Re-Activating Windows after a BIOS update

I see. And it was purchased as a Windows 11 Pro, right? I mean, not a Windows 7, 8 or 10, and later upgraded, right?

You said you had used commands to remove license, did you do the following?

Please type cmd in the search on the taskbar. Don't press enter key yet. Instead, choose "run as administrator" to launch Command Prompt.

Run these commands one a time:

slmgr /upk
slmgr /cpky

If that's not what you did, please run those commands, then run slmgr /dlv again and let me know what it says.

ok i didn't do the 2nd cmd. i immediately did slmgr /ipk <product key> after slmgr /upk when removing windows key

Yeah, the second one is necessary. Now slmgr /dlv confirms that the current OS doesn't have any product key at all.

So, you can go to Settings > System > Activation > Change product key, and put in the one from Best Buy.

i still get this message

Can you confirm a few things -

This license you bought from Best Buy came as Windows 11 Pro full license , right?

I mean, it wasn't an upgrade license that was meant to use on a Home edition, to upgrade to Pro, right?

And it wasn't a Windows 10 or even earlier version 7/8 license originally, right?

everything on the box says windows 11. i bought it as a fresh copy for my pc 3 years ago.

Ok good. Then we don't have other factors to consider.

You might want to wait a bit to try again, as the key unregistration may not sync and reflect with the activation server yet.

Say, in an hour or two, if you still get error, see if you can activate by phone.

To do so, run command:

slui 4

Then pick the phone number of your country, and follow the on-screen prompt to finish the rest.

will it make a difference if i originally bought a standard copy of windows 11 then upgraded to pro?

now im back to where i started after i typed the generic key

Hmm.. I am not sure why you are using the generic key.

So, you are saying, the license you bought from Best Buy was for Home edition? There's no edition called "Standard".

You said you upgraded to Pro, how did you do that, by purchasing an upgrade license?

This is actually crucial information that we need to sort out first, as it could explain the issue.

i bought the standard windows 11 from bestbuy then upgraded through microsoft later and from looking at the 3v66t partial key earlier it matched the generic key listed for pro.

yes its the home edition. sorry for calling it standard

Ok, that does complicate the issue quite a bit here.

Basically you are in a catch-22.

Your license key is for Home, but your current OS is Pro, you cannot use a Home license key to activate a Pro OS, that's why it spits out that error - basically it could mean edition mis-match.

Your Pro license purchased from Microsoft is an upgrade license, meaning, it can ONLY be used on Home editon that's already activated. If Home edition is not activated, the Pro license will also kick back error. Using the generic key is not going to help here. Generic key is more for installing the Pro edition from Home, but it doesn't have anything to do with activation.

This is the reason I was asking for those questions from earlier, as I did suspect that could be the case to begin with.

Ideally, you would have to perform a clean install of Home edition, use your Best Buy key to activate. Then use the generic key while internet is disconnected to install Pro, then run troubleshooter to transfer the Pro upgrade license into install. However, by doing so, you lose all the data and have to reinstall apps.

So that means, you might want to consider reaching out to Microsoft support, feel free to explain this situation, and see if they would consider a manual activation for you.

To get help, open the "Get Help" app on your computer (just search for it in the Start menu). or go to https://support.microsoft.com/contactus, Type "Billing" and press Enter. On the next screen, click "Contact support" at the bottom of the page, then choose "Windows" > "Manage my subscription". You’ll then see the option to chat with a Microsoft support agent.

Thank you so much. i have tried so hard to contact an agent on this issue

If you use the path I laid out you should have the chat option. I've sent users there before and they had no problem reaching. On weekends, sometimes chat option might not show due to agents not available, you cna always try again at a different time.