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Hi, this is a weird question but here me out. About 6 Years Ago I used the windows 7-10 free upgrade for my pc. At the moment i noticed it has been really slow and now that i wanted to use it again i wanted to replace the old HDD with a SSD and in the process replace the Windows 10 install on the drive. Problem Is i heard Microsoft shut down the free upgrade late last year, and since i had used it will reinstalling windows 10 revoke the activation or since i had already upgraded will it be okay. I appreciate all help with this, but i have to be certain no educated guesses. Regards

I bought a windows 11 pro and typed it in to my windows 11 home pc and it says it activated, but it gave this error when upgrading to Pro. When I looked up the error code it seems to be a more generic error code than for just activating windows.

As the name suggests, can I use a Windows 8.1 Pro key to activate my copy of Windows 10 pro?

a few months ago my computer broke and my storage got wiped, I get my friend to install windows for me, I end up on windows 10 PRO, the problem is I can not activate windows because I'm not on a organizations connection or something along those lines, so now I'm stuck with un-activated windows. I've had no luck with my search for solutions idk if I'm just googling the wrong stuff or not looking in the right places but either way i cant figure it out. is there a way to downgrade windows without deleting my stuff or activate it without paying more money. I've looked through the forms and I tried a few things and nothing lead anywhere useful so now I'm just going directly to begging for help so please anyone help me out!!!

I got an open box laptop(Lenovo v17 g3 iap) from a dude on a local used electronics website. He stated that it is brand new and only getting windows in Greek(from German). I am guessing that it might have been an exhibition one because he gave me only the laptop and its charger. The thing is that windows says that it is not activated. Having downloaded 2 pieces of software that tell you windows activation keys. I have found 2 Windows keys but it doesn't work(still deactivated) . What to do?

I think this info might be relevant, so I'll mention it right here in the beginning. My Windows was installed as Windows 10 Pro using a cheap activation key and right after installation I upgraded to Windows 11. I installed Windows without internet connection. Windows has been working flawlessy for a year up to the point, which I'm about to explain below. I wanted to experiment with having the ability to allow a window to become active by hovering over with the mouse. However, I didn't really like the default 0.5 seconds Windows offers, so I went to the registry to adjust it manually. I really didn't think at the time that this would create issues, but it's no wonder people warn about going into the registry (especially since I've dealt with it previously and didn't have issues arise). I created a backup file of the registry before making any changes. After changing the hover over time, every time I would boot my computer, my mouse icon would become like the old Windows 95 mouse. I was able to change it back to look like normal, but it would default back every time I rebooted. I believe I still had some issue with the hover time, but at this point I don't really remember anymore. This was almost a month ago. I tried to import the previous registry file, but I couldn't get it to import. After trying multiple things and none of them allowing me to import the previous registry, I decided to do a system restore. And the system restore fixed the issue. But it also created another issue which I am still currently struggling with. Windows keeps deactivating itself roughly every 2 or 3 days. I don't always notice it, because sometimes the watermark won't show up, even if in the settings it is telling me to activate Windows. What's strange is that every time I hit the activation troubleshoot button, my Windows gets activated every single time. I've tried multiple things including updating Windows, updating all motherboard drivers and BIOS and using scannow in command prompt (which did find issues and fixed them, but that didn't help either). I even got a new Windows key for free through customer service from the online store where I purchased my cheap Windows key previously, but even this new key didn't resolve the issue. So here are the questions lingering on my mind. Are there any other troubleshooting methods I should try? Should I even bother fixing this if it causes no issues and keep on activating it manually every other day or so? Should I try resetting the PC or should I instead do a clean Windows install, is it worth it? Definitely not one of my proudest moments, all because I wanted to change some mouse settings Specs: i7-12700K RTX 2060 Super 32GB DDR5 5200MHz Z690-P WIFI Windows 11 Pro, 22H2 OS build: 22621.1265

