Windows 10: Windows 10/11 Home Retail will not activate in new PC with old SSD

I just built a new PC to replace my aging system that runs a retail version of Windows 10/11 Home. I took advantage of the free upgrade from 10 to 11 after countless notifications from Microsoft... when it was offered, and I worry that this is the source of my problems. My plan was to deactivate my license on the old machine, remove the SSD and place it into the new PC, log in to my Microsoft account and reactivate my license.This did not work.The error I receive is "0xC004F211 - Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed." Running the troubleshooter does not help, nor doe

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How to activate Win 10 Home retail that was upgraded to Win 10/11 Pro on new PC

I built a new PC and would like to transfer my retail licensing from my old PC to my new one.

Timeline:

• Old Custom PC was built.
  
• Windows 10 Home edition was purchased from Microsoft Store 10/2020 for $139.00. I was provided a product key.
  
• Windows 10 Home edition installed to Old PC.
  
• Upgrade to Windows 10/11 Pro was purchased 08/2023.
  
• Old PC was upgraded to Windows 10 pro. Activation status shows as linked to my Microsoft account. Using CMD to produce product key does not work. Using slmgr /dlv command produces information stating I have retail licensing.
  
• New PC is built. Windows 11 Pro clean install and no previous information restored to this PC. Sign into Microsoft account during Windows setup.
  
• Reset old PC and wipe storage the secure and slow way in preparation to sell to a friend.
  
• New PC check activation status - NOT ACTIVE
  
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Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

• Troubleshoot button
  
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• I changed hardware on this device recently:
  
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  • Old PC was removed from my account, but at one point showed up here prior to removal and when attempting to use it it also failed.
    
  • The other linked devices are old PC's or my other handheld PC.
    
• Change product key > Entered my original Windows 10 Home product key from 10/2020 purchase and it does not work.
  

Next Steps?

• At this point I am trying to determine if my original license key was upgrade to be a 10/11 pro key or if it retains its Win 10 Home status and is only valid for a Win 10 Home installation. If this is the case and I were to install windows 10 home I do not see how I would be able to update to Windows 11 Pro again.
  
• I contact support.... Multiple times to no avail.
  
  • First call - confirmed all the same basic steps as above then transferred me to installation support. Installation support answered then hung up the phone at the end of my explanation.
    
    • I gave up for the night as this was ~11:30 PM
      
  • Today I have gone through all the same steps again with another agent before being transferred to technical support. Tech support remotes into my device and goes the the slmgr array of commands in attempt to resolve and when I get a "core error" tells my my installation of Windows 11 Pro is corrupt and provides an email with a set of instructions for a "custom installation". Steps are followed to go through the normal procedure of doing essentially a Windows 11 clean install via downloading the Windows 11 Pro ISO and navigating to setup. I opted to reinstall Windows 11 Pro and keep no files.
    
    • Clean install I opted to not restore any previous backups and setup as a new PC. After logging into my Microsoft account during setup I again navigate to Activation to arrive at the same result. Not Active.
      
    • Basic troubleshooting steps again leaves me in the same boat.
      
    • Support hung up as soon as I got past the initial robo voice questions.
      
    • Support will no longer even give me a callback when going through the "Get Help" options where I provide my phone number.
      
  • For context... at no point was I even slightly rude or impatient and opted to record every call.
    

Apologies for the novel, but would rather provide all the information up front. At this point I do not know where I am at in the support process and feel after spending nearly $250, after tax, on retail licensing I am being pressured with lack of support difficulties to spend another $200 on new licensing as I am many hours deep into this now with 0 resolution.

 

will windows activate if my old pc has windows 10 pro activate will it activate on a new windows 11 pro pc?

My old dell desktop pc is windows 10 pro and it is activated it is a retail version. I ordered a new gaming pc and it comes with windows 11 pro but unactivated if I log in to my new gaming pc with my old windows 10 pro Microsoft account, will it have my new gaming pc already activated even if i log into my new gaming pc with an microsoft account already linked to windows 10 pro.

 

Transferring a retail Windows 11 Pro licence to a new PC

I have an old PC running Windows 11 Pro, "activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account". This is a retail licence purchased from the Microsoft Store.



This old PC is now suffering from various hardware problems, so I have bought a new one. This has been running Windows 11 Home under an OEM licence, also "activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account".

My question is, how do I deactivate the Windows 11 Pro licence on the old PC and activate it on the new PC? I know this is an obvious question, and after some searching I found one answer I thought addressed my particular issue.

I followed the steps set out in Redirecting but now I'm stuck. The troubleshooter on the new PC says "we found a Windows Home digital licence for this device running Windows 11 Pro. To activate using this digital licence, you need to install Windows 11 Home". At the final step, "See other devices linked to your Microsoft account" only shows the old PC, with the Windows 11 Pro licence. I am signed on to the same Microsoft account on both PCs and can see them both in "Devices".

I'm not worried about the licensing on the old PC, as it's going to be recycled anyway.