Throwing my experience in, mainly to validate some people who have been condescendingly disregarded. Not solved yet, but I'll try to update if it does get solved.
Build: MSI Pro 690-A DDR4, all new components, out-of-box BIOS/firmware (assembled April 2, 2022)
License: Windows 11 Pro (digital license, purchased through MS store on the day of build and installation, does not provide a product key to type in)
Configuration: local account, bitlocker enabled for boot drive
In late November I started to get occasional bluescreens or freezes, and after a few days the machine was not booting, with the debug LED indicating a CPU issue. Some forum posts suggested it was an issue with old BIOS versions and a recent Windows update. I updated the BIOS to the latest version (7D25v1F, file name ME_16.1.30.2264). The update solved the stability issue.
This weekend (~2 weeks later) I started to get the "Activate Windows" watermark, but not on every boot. The troubleshooter didn't help. Signing into my MS account and selecting "I changed hardware on this device recently" lists only one device - my Framework laptop which is also running Windows 11 Pro, but from a "CDK Deals" key. The laptop's activation status has not had issues. Under the Devices tab in my account, the desktop appears - twice! (both with serial # "Default string")
I contacted support. After about an hour with two reps, they told me that I have to reinstall to activate. I was prepared to go ahead, but we were interrupted by the need to turn off bitlocker for the custom install process they recommended. Before proceeding on my own with the reinstall, I wanted to research and found this thread. It turns out I had reached the 10 device limit in "Microsoft Store device management", mainly due to signing into various old work machines. I've trimmed it down to 2. We'll see if that helps.
I'm pretty upset that the one time I spend the full $$$ to properly license rather than use an Edu/transferred/gray market key is the time I have issues. Next steps are to try to register this device, then re-install Windows.
Updates:
On re-install, I'm given the option to select a device to restore from. [Laptop, last backup yesterday] - or - [Desktop, last backup Sept 13]! I'd rather select "set up as new PC", but I'm afraid license association would be lost. Not sure how that works, TBH. I opted to restore from the Desktop backup, and nothing is resolved. "Windows reported that no product key was found on your device. Error code 0xC004F213". The troubleshooter's "I changed hardware" option still only lists the laptop to Reactivate from. Back to support it is! Out of principle, I'll waste my time with them until they make it right.
On the support call, we checked the "Devices" in my account, and it still had an old entry for the desktop as well as a new one (with the new name I gave it on re-install). We removed both, and then checked my laptop's activation status. It seems my laptop assumed the digital license after the desktop's hardware "changed" with the BIOS update. We went back into the desktop's activation troubleshooter, and told it to re-activate using the license from the laptop. Both are activated, but now I don't know which is using which license. They both say "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account." Hopefully they stay that way, I guess.
If I have to update the BIOS again, I'll be sure to use the TPM deactivation process highlighted in this thread.
