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#11
Brand name computer manufacturers can hard code those numbers to be exactly same in case of replacement for warranty or spare parts. I know how to change MAC address but never tried to change serial numbers in BIOS. Other parts, even on MB, the Plug&play (some call it Plug&pray), also have a rudimentary BIOS so they may contain some serial numbers too.
Looks like MS changed their game for W10, no idea what they use to differentiate one MB from other.
So, nothing yet new with my activation. Tried entering reg from W8/8.1 ( in all known ways) that I already upgraded to 10 but it wouldn't accept it. Decided to do a clean installation of 10565 using same credentials but that one wouldn't activate either. Sent an enquiry to MS but no answer yet.
It's a bit stupid from them to cut me off from Insider program or at least make it difficult to keep on testing because on non-activated 10 I can't do any customizing etc. and to keep sending suggestions any more so there's no reason to keep on testing as it is. Is it bam-bam, thank you ma'am as far they are concerned ?
Wander if it would work if I started from 10240 or one before ?
You could try to obtain a genuineticket.xml on the build 10240 installation and use it to activate the 10565, as in
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First - Windows 10 Forums
Then you may need to do a registry edit to renew your insider status - it should look like this, but your FlightingOwnerGUID may be different:
And make sure that there are no other registry subkeys in [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost]Code:Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability] "Ring"="WIF" "ThresholdRiskLevel"="low" "EnablePreviewBuilds"=dword:00000002 "RingBackup"="WIS" "AdminFlowsValidateFlightSettingsHr"=dword:00000000 "FlightingOwnerGUID"="9185273e-b273-4b26-916c-56ae88ed64de" "BranchName"="th2_release" "UserPreferredBranchName"="th2_release" "ThresholdOptedin"=dword:00000001
Last edited by Fafhrd; 30 Oct 2015 at 03:36.
I've been your whole route, Mike. I lost activation just after RTM upgrade when they turned ISO downloads off. 10RTM wouldn't boot for me. Borrowed someone else's ESD to ISO with no go. I didn't get any help as an Insider from "NW Asia" phone or emails. Kept referring me to the next guy/gal.
I dual boot 8.1 with 10. What I eventually did was formatted the 10 partition from within 8.1 then take my 8.1 to upgrade to 10RTM, which activated. All is ok as long as you're a registered Insider. Then I reloaded my 8.1 on the old 10 partition. All is fine.
What you need to do is take a qualified OS, upgrade to 10RTM which will activate, and turn it on to accept Previews. It should upgrade to 10565 still activated. Fresh install after that if need be. At worst if need be is the cost of a license is your only alternative.
Hope that helps.
Well, that genuine ticket didn't work and entering old 8.1 key neither. I guess they don't let same key to be used twice. I have only one key for 8.1 and W7 key I spent on upgrade to W8 while it was very cheap. I'm not about to buy new windows just for privilege to test it for them (MS).
For me, last few upgrades/updates were very stable so I can use them for main system. That's why I activated insider status on my 8.1 to 10 conversion on other disk and will keep testing on it. Full Macrium Reflect backup of 10240 ensures that I can go back any time if something goes wrong. I'll keep this one for a while and if it doesn't get activated (I asked MS about it), I'll use that smaller SSD for something else like a pair of Linux installations I keep on a HDD.
It's kinda stupid from MS to continue insider program but not to allow it to be tested on as many platforms as possible. There are other ways to regulate Insider versions than to go by MB/BIOS alone. The could go by MS account for instance or even make an "exclusive" club for beta testers, anything if they are serious about insider testing. Can't imagine to many people buying windows just for testing them for MS. I'm using same MS account since probably W95 or 98 and they know quite well about any Windows I used and betas I tested.
Not that it might matter for them but from now on I'll be staying as an insider only to satisfy my own curiosity and no more back feeds.
Have you thought about doing on the PC like I do in VMs? I just don't activate, and the only thing I can't do is manually customize, and that's taken care of as soon a it sync's with my MS account. The builds are not around long enough usually so there's no black outs or nagging.
The only thing is, you'll need to get ahold of an .iso or .esd and create one....