Hi folks, So the other day, I upgraded to Windows 11 as well as my PC, and thus my digital Win 10 license with it. After running the hardware changes troubleshooter, it managed to pick up the new license and all was well. Couple days later I noticed some weird behaviour in Windows 11, like the Windows Security Dashboard was failing to open because Defender was not found for some reason, so I used the "Reset my PC" option. After the reset, activation was no longer working for some reason. So I did what you would normally do, and went onto Microsoft's support site (support.microsoft.com). I ended up speaking to a few different people on the phone but everyone just kept transferring me instead of helping me fix my issue. Finally, the last person told me to call the UK number the following day as they would be able to help me. Long story short, all the MS support numbers don't actually work anymore and they just redirect you back to the support website. So the next day I went into the Activation screen and used the "Get Help" button. This is important to note, to demonstrate that this was genuine MS support and not some sort of scam, the verification emails they sent were also from a Microsoft domain. This ended up putting me in a chat with another MS support person. They used Quick Assist to connect to my computer and did a bunch of troubleshooting steps. When none if it worked, eventually they went on "msg*ides.com" (not sure if domains are allowed here), and started following a "How to use Win 11 for free" guide. Basically they pointed Windows to a custom KMS, which almost certainly spoofs the key verification, and used a generic Key to activate the correct edition of Win 11. Naturally this seemed extremely dubious, so I called them out and asked them if this is legit, and they assured me that it was. I then created another chat with another person and asked them to verify the same and they did - so this is clearly not a rogue employee but part of the MS support script. In fact, I found this thread from a year ago which describes exactly the same process, so this has been going on for a while. So yeah, not really looking for advice on this, but I wanted to get this out there for people to see. I don't think I've ever experienced worse support than this in my life. @LinusTechfigured this may be an interesting topic for WAN show, I couldn't find any other posts about this on the forum. Happy to provide more details if necessary.

I got a new PC from a friend of mine and I plan to install Windows 10 on it, and I want to give the one I have to a family member. Is there any way to transfer the license key from this PC to the new one? My copy of Windows 10 was activated via a digital license connected to my Microsoft account. If I have to buy new keys that's fine, I just want to know if I can transfer the activation from one PC to another. Thanks in advance for the replies.

I am having a laptop with windows 10 Pro retail key digitally activated and linked to my Microsoft account. I am getting a great deal on Win 10 Pro retail key from a local seller (25 character key) at a great price. But since he has limited quantity available and my PC parts are on the way, I want to buy it now. If I buy now and I want to check whether it is working or not, can I use this newly purchased key with my laptop (key links to the same Microsoft account, because 30 keys can be linked to one MS A/C) and check whether it is working and then after a week or two when I complete my build, I will login with this same Microsoft account and use the second key to activate new PC's Win 10 Pro? Does this work?

I have an Asus X509FJ which came preinstalled with windows 10 home edition I want to do a clean reinstallation of windows 10 on this laptop as i am facing a lot of BSODs while playing games....randomly screen goes blank...pc feels sluggish despite having an SSD... its been an year and my laptop is out of warranty period So if i reinstall windows 10 on this laptop...will i be able to activate windows with the same key i had before...the one which came with the laptop? or will that key be invalid? if i wont be able to use that key again....i would take it to the shop...else i would do it on my own saving around 20$ for the installation fee can i note down the current key and type it again while reinstalling it? both my parents would be out tomorrow....i can do a reinstallation at peace without any disturbance

Firstly, I want to address that it is not my intention to promote or facilitate the piracy of any software. However, I believe that Windows 98 is a bit of a special case, since you can't buy it new, therefore the developers aren't making money off of it anyway. My question is about the product code and how to find it. I used an ISO from Internet Archive, didn't expect to have to enter a product code. None of the ones I found online worked, so I assume that the product code is disk-specific and is stored somewhere on the install CD? If so, where could I find that file? (I could just flash the OS to the boot drive, but I want to properly install it the way it was meant to be done. Mostly. Sort of.) Thank you!

I tried to install Microsoft office 2019 Pro Plus in my laptop and it did but, when I tried to activate it it through Microsoft Toolkit from Downloadly, the Office did not activate, soon I tried kms auto. But instead, it deactivated my Windows 10 Pro x64. And then, I cannot activate windows with kms and also the Windows Update and Activation page in Windows Update category in Settings was not opening. It was just loading. Also, I tried clicking the message appeared below settings "Windows isn't activated..... Activate Now" but, that just struck Settings app. I also noted some cmd windows poping up while after the startup at the desktop. How do I solve this issue?

Got an SSD for my mom's PC and i'm going to install Windows 10 on it, she wants it activated and is willing to pay, But spending $139 for basic Win10 Home from MS sounds crazy to me when i see there's multiple ebay listings for W10 Pro at around $50-65+ brand new for the key + disc or USB in box, over $100 cheaper than from MS...now before i go ahead and buy, Is there anything i'm missing here? What reason would anyone want to buy straight from MS and spend full price?

