However, when I clicked on Activation, I received the following: The former is 20 characters in length, in groups of five the latter is 25 characters in length, in groups of five. I found the Product ID and Product Key for Win10 on my PC. I add that you might check your System Restore dates and see if one was before the power outage date and try to Restore to that point. Post back if you have the ID (from person you bought comp from) or license activation. If you are determined to upgrade because you can, several paths are available. I would like to have the ID or license location before I upgraded, just in case. To check for Digital activated License: Open Settings, go to Update & Security, and navigate to Activation. Since the person you bought the computer from said they can fix your problem, either they have the ID or have access to it.

If you don’t see the 25 digit ID (in groups of 5) It’s possible your computer has a digital license that was obtained through an authorized retailer. Scroll down to Product ID and record the 25 digit ID, on anything besides the computer, paper pad, email it to yourself, etc. That should open SETTINGS (or hit the Win key +X for settings, click settings and select ABOUT) In your desktop search box type in PRODUCT ID. In that case, any suggestions for the best way to do that to EFFICIENTLY solve the problem would be appreciated. If I really should get the most recent build AND to do so I need to activate Windows, I would bite the bullet and contact MS. I did both a web and a Woody’s Lounge search for this issue, but came up blank, so any suggestions would be appreciated. What are the consequences of not having Windows activated on my PC?.Is there an alternate way to activate my Windows 10? I have not yet tried contacting Microsoft directly (not wonderful experience with customer support in the past, so that would be my last resort).It recently occurred to me that the reason may have something to do with the “Activate Windows” issue. However, I noticed that I still have Win10 Build 1803, and can’t figure out how to upgrade to a more recent build. At the time, I noticed that other than the translucent message that appeared on my screen, everything seemed to work fine, so I learned to ignore the message. Unfortunately, I moved and cannot get back to the vendor.

When I contacted the seller, he said to bring it back and he would do that. Go to Settings to activate Windows.” Apparently, I need some kind of a key or license to do so. When I restarted the PC, a greyed out message appeared in the bottom right portion of my display: “Activate Windows 10. Everything was fine for several months, until the power went out. About a year and a half ago, I bought a refurbished PC with Windows 10 Home installed.

Go to setting to activate windows