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About a month ago I upgraded to Windows 11 from Windows 10, which was an upgrade from Windows 7. This is not an OEM version of Windows. A week ago I upgraded my CPU, motherboard, and RAM, something I've done before with the same boot drive, however Windows is now saying that it hasn't been activated. The following message appears next to the troubleshoot button, "Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed. Error code: 0xC004F211." When following the steps using the troubleshoot option, I eventually get an error message saying I can't activate windows at this time and to try again later. I tried the "Change product key" option and reentered my original product key, but that doesn't work either. I contacted Microsoft customer support and was told to buy a new product key because my product key is no longer valid; I can't upgrade to Win 11 using a Win 7 product key. I had no issues with Win 11 for about a month before I made the hardware change. Are Windows 7 product keys no longer work with Windows 11 or is there another issue here?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hi, I am Van. I'll be glad to assist you today.
Yes, Microsoft ended the free upgrade from Windows 7/8 to Windows 11. At present, it is not possible to use the Windows 7/8 license key to activate Windows 11. Kindly visit the link below for more details.
https://devicepartner.microsoft.com/en-us/commu...
Please let me know if you need any further assistance. I will be glad to help.
A change of mobo is seen as a new system, and win11 is licenced to the origonal hw as seen in the MS Account associated with win11, The support person miss-understood your Q
Same issue here, I had purchased a boxed retail version of Windows 7, so during all the years I upgrade all the way to Windows 8 -> 10 -> 11 while having many times of hardware change, Windows re-installation without any issue until today Jan 2024, I upgrade my computer again with new motherboard, cpu and ram and it stops working. Usually Windows activates automatically when I sign in to my Microsoft Account as over the previous years the Key is already associated with my account so Windows is activated digitally.
Now it stays unactuated no matter what I try, and entering the Windows 7 also fail to work.
Requested a call from Microsoft Support and they say I need to purchase a license as say I upgraded for so many years blah blah blah..... well to be fair it's fine for me to purchase it, but in Windows the Microsoft Store also fail to work and I can't purchase a license too....lol
The webpage also fails to let me order either boxed USB key or digital version of Windows 11, their shopping cart stays empty no matter how I added an item, or sometimes their URL just fail to work saying something is missing.
I already upgraded to Windows 11 using this product key without issue for over a month. The issue I'm describing didn't come up until after I changed hardware on system.
What you're describing happens if you purchase an OEM product key, which I did not. I've changed motherboards at least twice previously without issue until now.
