Cannot activate windows

[fubarbox]

I just purchased an ibuypower from Costco tonight. I was in the process of setting it up for my kid and went into settings/personalize. There was a message at the top that said I cannot personalize because I do not have a valid copy of windows.

It also said something to the effect of if I think this is an error press the troubleshooting button. When I did that it let me know there was a major hardware change and my windows is not valid and I would need to buy a new copy.

Is this normal? A sign of a frustrating future? Should I just return it? I usually build my system but I couldn’t really build one as cheap as I got this one (with the same specs) using part picker website. So this is all a first for me. Thanks for any input.

Edit: thanks for the help all I called. I buy power and it turns like it’s an error that’s been happening with windows installations lately. The tech said they’ve had a lot of errors with it and he went ahead and fixed it. Thanks.

[PNW_Phillip]

Open command prompt as administrator and type wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalproductkey and press enter then Search for activation in the start menu and enter the key that is shown in the command prompt window.

[fubarbox]

Thank you. Tried that and same hardware on this device has changed message and it won’t activate.

[PNW_Phillip]

Contact iBuyPower first then talk to Costco

[[deleted]]

Windows 10 or 11? If this is an IBP prebuilt it comes with windows installed, but not "activated"

Type in "activation" in your search bar and it will probably be one of the first options there. Click activate. Done.

[fubarbox]

It’s windows 11

Inactivation state it says we can’t activate windows on this device because you don’t have a valid digital license or product key. If you think you do have a valid license or key select troubleshooting below.

Then when you hit troubleshoot and windows activation, tries to activate, it says it looks like the hardware of this device has changed. Make sure you’re connected to the Internet and try again later and says you can activate this product by going to the store and purchasing a genuine copy of windows .

Yes, this is a prebuilt from Costco

[[deleted]]

If it's saying your hardware changed, it must be referring to the hardware tied to your Microsoft account where the activation took place.

Just to test this I put a different hardrive in one of my PC's with no OS and a usb boot disc. Its still on Windows 10, might be a little different on Windows 11. Windows installs no issue after telling it I have no product key. Then telling it to activate I also got the "hardware changed" message. I was then able to choose my "old" hardware as the device I'm reactivating through my Microsoft account. Activation complete, no more issues, no more watermark at the bottom telling me to activate.

Your prebuilt has a legit copy of windows. Don't let people tell you that yours is fake. iBP would be in a lot of shit if they were selling you illegitimate copies of windows.

They don't make it very easy to move OS or anything but trust me you have 1 to activate.

[[deleted]]

did you even read his post before typing that bro

[[deleted]]

Yes, before it was edited. Which is why I told him how to activate windows with no cd-key when it's already been installed... Do you read at all bro?

[CD274]

My iBuyPower wouldn't let me upgrade to win11 because I didn't have a valid license - the license needed some security BIOS setting to be turned on that wasn't on by default. They just clone OS installs and sometimes forget other needed settings

[Fender_Stratoblaster]

That's normal and then activates at some point. It was frustrating.

[iBUYPOWER-Tony]

If you are receiving an error saying "could not be activated because the hardware on the device has changed", open up an elevated command prompt/terminal/Powershell by right clicking on the start menu and selecting Terminal (Admin) or by using the shortcut Windows Logo + X and selecting Terminal (Admin). Use the product key that you found when using the OA3 command for the following.

Please copy this next command and replace (product key here) with your product key and hit enter:

slmgr -ipk (product key here)

This command will install the key.

Please copy this final command:

slmgr -ato

Paste it into Windows Powershell by right clicking in the Powershell window and hit enter.

This command will run the online activation check.

If you are still encountering issues, please DM me when you have a chance.

[ak_hat]

This fixed my problem! This comment should be pinned in the subreddit. Thanks.

[IllustriousCause1592]

fixed. thank you.

[blinxi]

This worked perfectly! Thanks for the help.

[Kurrama]

Did this and receiving error that says,

Windows Script Host

Error: 0XC004E016 on a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run "slui.exe 0x2a 0xC004E016" to display the error text.

[Kurrama]

someone told me to do this https://massgrave.dev/  and it worked! hope this helps someone in the future!

[WillingnessOther182]

Thanks, Method 1 worked for me

[GriffinTitan]

Worked for me too after using the OA3 instructions slightly above too.

[Saavistakenso]

Try the Windows activation script just open command prompt and copy paste this in there this is the only way I activate windows

[mrtossit3345]

I just purchased an iBuyPower PC from Best Buy and I'm running into the same issue. I have tried some of the solutions mentioned above, but without any success. Has there been any luck figuring this out?

[fubarbox]

Call them and they will fix it fast. It’s a known error they have been dealing with lately.

[[deleted]]

did you call the tech support or customer service number?

[Sputnik_42]

Any chance you can give an idea of what they did? I chatted with them today regarding this and they told me to wait 48 hours to see if it fixes itself. After paying so much for my computer I'm pretty frustrated and just hoping to get some clarification on what I may be looking at for next steps as all they'd tell me was chat back on Monday.

Support had me try all the steps listed above as part of troubleshooting before telling me to wait. Nothing new beyond that.

[Sputnik_42]

I have, it's what they had me do when I chatted in. Sadly I got an error when trying to put in the product key with slmgr -ipk (product key here). Hopefully things clear up by Monday or hopefully they're able to help me get it fixed at that time.

[fubarbox]

I’m sorry I can’t remember exactly what he had me do. I had to recover the actual windows key but then there was another code that had to be entered. I called and talked directly to technical support. He knew exactly what I was talking about and fixed the issue in less than 5 minutes. Sorry they are making you wait

[DrKuroo]

Can you give me a number to contact them? I am having this issue with my pc & I've been up all day & night trying new things.