Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers Replacing the motherboard – what about the license?

Replacing the motherboard – what about the license?

Although the license agreement allows you to repair your computer after a failure and continue using Windows 10 software, some restrictions apply to the computer’s motherboard. The motherboard should be replaced with exactly the same model with identical parameters and properties.
In the event of a motherboard failure, we may face the problem of activating the license on the repaired equipment. Our practice shows that replacing the board in desktops and notebooks that have removable processors (they are not permanently soldered) usually does not require re-activation.
Windows 10 requires activation when more than 3 components are replaced in the computer , the motherboard may contain more than one component (e.g. processor, memory, LAN module, audio module, controllers, etc.). If we replace the board itself and the processor, memory and other components remain unchanged, then there is a good chance that reactivation will not be required. In each case, the system may count changes differently and it is difficult to predict the behavior of the software in a specific situation. In addition, the activation technology is poorly documented and its essential part is a secret of the software manufacturer.

The only way to ensure that the software can be reactivated after repair is for the computer user to create a Microsoft account and assign a license to the account. Of course, this should be done before the hardware fails.
Motherboard repairs are often quite simple, and taking into account the cost of replacing the entire board plus the cost of the license, repair becomes an option worth considering.

There is no other effective method known to us at the moment to recover the license after replacing the motherboard and forcing the software to reactivate.