We use digital licenses for Windows for all ORIGIN PC systems. These are embedded in the motherboard, meaning you don’t have to enter a key when purchasing and activating Windows.
If you notice the "Activate Windows" watermark on your screen when starting up your system, it may be a simple issue to resolve.
To identify the problem, review the Activation settings within Windows:
- Open your Start Menu and click the gear icon to open Windows Settings.
- In the Settings search bar, type "Activation settings."
- Select the "Activation Settings" option.
Windows will provide details on why the system is not activated. Common activation errors include:
- “We can’t activate Windows on this device right now. Try activating later…”
- Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed.”
- “We can't activate Windows on this device because you don't have a valid digital license or product key found on your device.”
Depending on the specific error, there are several steps you can take to resolve the issue.
Automated Windows Troubleshooting
Windows includes an automated troubleshooting tool that can help force reactivation. To use it, click the “Troubleshoot” button in the Activation settings window. If successful, the “Activate Windows” watermark will disappear, and your activation status will be updated accordingly.
This tends to fix the activation error about 80% of the time. If not, read on!
Updating Your Windows Product Key
If the automated troubleshooting tool is unable to reactivate Windows, the next step is to update your Windows Product Key.
The Windows Product Key is digitally injected into the motherboard's UEFI/BIOS. Normally, Windows will detect and update this key automatically, but in some situations, you may need to update the key manually.
- To retrieve an injected key:
- Search for CMD in your Start Menu to bring up the Command Prompt application.
- Right-click the application and select Run as Administrator.
- In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press ENTER: wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
- Windows should report your system’s injected Windows Product Key.
With your product key retrieved:
- Choose the Change Product Key option in the Windows Activation Settings window.
- Re-enter the key. If done properly, the Activate Windows watermark should disappear, and your activation status will update.
If for some reason, you see nothing below the OA3xOriginalProductKey, take a screenshot of that screen, and let us know.
Resetting the OS
If you see your product key using the above guide on your system, but Microsoft refuses to activate it (which can happen if you've signed in with a Microsoft account during the setup process, as occasionally a key from an old system overwrote the one that should be in the motherboard), our next step is to reset the OS:
There are two ways to do this: the easy way, and the thorough way:
Easy Way
- Go to Start > Settings > System > Recovery.
- Next to "Reset this PC," select Reset PC.
- Choose "Keep my files," then select cloud or local, change your settings, and set "Restore preinstalled apps?" to No.
Thorough Way
The thorough way to do this is to do a clean reinstallation of Windows. We have a guide on how to do that here: How to reinstall Windows 11 to resolve freezing and glitching.
For detailed instructions, visit Microsoft's support page.
If you still have issues with Windows activation after this step, please contact our Support team for further support.