So I had to call Microsoft...

P

Patrick

Sysnative Staff
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Posts
4,618
Well, today was 'clean install of Windows' day. I got everything all set up, all drivers installed, etc. I go to to activate Windows and it tells me the product key isn't eligible for activation. I double check I typed everything in properly, and it was all typed exactly as it should have been. I knew there wasn't anything wrong with the key itself as I activated it on my laptop just a few weeks prior.

So, I used a feature I never thought I'd have to use 'activate by phone'. I got my installation ID, called Microsoft, and at first spoke to an automated system. I spoke as clear as I could, but it couldn't understand me and kept messing up. Thankfully, it redirected me to an operator. I told the operator my installation ID, the operator redirected me to a system that provided a key, I typed it in, and voila... genuine Windows.

The whole thing took less than ~10 minutes.

Kind of upset I don't have one of those cool Microsoft horror stories, but also glad my Windows is working as intended :lol:
 
What's strange is the serial number according to Speccy seems to be the exact same and didn't change, unless that's not accurate?
 
Thinking about it, it's the activation number they would have given you and I'm not sure if that can be used again.
 
The activation ID is different than the product code or the product key - it's generated when you input the product key, from a mix of hardware in the machine and the key itself. If you use the same key on the exact same hardware (sans USB devices), you should get the same product ID and it should re-activate. However, if it's OEM hardware, this is expected behavior.

Assuming this isn't an OEM version of Windows, either you've activated one too many times with that key, or the hardware didn't match. Those are the only two reasons for a non-OEM key to fail to activate.
 

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