Lost windows activation key

[wazzickle]

My motherboard died so I had to replace it; couldn't find a similar chipset so decided to upgrade the CPU as well (i5 10500 passively-cooled in an H470M-itx/ac, will post the completed build soon).

I hadn't linked my activation key to my microsoft account so now all my attempts have run aground. I've downloaded ProduKey and it found a key which didn't work, though it did give a different path to telling me it didn't work than when I dug a windows 8 product key out of my email inbox, instead of instantly getting a message saying it wasn't a valid key, it gives me a further dialogue box that says to activate and then says 'we can't activate windows on this device because you don't have a valid digital license or product key', then prompts me to run troubleshooting which has the only option as logging into my microsoft account, only to see that there's no key associated with my account.

Anyone had similar problems and know how to help please?

Thanks!

[Jonj1611]

I would just buy another key off ebay for a tenner

Or if you want to be a bit more legit, £40 from here : https://store.pcpro.co.uk/p36876-win...0_professional

I have tried all sorts of key recovery and none reactivated my copy of windows, ymmv

[wazzickle]

Just chatted for a while with microsoft tech support and he's claiming my key was pirated, not much i can do now but just go ahead and buy a new one.

pc pro are a legit company, right? so how come they're reselling so much cheaper than windows? do you know if there's a way i can verify that the code isn't pirated? i will link the next one to my microsoft account obviously to stop this from happening again but presume that they won't let you link a pirated activation code.

quite confused as to how activation codes can be 'pirated' or what that means, i'd have thought that it's liked marked bills

[Jonj1611]

Who knows, but that link I got from HUKD

PC Pro is the magazine so would have thought it to be fine

[Saracen999]

....

pc pro are a legit company, right? so how come they're reselling so much cheaper than windows?

...

PC Pro is, as Jonj pointed out, a magazine. Moreover, it's part of a very large international publishing operation. I've done several hundred articles for them, dating back (IIRC) to Issue 2, about 20 years ago, maybe a bit more. I used to do work for their launch editor on another mag, and know several subsequent editors fairly well.

They are as legitimate as legitimate gets.

What their deal is with these codes/licences, I have no idea, and have lost touch with them since semi-retiring, but the company is legit.

[smargh]

FYI, Windows 10 will currently accept any Windows 8 key, possibly also Windows 7 keys. If you ever need to reinstall Windows, it will then automaticaly activate based on the hardware ID.

[ik9000]

PC Pro is, as Jonj pointed out, a magazine. Moreover, it's part of a very large international publishing operation. I've done several hundred articles for them, dating back (IIRC) to Issue 2, about 20 years ago, maybe a bit more. I used to do work for their launch editor on another mag, and know several subsequent editors fairly well.

They are as legitimate as legitimate gets.

What their deal is with these codes/licences, I have no idea, and have lost touch with them since semi-retiring, but the company is legit.

pcpro is legit, my concern rests with the payment transaction not being with pcpro but apparently through Cleverbridge AG.

[Jonj1611]

Cleverbridge have been around for years and do a lot of transactions for a lot of large companies

[ik9000]

Cleverbridge have been around for years and do a lot of transactions for a lot of large companies

oh ok, they get hammered on trust pilot.

[Jonj1611]

Yeah doesn't look good but there are only 100 reviews on there going back 4 years. Considering all the companies they deal with like Sony I would be happy buying from them and have done before

[wazzickle]

I suppose onbuy would be less respectable a place to get it from?

[ik9000]

did you get the pcpro one in the end? How did it go?

[wazzickle]

Paid £18 through onbuy for a pro version and it worked fine (though they asked me to do a wee dodgy disconnect while I first logged in a dummy key before logging on with the real key, not sure what's going on there) but it's linked up to my microsoft account with no problems.

[AGTDenton]

oh ok, they get hammered on trust pilot.

I can also vouch for Cleverbridge, if you've bought software online from Adobe, Malwarebytes plus plenty of other software houses, you will have used Cleverbridge without knowing it. Unlike Paypal they don't shout about who they are, so much so they don't even have a Wiki page.

While it's too late, we use www.fairsoftware.co.uk for our licences both internally and for our customers. Though it only covers Office & Windows Pro which is normally enough for most people. Have used them for 5 years without issue.

[Saracen999]

I can also vouch for Cleverbridge, if you've bought software online from Adobe, Malwarebytes plus plenty of other software houses, you will have used Cleverbridge without knowing it. Unlike Paypal they don't shout about who they are, so much so they don't even have a Wiki page.

While it's too late, we use www.fairsoftware.co.uk for our licences both internally and for our customers. Though it only covers Office & Windows Pro which is normally enough for most people. Have used them for 5 years without issue.

Interesting.

This is the kind of company I've often just assumed to be "too cheap to be legit". I can't help but wonder, given "official" pricing, what the catch is. Yet, a recommendation from a long-standing member here goes a long, LONG way with me. Much more so than rather mixed and mediocre Trustpilot ratings.

As I said .... Interesting.

[OwP]

I can also vouch for Cleverbridge, if you've bought software online from Adobe, Malwarebytes plus plenty of other software houses, you will have used Cleverbridge without knowing it. Unlike Paypal they don't shout about who they are, so much so they don't even have a Wiki page.

While it's too late, we use www.fairsoftware.co.uk for our licences both internally and for our customers. Though it only covers Office & Windows Pro which is normally enough for most people. Have used them for 5 years without issue.

I used softwaregeeks (now TheUnitySoft) for years, never had a problem. Good ratings on Trustpilot, the occasional person that cant follow instructions, etc. Think I have had Win7, Win10 pro and Office 2016 from them. Will try fairsoftware next time, looks even cheaper.