couldn't find the set of extra cables that came with my power supply I decided I needed to order a new set. Since I had removed the old motherboard/processor/memory from PC1 I decided to put that hardware into PC2 and get PC2 upgraded while I waited for my power cables to arrive. PC2 was upgraded using the old hardware from PC1 and then I changed the host name on it so I will now call it PC2a. At this point PC2a is fully functional on Windows 10 Home no problems at all everything is great.
Finally my power cables arrive!!! So I throw in the new power cable and power up PC1 with the new hardware installed and sit back and enjoy the performance increase I am seeing just loving life, then the watermark shows up. Windows is not Activated go into settings to activate. So no big deal just go in and see what is going on right? Shouldn't be anything too hard to take care of after all I have done this before and never had any issues. So in Settings>Update and Security>Activation there is a troubleshooter there that will help you fix activation issues SPECIFICALLY after hardware changes are made to a computer. So I run the troubleshooter until a screen pops up that says "Troubleshooting has completed - We weren't able to activate Windows on this device. - <link> Contact Support to Get Help<link> - You can activate this device by going to the Store and purchasing a genuine copy of Windows - <link> Go to Store <link>" and a final link that says "I changed hardware on this device recently" So I click on "I changed hardware on this device recently". then another window pops up that says again how Microsoft cannot find any devices linked to my account that can be used for reactivating my device. there is also a link that says "See other devices linked to your Microsoft account" So I click on that and this is where it starts to get strange.
When I click on that link I am taken to yet another window and this one has a list of Windows 10 licenses I have associated with my Microsoft account. In that list I DO NOT see PC1, HOWEVER, I have TWO entries for PC2a. PC2a is both in this list as PC2 ANNNNND PC2a(remember I changed the host name). So now I have TWO Windows 10 Home licenses that are assigned to the same computer and no license for PC1 Windows 10 Pro. There are many other licenses in this list since I have 10 or more computers in my house but all the others are working and accounted for.
So I am thinking that since I upgraded PC2 with the old hardware from PC1 and changed the hostname, PC2a(new hostname) took PC1's Windows 10 Pro license and PC2's(old hostname) license for Windows 10 Home is now just sitting there collecting dust not being used. When I bought the Windows 10 Pro license 3 years ago I bought the digital license from the Store. I assume since it is a digital license it was able to switch over to Home from Pro for some reason. The hard drive in PC2 had Windows 10 Home on it so when the Hardware IDs from PC1 were moved over to PC2 when I swapped the motherboard/processor/memory and then changed the host name to PC2a, I think it activated the Windows 10 Home on PC2a's hard drive. I think that had I not moved the old PC1 hardware over to PC2 and changed the hostname to PC2a BEFORE getting PC1 up and running, none of this would be happening. Had I got PC1 up and running prior to PC2 I feel like my Windows 10 Pro license would still exist and I would have likely had to run the troubleshooter to fix the issues on both computers but they would both be activated and on Home/Pro respectively. I also think that this issue should be resolvable by the right person I just haven't been able to find that person.
The troubleshooter found in Settings>Update and Security>Activation offers no help, requesting a callback was no help(callback never happened) and after speaking to the online chat personnel they weren't able to rectify the issue and suggested I come here for help. I was able to screen share with them and show them the list of licenses and I even showed them where I bought Windows 10 Pro ~3 years ago in November of 2017. Here is that order number "Order number 9484471522". They seemed just as confused as me and that was when they said "Jonathan, I have not been able to find anything else to resolve the issue. I was able to get in touch with the supervisors on the floor and they mentioned that the appropriate course of action would be to post this question in the Microsoft forums. The chat service doesn't exclusively support Windows 10 pro license troubleshooting so effort to troubleshoot is our "best-effort". Since I was able to get so much information regarding the activation, I also would suggest posting this question in our forums. Forums offer support for questions that are best-effort solutions on chat. You will be able to get more information via our forums"
I am truly hoping there is someone here that can assist with this.
Continue reading...
I am talking about TWO completely unique computers BOTH of which prior to upgrading this hardware had fully functional and activated copies of Windows 10 on them. One, which I will call PC1 had Windows 10 Pro and the other, which I will call PC2, had Windows 10 Home. PC1 is the computer that the NEW hardware went into. The hardware that I replaced in PC1 I took and put it into PC2 since it was better than the hardware that was currently in PC2. The hardware upgraded was the Motherboard/Processor/Memory. I have upgraded this specific set of hardware in the past with absolutely NO issues so I had no reason to believe this time would be any different. However this time I have somehow lost my Windows 10 Pro license on PC1 during the process. There is a lot of information to go over about this so please read entirely to get a full understanding of my issue.
