Hardware Developer Program registration is deactivated in Partner Center — how to reactivate?

Question

My company's Windows Hardware Developer Program registration in Partner Center has become deactivated, and I need it reactivated.

Current situation:

• On the program selector page, Hardware appears under "Active In", but the enrollment checkbox is greyed out with the message: "Our records indicate that you have already enrolled into this program but your program registration is deactivated."
• The account Vetting status is "Authorized" and identity verification is complete. Only the Hardware program registration is deactivated.
• As a result, driver signing submissions are blocked and development is stopped.
• Background: the previous account owner left the company, so account ownership and contact details were transferred to me and re-verified.

What I've already tried:

• Partner Center "Help + support" cannot be used: the Workspace field shows "No results found" (even when empty), and Problem type / Browse topics are greyed out.
• The phone line routed me to Pro Support (paid).
• The Windows Developer Support Copilot confirmed this "requires assisted support" and pointed me to a Support for Business URL, but that page shows "no available support entitlement" and the "Create support request" button is disabled (we have no paid support plan).

Question: What is the correct way to get a deactivated Hardware Developer Program registration reactivated when no paid support entitlement is available and the standard Help + support form cannot be submitted? Which team or intake handles this?

(I can provide account identifiers such as Seller ID, tenant, and correlation ID privately if a moderator or Microsoft engineer requests them.)