Reinstalling windows 10 after motherboard replacement. Replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows

Have you had to change computer components, and after that you could not activate the operating system? This guide will show you the steps to take using the Activation Troubleshooter tool to re-activate Windows systems 10.

When you make major changes to your computer components, such as changing hard drive or motherboard, Windows 10 cannot properly recognize the computer and the operating system is not activated. Previously, if Windows 10 lost activation due to hardware changes, you had to contact technical support Microsoft to reactivate, which wasn't ideal at all.

Now Microsoft has simplified the process. Starting with the July Anniversary Update, you can link your Microsoft Account (MSA) to a digital Windows licenses 10 on your computer. The new feature allows you to access the Activation Troubleshooter and reactivate Windows 10.

This Windows 10 guide will walk you through the process of linking your Microsoft account to your digital license, and how to use the Activation Troubleshooter to reactivate your system.

How to link a digital license and a Microsoft account

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Open the Update & Security section.
3. Click Activation.
4. Click Add Account. (The account must have administrator rights).
5. Enter your account username and password Microsoft records and click Login. If the local account is not associated with a Microsoft account, you must enter the password for the local account.

When this process is complete, you will see "Windows activated with a digital license associated with a Microsoft account" on the Activation page, so the linking was successful.

If you used a Microsoft account when you upgraded to Windows 10, it was automatically linked to a digital license and you will see the message "Windows is activated with a digital license associated with a Microsoft account." In this case, you can skip the previous step and move on to the next one.

How to use the troubleshooter to reactivate Windows 10

After linking your Microsoft account and digital license, you can use the Activation Troubleshooter tool to reactivate Windows 10 after you replace parts on your computer.

If you want to see other devices linked to your account, you can click "View other devices linked to your Microsoft account". This page provides a list of devices in three categories (Revision doesn't match, Device type doesn't match, Windows is not activated) that tell you the reasons why Windows 10 can't be activated on other devices.

Additional Steps

If your device does not appear in the list, there may be several reasons for this.

To get started, make sure you're signed in with the Microsoft account you previously linked to your Windows 10 digital license.

If you are using the required Microsoft account, you need to consider the reasons for the inability to activate. Here is a list of possible reasons:

• Windows 10 never activated on this computer;
• unlicensed version is used operating system;
• the edition of Windows 10 does not match the edition associated with the digital license;
• the type of the linked device does not match the type of device linked to the digital license;
• the number of repeated activations is limited. If this number is exceeded, you will not be able to activate Windows 10;
• the edition of the operating system installed on your computer is not Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Home;
• the computer is managed by your organization, in which case the reactivation tool is not available. You need to contact the system administrator;
• If after using the Activation Troubleshooter it was not possible to activate Windows 10, you need to contact Microsoft technical support.

Conclusion

From the first Windows release 10 Microsoft is working on improving the system, including in the area of ​​its activation. However, activation problems continue to occur from time to time, so the new tool is designed to solve them and allow you to easily change computer components.

Activation Troubleshooter will be available with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Test program participants can use the tool from build 14371 or later.

Obviously, you can't reactivate Windows 10 after a hardware change without adding a Microsoft account to your computer. Troubleshoot is not available if the system is activated.

Microsoft also renamed the type Windows key 10 from "digital entitlement" to "digital license".

If one day you decide to replace your old motherboard with a new one, you don't have to reinstall the Windows 10 operating system. In this article, we'll show you how to replace your motherboard without reinstalling Windows.

Actually, this is very simple instruction, but many users do not know about this method, so they simply reinstall Windows. All you have to do is change your account Windows entry to a Microsoft account instead of a local one account.

Now let's take a closer look at each step.

Step 1: Change your Windows 10 account to a Microsoft account.

What does it mean? Instead of signing into Windows 10 with a local account, you'll sign in to Windows using your Microsoft account. To do this, you need to use a Microsoft online password to log into Windows (temporarily), or set a 4-digit PIN as a password.

The key to this step is that when you link Windows 10 to a Microsoft online account, your operating system "activation key" is stored on the company's servers. This way you will be able to reactivate the OS without reinstalling it.

To switch to a Microsoft account, follow these steps:

Click the button Start» ( windows logo) and select " Options". Press " Update and Security". Then select " Activation” in the menu on the left, and click on “ Add account»

You will need to enter your Microsoft account email and password.

Step 2: Replace the motherboard and reactivate Windows 10

Once you've switched to using a Microsoft account, you can replace your motherboard. When Windows 10 boots up again, return to the section "Settings" - "Update and Security" - "Activation". You will see that Windows is not activated.

Then sign in to your Microsoft account again as shown in the image above.

On the next screen, you need to select your computer and click the " Activate»:

Windows 10 will copy " activation key from your online Microsoft account and relink it to your computer.

That's all! You can now work with your old Windows system and new motherboard using your Microsoft account. If you want to revert to a local account, follow the next step.

Step 3. Return to a local account.

You can switch back to using a local account instead of a Microsoft account. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click " Start" and " Options».

2. Select the section " Accounts».

3. From the menu on the left, select " Your data».

4. Click on " Sign in with a local account instead».

You will need to enter your Microsoft account password and install New Password from a local account (if needed).

Voila! You just replaced your motherboard and upgraded your PC without having to reinstall Windows 10 and everything.

