Hardware lock and resets

The first time you sign in to the loader, your account is bound to a fingerprint of that machine. From then on, a sign-in from different hardware is refused until you authorize it.

This is not there to inconvenience you. It is what stops a key being passed around a friend group or resold after the fact, and it means a stolen account cannot simply be used somewhere else.

The fingerprint is derived from your hardware. It is not tied to your Windows installation, so reinstalling Windows on the same machine normally keeps the same lock.

• Changing the motherboard, which is effectively a different machine.
• Changing the processor.
• Swapping or removing the drive the fingerprint was taken from.
• A BIOS update that resets stored identifiers.
• Signing in on a second PC or a laptop.

Adding RAM, changing your graphics card, or plugging in new peripherals will not usually trip it.

You do not need to open a ticket for an ordinary hardware change. Resets are self-service and immediate.

1. 1.
   Sign in to your account on this site.
2. 2.
   Open your dashboard and find the Hardware lock panel.
3. 3.
   Click Authorize a new computer, then Use a reset to confirm.
4. 4.
   Sign in to the loader on the new machine. The lock moves to it on that sign-in.

Resetting the lock does not cost you any license time, and it does not affect your settings.

• You have used every reset for this week and genuinely need another, for example a warranty replacement.
• The mismatch appears without you having changed anything, which can point at an account someone else has access to.
• The lock will not take on the new machine after a reset.

Bring your account email and roughly what changed on the machine. Do not post your license key in a public channel.