Hello, I am in need of a window activation key and I was wondering if any of you good people had a reliable website that you like to get your keys from. Thanks!!

A320 broke, replaced with a B550 using all the same components as before. Updated BIOS and Windows completely up to date Everything working fine except Windows no longer activated The troubleshooting process doesn't work. (select the "I recently changed hardware" option in Activation Troubleshooting) The error is like "Unable to reactivate windows using any of these devices" In my windows account the new motherboard is showing as a new PC (same PC name) I can't see any way to transfer the windows key from the old mobo to the new one. Is speaking to Microsoft my only option?

Okay so basically what went down is as follows, i built a pc, i went to buy a windows key off of G2A, then the key woulnd't work as it has been used before (told by windows). then i came across a website 'msguides', so i'm wondering is what they're doing illegal? I mean i tried it and it did work, but am (unwillingly) a 'pirate' now? Or is there something malicious they're trying to do on my pc? Thanks for any response. If anything i'm doing here is off topic not allowed feel free to remove this topic, but tell me first as i have no clue.

So many people talk on here about how you don't have to pay to use WIndows, so I thought a poll might be in order to see - have you actually activated Windows, or not?

Hi, like the topic says, i wanted to know what happens if i not activate Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. I know that on the Home-and Pro versions the desktop and taskbar settings are not changeable. Is there a difference of the restrictions in the Enterprise LTSC version?

I've got a bit of a weird question, is it possible to extract the OEM key from my old PC, it is a windows 7 key and is present in the firmware according to ShowKey Plus. Problem is, I've already formatted this pc as it had many viruses and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 and activated with my own key that I bought. Is it possible to change over to the the OEM key in the firmware so that I can use my own key for something else? Thanks in advance.

Hello i've got a problem: I just finished building my first ever pc and thought that to my microsoft linked windows product key is Windows Pro so i selected windows pro when installing, so here i noticed that the watermark is giving me a significant input delay when playing games, when i open task mgr into processes and turn off explorer.exe the input delay is gone with my taskbar and the watermark. What can i do?

I recently got new Hard drives for my PC. I'm going to have to reinstall Windows 10 Pro and and deal with activation. My problem is that I have additional hardware coming but It won't arrive until mid-June, and I need to install the drives by next week for a work project I'm about to start. I can't wait to install The question is can I install the drives and Windows 10 now and then install the rest later without having issues with Win 10 activation?

Hello there, so i have been having some BSOD problems with my install of windows 10 pro. I have recently bought this computer second hand and the guy activated the pc with windows 10 pro licence. Now i want to do a fresh install but i don't know if i can re use the licence, i know that it usually does it by getting it off the motherboard but i want to be sure. On the activation settings it says that it is linked to my account but i am still not sure. I have full reset this pc after i got it but not a fresh install. If any questions about if there is a hardware issue or if it is legit or not: yes i have checked every single bit that i can check and done benchmarks on it. The parts are indeed legit and working. BSOD problems? Different errors every time that always leads to driver issues. Even if i can fix it i just want to fresh install at this point, 5 blue screens with a on the top left is not a good thing while enjoying some games. Thanks in advance and have a good day

I can't believe these things have become so complicated. I purchased an Office 2019 key from G2A. How am I supposed to activate it?

From what I have read online, it seems like I would be able to create a windows 10 recovery flash drive, run it on any computer and just skip the activiation, and that should allow me to run an unlicensed version of windows 10, only having a few customization restrictions, annoying activation prompts and a watermark to deal with. Is this about right? Well... I'm building a new PC, and my old Laptop has a retail version of Windows 10 that was upgraded from windows 8. It is linked to my microsoft account. One added detail that I don't know weather is relevant or not is that my laptop is from Brazil, where I was living at the time (am now in Canada). So... If I want to transfer my account over to my new computer, and run unlicensed windows on my laptop, can I? And if so, will it require me to remove my account from my laptop before adding it to the PC? How would this work? Thanks to anyone willing to help.

I was going to build a new PC, so I deactivated the OEM key on the old one so that I could use it again. That's supposed to work according to https://whatsabyte.com/windows/deactivate-windows-product-key/. I installed windows, but it wouldn't let me use the key. The error code was 0xc004c060. Does this method work? Does it just take time for the information to update in Microsoft's servers? Thanks