Okay, so lessons learned the hard way… My long story is below but for bullet points, here is what I learned:
- Link your activated computer to a Microsoft account! Without doing this, you may regret it. I ended up having to call Microsoft activation and they hung up on me very abruptly multiple times because my Windows license had not previously been attached to a microsoft account. (not required for win10)
- Window 10/11 licensing is all the same type of “digital” license so you can not retrieve it unless it’s assigned to a Microsoft account. Doesn’t matter if you purchased a legitimate retail version or not.
- If upgrading your motherboard, do not do a clean OS install at the same time. You must replace it, and activate your license again with the same OS installation or Microsoft will void the license. This was my biggest mistake.
- You can install the OS and use it fully without activation, but you just can’t change the background image.
I bought a Framework 13 a couple years ago on the 11th gen motherboard. I used it for about a month before switching over to a different laptop for multiple reasons ( better screen for outdoor use, all the ports I needed built in without having to swap cards and the rj45 doesn’t stick out, and it was 2lbs vs 3lbs. I kept my Framework because I liked the idea, wanted to support Framework and hoped to do some mods to make it better. I even bought the matte version of the screen before framework had it, but never had time to put it in. Was hoping someone would make a rugged case, or that framework would make tpu molded case like the new 12, but that never happened. And still wanting a screen with more color gamut. When I first built the laptop I purchased a retail box version of Windows separately knowing that I may transfer it to different laptops in the future.
Fast forward to 2025 it was time to try again. I upgraded to the matte 2.8k display and upgraded the motherboard from intel 11th gen to the amd 7840U. First I installed the screen. The next month installed the new motherboard… but here is where I want all wrong… I did a fresh install of the OS on the same drive without a backup of the original activated Windows OS. When I tried to activate it was very quickly denied. I tried the troubleshooter, searched online everywhere, and eventually called Microsoft using their phone text link to online assistant, their phone automated system, and eventually talking to 3 different employees. All 3 hung up on me at different points. And two of them even took my number and gave me a case number if we got disconnected. But none of them called me back, and getting to a real human is a pain in the butt on their phone activation support line. I ended up using another Windows 10 oem license that I had purchased but never used on a prior laptop. And it activated instantly. But my original retail key would not activate even though it had before on the old motherboard.
So if you are going from intel to AMD, you need to keep your old OS installation initially. Even if you are upgrading from 10 to 11, best to upgrade to 11 on the old motherboard, check activation, then replace motherboard, check activation, and then if you want to take that chance & do a clean install of the OS with the license already on your microsoft account you can try. Just have a backup of the old OS. Or do an install keeping your old OS on the drive like you would do as a OS repair.
My laptop was never linked into a microsoft account, it was a “local account” and without it being attached to a microsoft account, the support persons were simply not willing to help and hung up. I even had one controlling my computer remotely but once she saw it wasn’t in my account previously (was now) click and hung up and disconnected. In that process, you have to link it to an account to get help. And if you want to turn it back to a “local account”, it’s not easy, but can be done It forces you to create a different user name even though it’s the same profile and directory name. So then you have to create a new name, then you can change it back to the original name after that. Now with windows 11 they pretty much force you into not using a local account. This is for a my work laptop and I don’t have internet at most of my work places.
There is a lot if miss-information online so take every “fix” or everything you read with a grain of salt because most of it is no longer valid. I may not keep using this laptop as I’ve grown so used to have more ports and a lighter laptop for all the travel I do. If I ever buy the Framework Desktop, I will go down the licensing path with my old retail license in more depth because it should allow me to transfer it to a different computer! I’m sure that will become a week long quest with Microsoft 
