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I had Windows 10 Home activated on this PC with my Microsoft account before. I changed my storage drives (both HDD and SSD, because my old ones were corrupted) and booted using a USB into Windows 11 Home. But this time my product key didn’t work. It’s a Windows 7 Home Premium OA key. I searched online and most people said it shouldn’t be a problem unless I changed my motherboard, which I didn’t. What should I do? Is there any way to fix this?
I tried reverting back to windows 10 but that didn't work. The key doesn't work for windows 10 as well now.
Personally, I think contacting Microsoft Support directly and asking them to fix this issue is the best option but I can’t reach them. Whenever I try, it only leads me to this community support.
Microsoft changed the licencing rules over a year ago, a Windows licence based on a previous Windows 7 or 8 licence cannot be used to re-activate Windows 10/11 on new hardware, and even though you did not change your motherboard, that is the most likely cause of the activation error you are seeing, that key is probably blocked on the activation servers, you will need to find a way to contact Microsoft support to ask them if they can find the previously upgraded licence on your account.
