Windows 10: W10 product key reactivation after hardware upgrade

Hi there,So I have this nice gaming PC and I'm planning to upgrade some of its hardware next month MoBo, CPU and SSD. I bought W10 from an online retailer back in 2016 and they shipped a small blue box with an activation key inside but I've moved twice to different apartments since then and I've lost that box. Is w10's product key linked to your MS account? After upgrading do I need to reenter my lost product key? or after logging in into my MS account my key will be reactivated automatically?Thanks.

:)

 

Windows 10 Product Key reactivation on new hardware

Hi guys

Sorry if this question seems repetitive but I need to know about reactivating a copy of W10 in a future system.

Basically from time to time I would build a new computer for myself, its mostly big changes to both hardware and even the case designs etc.

After upgrading my hardware I use my genuine retail copy of Windows 8.1 and it gets reactivated on the new system etc.

If any old hardware is reused to build a different system a new version of Windows will be reinstalled rather than my copy etc.

If the W10 product keys are stored to my account and say in 2 years I make big changes to my hardware, will I still have my copy of W10 and will it reactivate to a new system or what way does it work?

Also is there an ISO file of W10 available to download? In case of reinstallations and the like.

Thanks

 

Reusing W10 Home product key after upgrading to W10 Pro

A long time ago I upgraded a computer from W10 Home to W10 Pro. This was a custom build and both the original W10 Home activation and the new W10 Pro activation were done via product keys ordered from Amazon.

No Microsoft account has ever been involved with either key. Back in May of this year I completely reinstalled Windows but I don't really recall if I had to reactivate the license or not.

And now I'm wondering if I could reuse the original W10 Home product key on another computer, and if it would affect the current W10 Pro activation in any way. Would the original Home product key still be tied to my main computer's motherboard or did that history get wiped when I upgraded to Pro?

 

Reactivate W10 Pro Purchased as an upgrade

Hi Aditya,

1. My new laptop has Windows 10 Home on it. "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account".

Note: I tried the Change Product Key option last night. My Showkey scan of my old PC gave me two product keys: an "Installed" key and an "OEM" key. If I use the Installed key if fails because I "don't have a valid digital license or product key." (0x803fa067)
When I tried the OEM key, I get "We've activated this copy of Windows." - but it stays at W10 Home.

2. I'm signed into this new laptop with a Microsoft account. I'm 99% certain that I signed into the old laptop with a local account.

Following your steps above, I don't see a Start Upgrade option. I can try to change the product key, with the same results as before.

The receipt for my W10 upgrade purchase is stored in my MS account, but has no product keys listed.

Mark