Forum Discussion
Windows 11 Pro not activated after a hardware change
Hello there!
Hello, I am an Insider since 2015 and I have digital license for Windows linked to my account. Recently my hard drive died and I had to replace it with a new one. I preformed a fresh installation of Windows 11 Pro. After I logged in in my Microsoft account my system wasn't activated and I am getting error 0xC004F213. I contacted twice Microsoft's live support, but the issue wasn't solved.
I already tried with the troubleshooter, but it shows this:
The option I changed hardware on this device... is not working too.
According to winver the system is licensed correctly.
As I said I am an Insider before the release of Windows 10 and I reinstalled and changed devices a lot of times and I never faced this issue.
System details:
Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 23H2
Installed on 4.11.2023 г.
OS build 22635.2700
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22678.1000.0
- As you've retail license, you may have the product key with you. Can you try manually inserting product key and see if it activates the OS.
- I do not have product key because my license is linked to my Microsoft account. I got this license joining Windows Insider program (before the official release of Windows 10) with generic key. Until now it was working great on Windows 11 and now after changing the SSD all of a sudden it stopped working.
- Firmware-embedded activation key
To determine if the computer has a firmware-embedded activation key, enter the following command at an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt:
PowerShell:
(Get-CimInstance -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey
If the device has a firmware-embedded activation key, it will be displayed in the output. If the output is blank, the device doesn't have a firmware embedded activation key.
