can't remove a linked device

Question

unable to remove my old desktop so i can reactivate the new motherboard and cpu i put in

Answer 1

1

If you have a full retail Windows licence, the process to reactivate Windows on new hardware needs the old Device to be linked to your account so you can transfer the licence.

Open the Activation settings in the Settings app.

Click the Troubleshoot button.

Select 'I changed my hardware' then in the resulting list, you should see the previously activated device, select it and that should move the licence to the new hardware.

2

With regards to removing the old device, that is a widely reported problem, where devices cannot be removed from a Microsoft account, it is a server side issue Microsoft needs to fix on their servers.