Very soon (and to be exact, on July 29, 2016), an upgrade from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 to Windows 10 will cost 119 bucks for the Home version or 199 for the Pro version. No alternative. And that's just one aspect. But there are others. For example, activation.

If you remember that Windows 10 uses a so-called "digital license" instead of a traditional product key. Then the question arises: will a free upgrade remain free after replacing some computer components, in particular the motherboard?

And so, as it turned out, the answer to this question is most likely to be positive.

At least, judging by the changes found in the recently released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14371 (by the way, they should also be included in the looking July mega-upgrade of the system).

This assembly presents a new Activation Troubleshooter utility, with which the user will just have to decide " most common problems"that will occur when activated" original Windows 10» on a PC after replacing its motherboard or hard drive.

Activation Troubleshooter will also tell you how to upgrade to the desired OS if, for example, having a Windows 10 Pro activation key, the user mistakenly installed the Home version on the PC.

Microsoft also clarifies that the utility is focused only on troubleshooting problems associated with significant changes to the computer configuration (i.e., the level of replacement of the "motherboard" or "screw") and will work provided that the user account in Microsoft before making these changes was already linked to a digital license of the version of Windows 10 installed on the corresponding PC. However, if a Microsoft account was previously used to log in to this system, then it was automatically “linked” to the digital license.

However, you can also link your account to a digital license manually. On Windows 10, this is done as follows: settings menu -> "Settings" -> "Update and security" -> "Activation" -> "Add account" button (it must have administrator rights). Next, the system may request a Microsoft account login and password. If the local account is not associated with a Microsoft account, you must enter the password for the local account. If the local account is not associated with a Microsoft account, you can enter the password for the local account.

Upon successful completion of the procedure in the section " Activation» the message « Windows activated with a digital license associated with a Microsoft account «.

After that, you can run the utility Activation Troubleshooter: settings menu -> "Settings" -> "Update and Security" -> "Activation" . If the page displays " Windows is not activated“, click Troubleshoot to continue (the account must be with administrator rights).

In the next window, click on the link I recently changed components to this device ", enter the username and password of your Microsoft account and click" To come in "(if the Microsoft acc has not been added to the computer, enter local account password and press " Further "). The system will display a list of devices that with this Microsoft account, select the device that should be activated again (or " This is the device I am currently using.") and click " Activate ". More or less like this.

Now the user can purchase a Windows 10 activation key in the Windows Store or buy it along with a new OS stored on a USB flash drive in a regular store. The cost of "tens" is 119, 99 and 199.99 dollars (7,900 and 13,900 rubles) for Home or Pro version. In addition, the user can upgrade to it from Windows 7 or 8.x. But the OS activation system itself in the top ten has undergone changes.

If after replacing the components you have lost Windows activation 10, do the following.

1. Start Menu → Settings app → Update & Security → Activation → Troubleshoot.
   

   Important! This option is displayed only on devices with non-activated Windows 10. In this case, the user must be sure to log into the OS under an administrator account.

2. In the troubleshooter that opens, click on the item "I recently changed hardware on this device" (I changed hardware on this device recently).
   
3. Enter your account login and password → Sign in.
   
   

   Important! If the specified Microsoft account is not connected to the network, you will need to enter the details (login and password) of the local account.

4. Select from the proposed list the computer on which the reactivation process is running by checking the box (This is the device I'm using right now) if several devices are linked to the account → Activate.
   
   

   Important! If the list of devices doesn't show the one that needs to be reactivated, check that the correct Microsoft account you signed in with and previously linked a Windows 10 digital license to is correct.

5. To view other gadgets linked to the specified Microsoft account, click "View other devices linked to your Microsoft account" (See other devices linked to your Microsoft account).
   

If the reactivation failed the first time, Microsoft advises to pay attention to the reasons due to which this could happen:

• the wrong one is activated Windows edition 10, which was tied to the device before the upgrade;
• previously Windows 10 was not activated;
• the type of device on which the digital license recovery process is being performed does not match the one on which it was previously used (the user uses a completely different PC);
• The limit on the number of attempts to activate Windows 10 on the PC has been reached;
• the device has several administrator accounts, and under one of them a digital license has already been restored;
• The computer is managed by the organization, so reactivation is not available.

If you encounter these problems, you need to contact Microsoft technical support in your country by phone or by writing an email.

Why is this happening?

In old Windows versions activation proceeded as follows. When you purchase a license to use the OS or a new computer with installed Windows the user received a key that activated it. Moreover, if it was used on one computer that broke down over time, or the user completely changed the components, it was possible to reuse this key after revoking the license from the old PC.

At using Windows 10 the license is "linked" to specific device, which receives a unique identification number when the OS is activated, and a Microsoft account. If the user upgrades the device, the identification number may change, causing Windows 10 activation to fail.

Depending on the importance of the component, its “weight” also differs, affecting the need to re-activate the “tens”. So, if the hard drive, keyboard or mouse were replaced, nothing will happen. But in the case of installing a new processor, RAM or motherboard, activation will most likely be lost.

Replacement of components is a feature of the desktop PC platform and the prerogative of the user. But he should not lose activation if he changes components and received Windows 10 by switching to it from earlier versions of the OS. Microsoft is well aware of this, so they did everything to simplify the re-licensing procedure.

If earlier the user had to call Microsoft technical support, where he explained the situation in detail, trying to prove that he was not going to install Windows 10 on new computer, now this check is performed automatically.