How to link windows 10 to an account. How to create bootable USB media using the Media Creation Tool
Let's assume this situation. You have replaced some element of the computer. For example, change the RAM. Or even bought new computer and want to install Windows on it. And physically the product key disappeared somewhere. And it becomes unknown how to activate the OS in this case.
But there is a way out. Initially, you can link your Windows license to a Microsoft account so that you can only activate by logging in.
- If a account not yet, please register
- Then, in your already activated copy of Windows 10, go to Start -> Options -> Accounts -> Email and app accounts and press "Add account"
- We go back to Options-> further in Update and Security -> Activation and in this section select "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead" and enter the required data
Three simple steps. But I pay attention that now after switching on Windows computer will constantly require you to enter your account password Microsoft records. This can be disabled, instructions in the corresponding
Binding Windows licenses 10 to your account is extremely important in case you want to retain the right to transfer it to another computer or continue to use it after changing components. So you need to know how to link a licenseWindows 10 to account.
It should be understood that not all licenses can be saved for use on other computers. For ordinary user In principle, there are two types of license for Windows:
- OEM license. This is the case when Windows comes pre-installed and activated right out of the box by the manufacturer.
- Retail license. Users buy this license separately from the computer in the form of a key or installation media. They are used for a wide variety of purposes, most often to activate Windows on a computer assembled by oneself.
OEM licenses cannot be transferred. Bought a new computer or a new motherboard? You will have to buy a new key for Windows 10. OEM keys remain tied to the device for life and cannot be transferred in any way.
Retail licenses can be transferred. You can change computer components (motherboard, for example) or even buy / assemble a new PC. To retain the right to use the purchased key, you must follow the procedure for linking a license to a Microsoft account.
Important: you cannot use Retail keys on two or more computers at the same time. Transferring a license will cancel the activation on the previous device. One license per computer.
This whole process is done with Activation Assistant, which was introduced with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.
Important: You must manually bind the license on the computer where the local account is used. If you sign in with an MSA account, the link will go through automatically.
- Open Start - Settings - Update & Security. In the side menu, select the item Activation and from there click on the button Add account. The account running this action must have Administrator rights.
- Enter your Microsoft account information - username and password. If everything went well, Windows will inform you that the activation was done using a digital license associated with a Microsoft user profile.
- After that, your license will be attached to your account, and you can transfer it to another computer or upgrade the hardware in your device.
How to restore a license on Windows 10?
- On a new or updated computer open Settings - Update & security. In step Activation click Troubleshooting.
- Now the system should notify you about activation problems and the inability to activate the installed copy of Windows. Click to solve the error I recently changed Hardware on this device.
- Enter the data for the account to which the license is linked. If you are using an account with linked activation, simply skip the step where you need to enter profile information.
- In the next step, Windows will display a list of computers that use your Windows key 10. Select the one to which the license is transferred and check the box This is the device I am using right now. Then click Activate.
After that, the system will be activated.
Until today, when a user installed one of Windows versions, the usual thing was to enter a license key. Now, starting with the new Windows 10 build number 14371, the activation mechanism has changed - the key must now be entered once.
After entering the key once, the Microsoft license is automatically linked to the MSA account, or Microsoft Account. If the operating system is installed for the first time, or if the device is updated to new system from Windows 7/8.1 versions, the activation status remains saved on the server, and then, during subsequent installations, it is only confirmed.
It should be noted that Microsoft does not disclose everything to the smallest detail of how exactly the Windows 10 activation process is implemented, most likely, this is done so that hackers are discouraged. The good news is that the process of reinstalling the system "from scratch" has changed and the previously required key "sank into oblivion". In addition, when a user updates their device from Windows 7 and 8 to Windows 10, a unique identifier is created that refers to a specific gadget, which is based on license key and combination of components. If the system is reinstalled on the same device, it will be activated automatically. Of course, for the user, this kind of option will be at least convenient, since if you have to change the hardware, or in some other case, it will become easier to reactivate Windows.
