Windows License Will Not Transfer to New Motherboard
I've gone in circles for 2 days now with AI support bots, trouble shooters, and agonizing search engine queries. In my old PC setup, I had Windows 11 Pro; under the activation tab in settings, it shows it is linked to my Microsoft account. Great, should be a piece of cake. I install a new mobo and fresh install windows 11 pro after migrating the M.2 to the new mobo, and I am met with this screen when I try to input the same, old Windows key: Whatever, I'll follow the troubleshooter: Fantastic, I'll follow both of those links because SURELY that is all I have to do to resolve this: It doesn't list any devices, which is complete BS because I can see everything in my Microsoft devices: It doesn't list any of my other devices, despite being logged in to the new PC with my MS account? The red note for my old Mobo is referencing that I unassembled my current PC, reassembled it with the old hardware, reformatted and fresh installed windows - and could see that it Windows 11 Pro was activated and tied to my MS account in settings. Cool cool, time to contact support through 'Get Help'. Reactivating Windows 11 after hardware change > No > yes > on this PC > No > Contact support It seems that it knows my key is correct, however it dumps me into a deadend: Man, this feels awesome! I guess I will continue down the rabbit hole and """"contact support"""": I followed the prompts, entered in my 63digit cmd.exe > "slmgr /dti" from my current PC (AND MY OLD PC AFTER SPENDING HOURS REHOOKING MY OLD MOBO ****BACK UP**** TO CONFIRM I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING CORRECTLY, AND GRABBING THAT ID TOO) and I'm ultimately met with a dead end. So after "contacting support", I decided to use the support bot feature on microsoft's site, where I still cannot reach a real person. I'm beyond livid and exhausted at this point; somehow, spending 30-45 minutes to write up this post seems like the best way to "Get Help", ironically. it refuses to connect me to someone real, and the above 'activate-by-ID' doesn't work for my new (or old) PC setup IDs. Any help is appreciated. I read online that if I get in contact with an agent, they can help swap the license over - I just can't connect to anyone.
Why does changing the monitor's scaling percentage affect screenshots?
I have noticed that when I change the scaling percentage of my monitor, the screenshots I take appear differently, often becoming blurry or displaying at unexpected resolutions. I would like to understand why this happens and find out if there is a way to capture screenshots that are unaffected by the display scaling settings.
Windows 11 Active fail
We cannot activate Windows on this device because we don't have a valid digital license or product key. If you believe you have a valid license or key, please select the troubleshooting option below. Error code: 0xC004C003 After selecting the "Troubleshooting" option, some issues caused the interruption of our troubleshooting process. Please make sure you are connected to the Internet. Wait for a few minutes and then try again. (0x80070005) The computer is connected to the network. Version: Windows 11 Professional Insider Preview Version Number: 25H2 Installation Date: 2026/8/24 Evaluation Expiration Date: 2027/11/1 7:43 Operating System Version: 26220.9223 Feature Pack: Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.446.0
Can I upgrade my Windows 11 license from home to pro without reinstalling?
I have an ASUS tower PC about 2 years old. I have been happily running Windows 10 Pro from a license I owned previously. Now that Windows 10 is no longer supported, Microsoft has "upgraded" me to Windows 11 Pro, overwriting Win 10, but is unlicensed and so limits my Win 11 functionality. For example- I can't change many of the Windows settings. I am blind and need to change a number of settings just to use my computer. My desktop is constantly prompting me to provide a Win 11 Pro license key. I tried using the Win 10 Pro license key but that didn't work. I tried installing Win 10 and 11 dual boot, but my PC doesn't allow dual boot. The ASUS PC includes a license of Windows 11 Home, but I can't use it with the installed Windows 11 Pro. I could install Win 11 Home, but that would start from scratch and lose some of my local data and put my settings back to default, which in my case would be ausability nightmare. The easy way out is to just get a new license for Win 11 Pro. Then Windows and the settings would just stay the way they are, and enable all of my apps,data and settings. To keep this from getting too expensive, can I buy an upgrade license from Win 11 Home to Pro? If so, can I use it without reinstalling Windows 11? If that doesn't work, can I downgrade my installation of Win 11 Pro to Win 11 Home without reinstalling? If neither of the above is possible, I’ll have to just buy a new license of Windows 11 Pro. Where do I get that? Are there any options to keep the cost down to that of an upgrade rather than a net new license?Second-hand laptop stuck in previous owner's Windows Autopilot tenant – how to reach human support?
