Selling my motherboard. How do I "unactivate" Windows 10 on it?

So I'm upgrading the processor on my gaming computer. Therefore, I need to sell the motherboard.

On this computer, originally it had Windows 7, later upgraded to Windows 10.

Since W10 uses hardware activation, how do I "un-activate" Windows 10 on this motherboard? I don't want to give the new owner a free W10 license (Sorry, I'm not that nice).

If it matters, I had RETAIL Windows 7 Home Premium before upgrading to W10. This SHOULD allow me to install and activate W7 on my new motherboard with no issues, and then later upgrade to W10, right?

You do not need to "unactivate" anything. Just sell the motherboard and install your retail windows 7 on the new system. Just make sure you upgrade it to Windows 10 before the end of the month or you will have to pay for the upgrade.

Your old motherboard will have to have a new operating system installed on it so will have a different key and will not be shown as your activation any longer

Mc Ruff said:

Your old motherboard will have to have a new operating system installed on it so will have a different key and will not be shown as your activation any longer

But if the new owner connects to the internet, won't it automatically activate? I don't understand why you're saying it WON'T activate.

bro67 said:

Just make sure to go into your Live account and remove it from there, if you are using a Roaming Profile instead of a Local account.

I don't have a Live account so my activation is not linked to an online account.

The new owner will be able to install the same version of Windows 10 you had installed on it and it will activate with a digital entitlement. There's nothing you can do about it, that's Microsoft's problem.

Mc Ruff said:

Your old motherboard will have to have a new operating system installed on it so will have a different key and will not be shown as your activation any longer

Not if the same version of Windows 10 is installed on it. Windows 10 activations coming from upgrades from Windows 7/8/8.1 are based on digital entitlements created and stored on Microsoft activation servers based on the hardware ID of the motherboard. The product key stays the same. All Windows 10 Pro upgrades from Windows 7/8/8.1 get product key VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T, for example.

NavyLCDR said:

Not if the same version of Windows 10 is installed on it. Windows 10 activations coming from upgrades from Windows 7/8/8.1 are based on digital entitlements created and stored on Microsoft activation servers based on the hardware ID of the motherboard. The product key stays the same. All Windows 10 Pro upgrades from Windows 7/8/8.1 get product key VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T, for example.

Thanks for the clarification.

But on my new motherboard and new CPU, will I be able to activate my W7 retail fine, and then get a digital entitlement for W10 Home as well?

bobjoe said:

Thanks for the clarification.

But on my new motherboard and new CPU, will I be able to activate my W7 retail fine, and then get a digital entitlement for W10 Home as well?

Yep. The only problem you might have is that the Windows 7 product key might be blocked from automatic online activation. All that means is that you will have to call the toll free activation phone number and tell the computer voice that you have that copy of Windows 7 installed on only one computer.

My three license family pack Windows 7 product key is blocked from automatic online activation and that is what I have to do to transfer it legally to a new computer.

NavyLCDR said:

Yep. The only problem you might have is that the Windows 7 product key might be blocked from automatic online activation. All that means is that you will have to call the toll free activation phone number and tell the computer voice that you have that copy of Windows 7 installed on only one computer.

My three license family pack Windows 7 product key is blocked from automatic online activation and that is what I have to do to transfer it legally to a new computer.

Thanks for your quick response. I guess MS is so desperate to get everyone on W10 that they don't allow you to unregister it from your mobo. Huh!

bobjoe said:

Thanks for your quick response. I guess MS is so desperate to get everyone on W10 that they don't allow you to unregister it from your mobo. Huh!

I think it is more a purely financial decision. It would just cost more money to write the code and modify the activation process than it would make for them. How much money is Microsoft going to lose when a person buys a used motherboard or computer on ebay that had a digital entitlement assigned to it from an upgrade of a retail Windows 7/8/8.1 and the new owner, with no previous Windows license, re-installs Windows 10 on it? And in order for Microsoft to recover the cost even if they did make a way for a user to revoke the digital entitlement, the new owner would have to put a newly purchased Windows license on it.

I know if I was in charge of Microsoft, it's something that I wouldn't bother with .