Started Getting the "Activate Windows" Message

[avrona]

So today I've started getting the "Activate Windows" notification out of nowhere. I tried doing the activation troubleshooting but it said it can't activate the device. I've upgraded my CPU, mobo, and RAM yesterday, but yesterday it was fine, only today I've started getting the message. Any ideas on what's going on?

[Skiiwee29]

Windows keys are tied to the mobo. So since you swapped it out, this is why, its seeing a different hardware ID. You need to run the slui.exe from the run window and follow the instructions. 

[TheDelphiDude]

Did you do a fresh install of Windows, or merely moved over the drive containing the Windows installation?

If it's the latter, the activation check has been triggered by a hardware change. The fact that you've changed CPU and mainboard is more than sufficient for Microsoft seeing it as a different PC.

If it's the former, did you enter the product key during installation? Because no attempts at activation occur until Windows is actually installed and even then it doesn't immediately check its activation status.

So no weird things are going. All of this is by design. If you have a retail key, try the phone option for activation. If it's an OEM key you can still try the phone option, but there is zero guarantee of success.

[avrona]

5 minutes ago, TheDelphiDude said:

Did you do a fresh install of Windows, or merely moved over the drive containing the Windows installation?

If it's the latter, the activation check has been triggered by a hardware change. The fact that you've changed CPU and mainboard is more than sufficient for Microsoft seeing it as a different PC.

If it's the former, did you enter the product key during installation? Because no attempts at activation occur until Windows is actually installed and even then it doesn't immediately check its activation status.

So no weird things are going. All of this is by design. If you have a retail key, try the phone option for activation. If it's an OEM key you can still try the phone option, but there is zero guarantee of success.

I just upgraded the CPU, mobo, and RAM in my PC and didn't reinstall Windows. 

[TheDelphiDude]

Just now, avrona said:

I just upgraded the CPU, mobo, and RAM in my PC and didn't reinstall Windows.

In that case the activation check was triggered by a change in hardware which means you'll need to re-activate Windows.

[avrona]

1 minute ago, TheDelphiDude said:

In that case the activation check was triggered by a change in hardware which means you'll need to re-activate Windows.

And that's what I've been trying to do with their tool for that and it hasn't worked.

[TheDelphiDude]

Do you get an error message? If so, which one?

[avrona]

1 minute ago, TheDelphiDude said:

Do you get an error message? If so, which one?

[TheDelphiDude]

I found this when looking into re-activating Windows using a Microsoft account.

[vaiwalker]

tried the phone support? it looks more like a connection issue. check your IP settings. could be a virus changing your DNS

[FatherChaos]

If your windows 10 was originally a windows 7 or 8 or 8.1 upgrade you need to have that original key, or they wont reactivate your windows 10.(but if you have it you have to call)

 

During the upgrade process your windows key got turned into a generic key, so the auto-activation cant pull your original key. and you couldn't pull it yourself if you wanted to.