Upgraded from win7 to win 8 and then to win 8.1. After upgrading to Win 8, I have upgraded my PC ( new motherboard , CPU Video card etc. ) and had lots of problem during activation of Windows in my new PC. I had to call customer care service and after a very lengthy procedure windows could be activated. The service personal also told me that if I change my motherboard/cpu in future then the same procedure will follow again. As far as my understanding only OEM versions of windows are tied to the motherboard , so is my win 8 which I upgraded from win 7 is an OEM version ? How do I know that.
Big hardware changes like a motherboard swap (new chip-set) will trigger activation, even on Retail versions. The intent is to prevent you from using your product code on more than one PC at a time. OEM versions cannot be transferred to another PC but Retail versions can. If you had an OEM version Microsoft would have been within their rights to refuse to allow you to activate it again on the new hardware. Since its Retail they gave you a code to plug in and activate with.
Thanks. I could understand the limitations. Still it would have been better if we could bypass customer service help for activation. this type of activation is not at all smooth , it is lengthy and time consuming.
Thanks. I could understand the limitations. Still it would have been better if we could bypass customer service help for activation. this type of activation is not at all smooth , it is lengthy and time consuming.
The last time I did it, it was all automated. I didn't even talk to a real person. I punched in my set of characters, answered one question with a yes or no, and was read back my set of characters to enter. Clicked OK and I was activated again. I went right to the "activate by phone" option.