License code not working

Hello,

Based on your description, the behavior you are experiencing is, in fact, correct and by design for the type of license you are likely using. The critical factor is not whether the license is OEM or not, but specifically the channel through which it was originally purchased.

Most Windows 10 licenses, including the vast majority of retail licenses sold directly to consumers, are officially tied to the motherboard of the first computer they are activated on. While you can "deactivate" or "disable" the license on the old machine, the Microsoft activation servers will often prevent its reactivation on entirely new hardware, as this is a common check against license misuse.

To confirm the exact type of license and its transferability, I recommend the following diagnostic step:

1. On the old computer (where the license was originally active), open a Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Type the following command and press Enter: slmgr /dli
3. A window will pop up displaying your license information.

Please look for the line labeled "License Channel." Here is what to look for:

[Illustration: A simple graphic showing the result of the slmgr /dli command, with an arrow pointing to the "License Channel" field. Possible values like "Retail," "OEM_DM," or "Volume:GVLK" are listed below.]

· If it says "Retail," it should be transferable, but you may need to use the Activation Troubleshooter and select "I changed hardware on this device recently."

· If it says anything like "OEM_DM" (OEM) or "Volume:GVLK" (Volume Licensing), then it is permanently bound to the original device and cannot be transferred.

If this explanation was helpful, please feel free to mark it as "Accept Answer" 🙂

Best regards,

VP

Hi Torbjørn Johan Berger,

Has your issue been solved? If it has, please accept the answer so that others can benefit too. If not, is there anything I can help you with? Please let me know.

Vivian