Can't reactivate Windows after reinstall

Question

I've had my Windows 11 Pro N computer for years. I upgraded from Windows 7 to 7 Pro N, then to Windows 10 Pro N, and finally to Windows 11 Pro N.

Accordingly, I've only entered my product key maybe twice. After upgrading from 10 to 11, I thought I was now digitally verified, since no manual activation was required. I'm also quite certain that's what I was told.

Then I was hit by the massive bugs that Windows currently has. This is partly due to the fact that I hadn't updated my BIOS for a long time, and partly because an employee wasn't doing their job properly. I had the problem (and I think I still have it, but it occurs much less frequently) that I had no LAN connection when starting the computer. The Task Manager showed that I was connected with my full bandwidth, but the throughput was less than 100 KB/s.

I searched the internet like crazy, since the only solution seemed to be to repeatedly reset the network and restart, but even that wasn't always enough towards the end. To avoid the problem as much as possible, I had to disable my network adapter; that way, after restarting and re-enabling it, I could be sure I had internet access.

To make matters worse, it then told me that my Windows wasn't active (as I said, after 1.5 years, that's probably a bug). Windows should recognize that something is wrong with that message if you've already customized the background image, colors, transparency, and everything else.

I continued searching the internet and looked for my product key. Finally, I retrieved it via the command line/PowerShell, but got two different results. In RegEdit, I only found the backup key. I noted them all down.

The troubleshooter didn't help me get any further. This app was temporarily showing me several old computers, not my old/current one. On the corresponding Microsoft page, I removed the old devices (one of them refused to be removed for at least two weeks). I tried activating the computer several times. Since that didn't help either, I reinstalled Windows. I did change my password during the process, but my account should still be the old one. That's how it works on all other websites I've used.

Now, after clicking "I recently changed the device hardware," only my old computer, which still had Windows 10 Professional N, is displayed. Obviously, I can't use that one.

Furthermore, I can't activate it, and suddenly, only one key seems to work.

Finally, I tried the fix from this colleague; something seemed to happen (a window opened with information that things were reinstalled/initialized, apparently related to activation), but nothing changed.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4028522/cant-reactivate-windows-11-after-reinstall

Answer 1

This can be explained by activation server bugs related to activation mechanisms introduced with the release of Windows 10 (universal keys). Yes, the loophole has been removed, but sometimes there is an activation that should not be. Alternatively, if the motherboard was previously part of a PC on which BOX or ESD Windows 10/11 Pro N was installed. That is, the motherboard was already in use. This also happens even with retail stores that sell PC components.

Answer 2

Hello, Broken Dust.

Quote: "I upgraded from Windows 7 to 7 Pro N, then to Windows 10 Pro N, and finally to Windows 11 Pro N"

Please specify which PC components have you changed during this time?