During the PC1 upgrade I realized I needed a different set of power cables for my EVGA 1000W modular power supply to power the new motherboard. Since I couldn't find the set of extra cables that came with my power supply I decided I needed to order a new set. Since I had removed the old motherboard/processor/memory from PC1 I decided to put that hardware into PC2 and get PC2 upgraded while I waited for my power cables to arrive. PC2 was upgraded using the old hardware from PC1 and then I changed the host name on it so I will now call it PC2a. At this point PC2a is fully functional on Windows 10 Home no problems at all everything is great.
Finally my power cables arrive!!! So I throw in the new power cable and power up PC1 with the new hardware installed and sit back and enjoy the performance increase I am seeing just loving life, then the watermark shows up. Windows is not Activated go into settings to activate. So no big deal just go in and see what is going on right? Shouldn't be anything too hard to take care of after all I have done this before and never had any issues. So in Settings>Update and Security>Activation there is a troubleshooter there that will help you fix activation issues SPECIFICALLY after hardware changes are made to a computer. So I run the troubleshooter until a screen pops up that says "Troubleshooting has completed - We weren't able to activate Windows on this device. - <link> Contact Support to Get Help<link> - You can activate this device by going to the Store and purchasing a genuine copy of Windows - <link> Go to Store <link>" and a final link that says "I changed hardware on this device recently" So I click on "I changed hardware on this device recently". then another window pops up that says again how Microsoft cannot find any devices linked to my account that can be used for reactivating my device. there is also a link that says "See other devices linked to your Microsoft account" So I click on that and this is where it starts to get strange.
When I click on that link I am taken to yet another window and this one has a list of Windows 10 licenses I have associated with my Microsoft account. In that list I DO NOT see PC1, HOWEVER, I have TWO entries for PC2a. PC2a is both in this list as PC2 ANNNNND PC2a(remember I changed the host name). So now I have TWO Windows 10 Home licenses that are assigned to the same computer and no license for PC1 Windows 10 Pro. There are many other licenses in this list since I have 10 or more computers in my house but all the others are working and accounted for.
So I am thinking that since I upgraded PC2 with the old hardware from PC1 and changed the hostname, PC2a(new hostname) took PC1's Windows 10 Pro license and PC2's(old hostname) license for Windows 10 Home is now just sitting there collecting dust not being used. When I bought the Windows 10 Pro license 3 years ago I bought the digital license from the Store. I assume since it is a digital license it was able to switch over to Home from Pro for some reason. The hard drive in PC2 had Windows 10 Home on it so when the Hardware IDs from PC1 were moved over to PC2 when I swapped the motherboard/processor/memory and then changed the host name to PC2a, I think it activated the Windows 10 Home on PC2a's hard drive. I think that had I not moved the old PC1 hardware over to PC2 and changed the hostname to PC2a BEFORE getting PC1 up and running, none of this would be happening. Had I got PC1 up and running prior to PC2 I feel like my Windows 10 Pro license would still exist and I would have likely had to run the troubleshooter to fix the issues on both computers but they would both be activated and on Home/Pro respectively. I also think that this issue should be resolvable by the right person I just haven't been able to find that person.
The troubleshooter found in Settings>Update and Security>Activation offers no help, requesting a callback was no help(callback never happened) and after speaking to the online chat personnel they weren't able to rectify the issue and suggested I come here for help. I was able to screen share with them and show them the list of licenses and I even showed them where I bought Windows 10 Pro ~3 years ago in November of 2017. Here is that order number "Order number 9484471522". They seemed just as confused as me and that was when they said "Jonathan, I have not been able to find anything else to resolve the issue. I was able to get in touch with the supervisors on the floor and they mentioned that the appropriate course of action would be to post this question in the Microsoft forums. The chat service doesn't exclusively support Windows 10 pro license troubleshooting so effort to troubleshoot is our "best-effort". Since I was able to get so much information regarding the activation, I also would suggest posting this question in our forums. Forums offer support for questions that are best-effort solutions on chat. You will be able to get more information via our forums"
I am truly hoping there is someone here that can assist with this.
Continue reading...