If we stop at desktops, then in this case, when using a Microsoft account instead of a local account, the license will be “linked” to the MSA automatically. For this purpose, the developers have created a service for Windows 10 that implements activation verification while maintaining its status on the network. If the license fails for some reason, then with the help of the new Activation troubleshooter service, as well as your own Microsoft account, the license is easily restored.
It is noteworthy that if the user changed the video card or HDD on the desktop, then the Windows activation system will not consider this as a replacement for the computer, as a result of which the user will avoid many problems. Except that the new motherboard is still seen by Microsoft as a transition to a completely new device. In such a case, Software Licensing Management will request reactivation, which can be implemented on the mobile device.
If the user purchased a copy of Windows not together with the hardware, then the user can use the right to transfer the system to another computer. But when Windows, along with an OEM license, was preinstalled on the desktop out of the box, then transfer to another device is impossible. According to preliminary data, the new feature will appear in the release build of the Anniversary Update in a month.
Shortly after the release of the new operating system it became clear that during the transition of the legal version 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10, the free license is tied to the hardware of the computer, and not to the Microsoft account, as was originally intended. At the same time, the system automatically receives the same product key for all updated ones.
Microsoft does not want to go into details about the activation process, so as not to assist the pirates, but at the same time it makes the issue of licensing incomprehensible.
The free license for Windows 10 is different from previous Windows licensing systems. AT modern computers with Windows 8 and 8.1, as with new Windows 10 devices, the product key is embedded in the UEFI firmware. If you buy a copy of Windows 10—for example, to install it on a PC you build—it will also come with a unique key.
In all these cases, the product key is used to activate Windows. However, the free upgrade to Windows 10 does not include a key. It is embedded directly into the installer and is automatically entered during the upgrade process, but if you look at it with a specialized tool and then compare it to your friend's key, for example, who also did free update to Windows 10, you will find that they are completely identical.
How Free Windows 10 Licensing Works
When migrating from Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1, the installer registers a unique ID that allows Windows activation servers to identify your PC hardware.
Subsequently, if you reinstall Windows 10 on the same computer, the system will automatically contact the activation servers, which, in turn, after making sure that this particular configuration is allowed to use free license 10s will automatically activate your copy. That is, in the process clean install you can safely skip all those steps where you need to enter a product key, knowing that after installation the system will be activated automatically.
In this way, automatic activation will only crash if the computer is using the same hardware as when it was upgraded to Windows 10.
What happens after replacing PC components?
Replacement hard drive, random access memory or video card should not be causing the problem. Of course, the same applies to the replacement of peripherals.
However, in the answers to frequently asked questions, Microsoft writes that installing a new motherboard(and probably the processor) will invalidate the license. That is, the company's servers will treat the computer as a completely different configuration without the right to a free upgrade.
In this case, it will also be possible to install the ten from scratch without entering a product key, but after installation the system will not be activated automatically and will be considered non-genuine until you activate it. At the same time, the activation screen itself will offer you to purchase a license in the Windows Store.
However, there's no need to rush into this, as Gabe Ohl, vice president of technical support for the Windows & Devices group at Microsoft, claims that you can simply contact support, explain your situation, and they will activate your copy without any problems.
Can I transfer my free Windows 10 license to another PC?
The answer to this question is on official page answers to frequently asked questions and, most importantly, it is clearly spelled out in the user agreement.
When upgrading to Windows 10 from a pre-installed (OEM) or retail (Retail) version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1, the user will retain the right to use the license that was assigned to the original version of the operating system.
If you are upgrading from Retail, your a copy of Windows 10 will receive the rights of the retail version, which means that it can later be transferred to another computer. However, whenever you transfer to another computer software must be removed from the old device, otherwise you can be left without a license at all.
Unlike Retail, the terms of the OEM version don't include license transfer, but given that Microsoft support can activate Windows 10 when you change the motherboard, there's a chance that the company will also activate a copy ported to a completely different device at your request. Although it needs to be tested in practice, but if this is the case, then the difference between Retail and OEM becomes quite blurry.
