Win 10 Activation

[JDL49]

I've just gone thru a rebuild. The unit was finished on 12/13 and I brought it home on 12/18.
The OS was installed but was un-activated. Because the death of the old build was heat related
(SSD & Video Card died) I decided to replace the slightly* wonky motherboard because there
was no clear evidence of the cause of the meltdown besides the dead parts and I was unwilling
to take a chance the old MB was good. Also FWIW this was a 3 year old AMD 1500x build.

The OS on the old build was an OEM version of Win 10 and of course it's gone. I bought another
activation code from Keyquin but I got a message of "this code has been used" when I tried to
activate. In looking at other versions of the OS on EBay I ran across a comment that indicated that
a user of the educational version who had the same issue. He called MS and said they fixed the
problem. I'll try to call MS on Saturday but I have my doubts they'll help with my OEM version.
Anyway now I am curious about the educational version of the OS. At $80ish its cheaper than a MS
store version but having gotten bit once I'm a bit leery. Is there any sort of potential problem here ?
The description appears imo to say that the OS is portable unlike the OEM version. That's about it.
Thanks for bothering to read this.


* 2 USB slots had died.

[Thunderball]

Just write to Kinguin and let them know your code has been used. They sell gray market codes so that stuff sometimes happens, but is usually resolved pretty easily through support. About your OEM code - MS are usually pretty helpful if you tell them that your motherboard died, so there's a pretty big chance they might be able to help you, provided you still have all the docs.

[Aleksej89]

Talk to kinguin first and see can they help you (their text support has always served me well).
If all that fails then try contacting microsoft.

Back in the time of windows 7 i recall using the official microsoft phone line/number to activate my windows 7 over phone (automated answering machine in english, not a live human).
Perhaps google is there still a similar thing for windows 10, those phone activation processes were fairly relaxed and generous.

[Faeldan_US]

If you h ave access to your MS account on Microsoft, you can find your MS key there I thought or did they change that when you do a new rebuild with newer parts?

[Kagthul]

If you h ave access to your MS account on Microsoft, you can find your MS key there I thought or did they change that when you do a new rebuild with newer parts?

depends on if your serial is tied to your MS account or is an OEM keytied to the hardware

[JDL49]

depends on if your serial is tied to your MS account or is an OEM keytied to the hardware

In my case the key was tied to the MB.

As for Keyquin I opened a ticket last Sunday and have yet to hear from them. But of course week last wasn't exactly normal
so at least some slack imo is called for.

[Kagthul]

In my case the key was tied to the MB.

As for Keyquin I opened a ticket last Sunday and have yet to hear from them. But of course week last wasn't exactly normal
so at least some slack imo is called for.

You can still try to install it on the new machine. Ive only had to call MS once. Out of dozens of total rebuilds,even using OEM keys. The magic words are basically "my old machine died completely" and theyll pretty much just refresh the authorization without any further questions.

[JDL49]

You can still try to install it on the new machine. Ive only had to call MS once. Out of dozens of total rebuilds,even using OEM keys. The magic words are basically "my old machine died completely" and theyll pretty much just refresh the authorization without any further questions.

I was unable to ever talk with an actual human being at the MS Help Line but I was able to activate it using the command line approach. That method gave me a real long activation key (about 42 digits iirc). Hopefully this is the end of it. BTW how were you able to get to an actual human jic this bites me again ? Thx again.

[lloose]

For what its worth, I've gone through 4 or 5 different computers without putting in a key. Mine is tied to my MS account. I log in during installation and by the time it runs its first updates, its already activated. This has been the case on my 7700k system, 9900k system, and now my 10900k system. All different hardware top to bottom.

[Twoddle]

For what its worth, I've gone through 4 or 5 different computers without putting in a key. Mine is tied to my MS account. I log in during installation and by the time it runs its first updates, its already activated. This has been the case on my 7700k system, 9900k system, and now my 10900k system. All different hardware top to bottom.

OEM or retail? I've also been through a number of different machines and motherboard upgrades by inputting the same educational licensed key. OEM is more strict I believe. I refuse to link it to a Microsoft account if I can help it.

One thing I haven't tried is activating Windows 10 on a virtual machine with the same key because if activations are limited I don't want to use them up.

If it's anything like Windows XP was you'll get about 10 activations before you have to phone in.

[lloose]

OEM or retail? I've also been through a number of different machines and motherboard upgrades by inputting the same educational licensed key. OEM is more strict I believe. I refuse to link it to a Microsoft account if I can help it.

One thing I haven't tried is activating Windows 10 on a virtual machine with the same key because if activations are limited I don't want to use them up.

If it's anything like Windows XP was you'll get about 10 activations before you have to phone in.

It originally was Windows 7 Pro OEM. I used the free upgrade to 10 years back.

[Thunderball]

OEM or retail? I've also been through a number of different machines and motherboard upgrades by inputting the same educational licensed key. OEM is more strict I believe. I refuse to link it to a Microsoft account if I can help it.

One thing I haven't tried is activating Windows 10 on a virtual machine with the same key because if activations are limited I don't want to use them up.

If it's anything like Windows XP was you'll get about 10 activations before you have to phone in.

It works through Microsoft account. If you refuse to use it you have to deal with inputting the key every time and calling support.

[Twoddle]

It works through Microsoft account. If you refuse to use it you have to deal with inputting the key every time and calling support.

I'll take that any day.