Windows activation

Windows activation is a kind of super fun thing that, if it goes wrong, shows you really unhelpful messages and gets you to phone Microsoft support. However, if you didn’t have a licence key to type in during installation, and this is a reinstallation onto a system that’s been activated and tied to a Microsoft account before, there is one thing you can do. On the “Settings ≥ Update & Security ≥ Activation” page, click “Troubleshoot.” You must be logged into your Microsoft account for this to work, and it needs to be the same one that was previously activated. The troubleshooter thinks for a while, then gives you a list of the Windows activations registered to your account. Click the one you want to use, and the “I’ve recently changed hardware” box if necessary, and activation will often complete.

If you’ve purchased Windows online, your product key can be found in the confirmation email. Sometimes it’s printed on a sticker fixed to the bottom of laptops.

However, not activating Windows – despite activating being unequivocally the right thing to do – doesn’t really limit its use. You get a watermark in the bottom right of the screen saying it isn’t activated, and you’re prevented from changing the wallpaper away from the blue Windows logo using “Personalise” (but can still change it with right-click ≥ Set as desktop background). Otherwise, it doesn’t nag you. This may change, but for now there’s little penalty to not activating, apart from the disintegration of your soul. You can pay to activate at any time, should the guilt become too much.