My computer is saying I need to activate windows.

So around the beginning of the year my laptop stopped working and it was determined that the mother board had died. So instead of buying another laptop (since I seem to have bad luck with them) I decided to build a computer. Now I wanted everything from my laptop (including the os), so I just put the hard drive from my laptop into the computer, and everything worked, but now there is a little message in the bottom left corner of my screen saying to activate windows. My laptop never had that little message, and i'm not sure why it's say it is no longer active.

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Replies (2)

J W Stuart

Windows 10 is tied to the Laptop's motherboard. If the laptop came with an earlier version of Windows pre-installed by the manufacture then you must purchase a new copy of Windows 10.

If you had a "Retail" version of Windows installed on your laptop then you can use the product key to activate Windows 10 on your new system.

How to use your Windows 7 / 8 or 8.1 Product key to activate Windows 10.

Activation in Windows 10 - Microsoft improves activation process in Windows 10:

"We have received a lot of feedback from Insiders on making it easier to activate Windows 10 on devices that take advantage of the free upgrade offer to genuine Windows by using existing Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product keys. If you install this build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview on a PC and it doesn’t automatically activate, you can enter the product key from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 used to activate the prior Windows version on the same device to activate Windows 10 by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation and selecting Change Product Key. If you do a clean install of Windows 10 by booting off the media, you can also enter the product key from prior Windows versions on qualifying devices during setup."

Reference: http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/microsoft-improves-activation-process-windows-10

Additional information: Starting with the November update, Windows 10 (Version 1511) can be activated using most Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 product keys. For more info, see the section Activating Windows 10 (Version 1511 or higher) using a Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 product key in this topic.

Reference: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10

　

　

Activating after reinstalling Windows 10

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10

How you activate Windows 10 after reinstalling it depends on how Windows 10 was originally installed on your device. If you activated a free upgrade to Windows 10 or bought and activated Windows 10 from the Windows Store, you have a digital entitlement for your device. This means you can reinstall the same edition of Windows 10 that your device has a digital entitlement for without entering a product key. During reinstallation, if you’re asked to enter a product key, select Skip. Windows 10 will automatically activate online after the installation is complete.

If you previously installed and activated Windows 10 using a product key, you’ll need to enter the product key during reinstallation.

How to find your Windows 7 product key after upgrading to Windows 10 You upgraded your PC to Windows 10 and now you want to reinstall Windows 7 or Windows 8 key: http://www.pagestart.com/win10shkeyplus02271601.html

Select the Start button icon button, then select Settings > Update & security > Activation. If Windows 10 isn’t activated on your device, see Get help with Windows 10 activation errors for more info.

One of the most common is a generic key associated with "Digital entitlement" computers. Digital entitlement is a new method of activation in Windows 10 that doesn't require you to enter a product key: Windows 10 - What type of product key do I have?

Get help with Windows 10 activation errors: If you upgraded to Windows 10 for free and ended up in a non-activated state, try following these steps:

Select the Start button icon button, then select Settings > Update & security > Activation.

Reference: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-errors-windows-10

　

Activate Your Windows 10 License via Microsoft Chat Support

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/activate-windows-10-license-microsoft-support/

Customer support contact options: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/search?query=windows%2010&p=windows

J W Stuart: http://www.pagestart.com

Never be afraid to ask. This forum has some of the best people in the world available to help.