Aurora Ryzen r10 Bios Update Windows Deactivated

I would check your activation status to figure out what is happening: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows-10-c39005d4-95ee-b91e-b399-2820fda32227#:~:text=To%20check%20activation%20status%20in,be%20listed%20next%20to%20Activation.&text=You%20are%20activated.

Hi Vanadiel, thanks for the quick reply. Any attempt to view activation status results in an empty window (no title, gear in the center).

Checking from the command line with 'slmgr /xpr' brings up a dialog with

Error: 0xC0020036 On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run 'slui.exe 0x2a 0xc0020036' to display the error text.

Did you link it to a Microsoft account?

Run system file checker and dism scan to correct if it is a corrupted file.  

If not, something like neosmart to find and reenter your key.

Odd that you're getting this on a pc that shipped with win 10.  Did you buy this from Dell and you're on the version of windows it shipped with?

An nukeit option is clean install if you have nothing going on there to lose.

The PC did ship from Dell with Win 10 pro weeks ago and I linked my MS account without issue.

The trouble happened last week after I did the bios update. When I logged into Windows afterward it prompted me to recreate the Pin (first indication something was wrong). Then I noticed the activation message and none of the activation-related dialogs loading.

But guess what. No activation message today, and control panel says "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". Did nothing different between yesterday and today. Maybe something happened on a licensing server somewhere.

Either way, hope it doesn't happen again. Just glad I didn't spend hours with Dell Support trying to sort this out.

The PIN is normal. I have updated my Bios likely 20 times in the past month, and each time it tells me afterwards that the PIN has expired and I have to create a new one.

For that you have to log into your Microsoft account, after which you can create a new PIN. You cannot create a new PIN without first logging into your Microsoft account.

The one other thing you have to do after you logged in with your new PIN is fix your accounts under the "accounts" section. You will have to press the fix button to link everything back to your account. Why that is not done automatically when you made a new PIN I don't know, but that is what happens to me each time.

I am thinking that might have been your issue and it repaired itself after a while.

This has never created an issue for me besides maybe a week ago, when the Microsoft servers were having connectivity issues. Of course I flashed my bios just prior to them going down, so it took a bit of waiting to log into my Microsoft account and my windows.

That's why I highly suggest to also create a local account, with a regular username and password. This way if your PIN does not work, or the Microsoft login servers are having an issue, you can use that account to log into windows and use your computer. Without that you are pooched and locked out of your own computer.

Microsoft is really pushing Windows online accounts and insist it's the better option. However, if your internet connections fails or the windows login servers are having an issue, you are locked out of your own computer. In my opinion they should automatically make you create a second, local account for emergency use. It's not a good idea at all to only use online accounts.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account-in-windows-10-20de74e0-ac7f-3502-a866-32915af2a34d