Windows Activation Lincense

Question

I recently broke my computer HDD, and in very stupid fashion threw it away. I don't need any data recovered, but I do want my windows activation license back. I bought an HDD with the trial version of windows installed so at least I can use the computer for now, but its slow as a potato and I want to buy an SSD. Before I do that, is there any way I can recover my old windows activation code from the windows cloud? I really don't want to spend 100+ bucks on windows 10.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,

If you make significant changes to your computer hardware, such as changing your motherboard, the license for your copy of Windows 10 may become deactivated.
Your Windows 10 license must be linked to your Microsoft account to reactivate it.

Check to see if your copy of Windows is already linked to your Microsoft account.

Open your Settings.
Click Update & security.
Click Activation.
If your account is already linked, you'll see "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account" under Windows on the right. If you see this, you can skip to the next section.
Otherwise, click Add an account.
Enter your Microsoft account name and password. You may also need to enter the password for your local account (the password you use to log in to your computer). Click Sign in.

If your account was successfully linked, you'll see "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account" in your Activation settings screen.

If you're still unable to reactivate your version of Windows, contact Microsoft. Explain that you changed the hardware on your computer, but the Windows license is not reactivating when you use Activation Troubleshooter.

Hope above information can help you.

Answer 2

Something here may help. Hopefully you have linked your license to your microsoft account.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

(please don't forget to mark helpful replies as answer)

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Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows Server] Datacenter Management

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.

Answer 3

Your device was probably activated with a digital license for an Edition of Windows 10. As long as you install the same Edition, it will retain its digital licence. It does not matter if you replace the hard disk, or replace it with an SSD, or add more RAM, etc. There is no need to install a trial version.

You can create USB bootable install media for Windows 10. As long as you install the same Edition (e.g. Home or Pro) that you have a digital license for, it will auto-activate, once you go online. It will not require the use of any Product Key during install. Choose Custom install and delete all disk partitions. Install directly to the Unallocated disk space.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10