Hi, I'm trying to find the correct human Microsoft support team for Windows Autopilot deregistration. I own a second-hand Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 which I purchased on eBay on August 6, 2023. I used Linux on it for the last few years, so I only discovered the problem now after installing Windows 11 Pro. During OOBE, the laptop downloads an Autopilot profile belonging to a previous organization and forces organizational enrollment. Autopilot diagnostics confirm: CloudAssignedForcedEnrollment = 1 IsForcedEnrollmentEnabled = 1 DeploymentProfileName = CSE Autopilot Pilot I have no relationship with the previous organization and no access to its tenant. The eBay seller is no longer active. I contacted regular Microsoft Windows Support. I provided: eBay purchase/order confirmation signed bank transaction device serial number screenshots Autopilot.cab diagnostics Support acknowledged that I own the device and that I cannot remove the registration myself. However, instead of escalating the case, they repeatedly directed me to Autopilot deployment documentation, Feedback Hub and Tech Community. Microsoft's documentation says that a device permanently leaving an organization should be deregistered from Windows Autopilot. I have also found Microsoft Q&A cases suggesting that Commercial/Intune Support can review inaccessible-tenant deregistration cases after proof of ownership has been verified. My question is simply: how can a private end user actually reach a human Microsoft Intune/Autopilot support engineer who can review and escalate this? I do not have an Intune tenant or access to the previous organization's tenant, so I cannot open a support request from their Intune Admin Center. I am not asking for a way to bypass Autopilot. I am asking for the legitimate device ownership to be reviewed and the stale Autopilot registration to be removed from Microsoft's service. If anyone from Microsoft can provide the correct support route or escalate this internally, I would greatly appreciate it.App Access to Multi-channel USB Audio Device
Hi, I use a Window App called MobileSheets which displays/manages sheetmusic in PDF form. It allows me to attach a stereo audio file per PDF to play on click or automattically. The App itself does not have a dedicated Audio management system so it simply plays through the assigned Windows audio assignment. I use a USB multichannel audio interface for live performances - MOTU MicroLite mk2 Hybrid. Windows gives me access to all 16 outputs of the device. Assigning the output isn't difficult for my PC audio. Problem: I use both Stereo audio tracks and Split audio tracks which allow me to send Mono music to the Right channel and a Click track to the Left utilized for in-ear monitoring (IEMs). Is there an app (e.g. like a mixer) I can use to go between the two to send to two different stereo pairs? If it falls solely on Zubersoft, maker of MobileSheets, is that a complicated code for them to allow access to the Windows interface device options (16 USB outputs??Windows keeps resetting my default apps after every update
Every time Windows does a monthly update, it resets my default apps—browser, PDF reader, video player, all of them. I've set them back to what I want at least a dozen times by now, but the next update rolls around and everything goes back to Edge and the built-in Windows apps. I already uninstalled most of the preinstalled bloat, but it still happens. I checked if there's a setting to lock default apps or prevent Windows from resetting them, but I haven't found anything that sticks. I'm not messing around with the registry unless I know exactly what I'm doing. Anyone else dealing with this or found a way to stop Windows from changing defaults on its own?
Reinstalling the Microsoft Gaming Overlay
Hi! Some time ago, I uninstalled the Microsoft Gaming Overlay - I think it was the overlay used by the Xbox Game Bar (win+G to bring it up). I am trying to reinstall it, but I can't figure it out. Is there a powershell command I can use to reinstall it? Every time I launch a game, I get the following popup a few times: Any ideas? Thanks!
Personal Microsoft Account stuck to old Teams‑Free Azure AD tenant - identity corruption
I have a personal Microsoft Account that was automatically linked to a Teams‑Free Azure AD tenant years ago. The tenant still appears in the Azure portal, but it is inaccessible and cannot be deleted. I cannot leave the tenant, and the admin account for the tenant no longer exists. Because of this, my personal Microsoft Account now has a corrupted work/school identity object attached to it. The symptoms include: Office.com rejects login and says I must use a work/school account OneDrive.com “Recent” fails to load (“Unknown render failure”) Azure portal shows the old Teams‑Free tenant but any action triggers errors I cannot leave or delete the tenant I cannot remove the directory object from my MSA I have opened 4 support requests, each of which turn into callback from supervisor after I repeatedly confirm I am not a commercial customer and I do not have a commercial account. All 4 times the supervisor says they are transfers me to the commercial team, but I just get transferred to a message saying, "We are closed", call back during business hours. Most recently this happened at 1:30 PM Central Time on a Monday. It's unlikely Microsoft is closed in the middle of the day. This is not a commercial tenant and not a business account. It is a personal Microsoft Account with a corrupted identity object caused by the old Teams‑Free provisioning. I need escalation to the Microsoft Account Identity Team, who can remove the corrupted directory object from my personal account. Has anyone seen this before or had it resolved?Win11 Show desktop button does not minimize all windows when a UWP app is pinned to the taskbar
When a UWP app is pinned to the taskbar, clicking the Show Desktop button or pressing the Win + D key combination does not minimize the window. The UWP app remains visible even when all other windows are minimized. Unpinning the UWP app resolves this issue, but it reoccurs when the app is pinned again. This behavior varies across different UWP apps and does not occur in Win32 applications.
