Windows activation after bios update

Anonymous
2022-06-19T10:02:22+00:00

After updating the bios, im unable to activate windows 11, which was already activated. You're telling me I can't update the bios without windows freaking out. I paid for this product and now the only thing the troubleshooter is telling me to do is to just buy another product key. How the hell do I go about fixing this since windows services is just an utter joke? I'm constantly having to deal with fixing **** issues with windows 11. This product is a big joke. The "get help" app does nothing but direct me to exactly what their windows activation page is on the website.

Contacting support did nothing. They told me it's not their issue. Quality service M$

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-12-07T09:41:04+00:00

    Just giving this thread a friendly bump

    Same issue for me, over multiple BIOS updates on my Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Elite DDR4 motherboard.

    All works fine... until I format my PC for a fresh start and the digital licence does not sync up and says not activated.

    Had Microsoft support fix it over the phone once (I think they just generated a new serial key).

    Other time I just bought another licence.

    In my Microsoft account I can see I have 4 instances of the same PC linked under My Devices (all with different Windows 11 version numbers).

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-12-12T17:36:17+00:00

    Had the same problem after MSI z690 carbon wifi bios update. There is indeed 4 instances of the same PC listed under my name in Microsoft account. But turns out it's 4 different versions of the same pc. I guess Microsoft allows you to run 4 instances of windows, but they register different bios versions as different computers. My father has a laptop and a desktop machine. Both of them are working with a single license under the same account, this confirms the multiple allowed instances theory.

    The solution to my problem was simple. I had to tick the previous version of the machine in Microsoft account as the currently used. Windows active again.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-12-21T20:09:38+00:00

    Similar issue here, upgraded from Windows 10 to 11 no problem for almost two years and after a recent BIOS update ( I did multiple in the past without issue ) Win11 won't activate anymore.

    I had linked the license to my MS account and now seeing:

    Unable to activate Windows
    We can't activate your copy of Windows because the digital licence for this device has already been used to reactivate Windows.

    Sounds like the BIOS update just trigger hardware change and those reactivation are finite.

    If only Windows could see it's the same hardware, just an updated BIOS.

    This is going to impact security as people will be afraid of updating their BIOS even more :-(

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-12-21T21:48:54+00:00

    Wow, thanks for the link! I was a bit suspicious at first but this solved my problem.

    I upvoted your answer, hopefully more will see it.

    Thanks again.

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