Microsoft is investigating Windows activation issues that appear to be related to the company's recent decision to block Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys from activating copies of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
About a month ago, Microsoft fixed an old vulnerability that allowed customers to activate Windows 10 and Windows 11 using older Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys.
The company also blocked access to free updates and prevented users of previous versions of Windows 10 from upgrading to recent versions without paying the company for a new license.
It now appears that this change caused damage to systems that were not supposed to be affected; Some customers lost activation after changing computers or performing BIOS updates.
BIOS upgrades sometimes reactivate Windows. So this is an issue that people who build custom computers may encounter over time.
Digital licenses associated with Microsoft accounts no longer activate the operating system, forcing customers to purchase a different key or resort to questionable activation methods.
It should be noted that Microsoft Support has confirmed that changing hardware should not block license keys.
Daniel Mittelman, one of the affected customers, said he filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about these issues after replacing some computer parts while keeping the same copy of Windows and experiencing activation problems.
"Automatic activation doesn't work," Mittman said. So I contacted customer service and they told me that my Windows 10 license can no longer run after changing the hardware because I upgraded my Windows 10 license to Windows 7 and the company stopped supporting Windows 7 product keys. Customer support also confirmed that the hardware change does not violate the Windows license ; So there is no reason to cancel my Windows 10 license or change it in any way. "
Bill Babonas, Microsoft's chief program officer, confirmed that the company is aware of the problem and is investigating possible solutions. “We are aware of these customer reports and are investigating them,” Barbonas said. Customers experiencing technical difficulties should contact customer service. "
Customers can continue to use Windows 10 or Windows 11 without activation for a period of time until Microsoft resolves the issue.