If the system is having problems with an OEM activation, such as saying that "changes have been made to the device hardware" when it's brand new out of the box, here's some steps to help mitigate that issue. Especially in the instance of upgrading from an OEM home to a Pro key.

1. Click the start menu, then type CMD. Right-click the command prompt, then select Run as administrator.
2. In the command prompt, enter the commands below one at a time.
slmgr /upk
slmgr /cpky

These commands are removing the original OEM key which is being problematic

This issue could be caused due to some corrupted system files or due to some incorrect settings. I would suggest you to try these steps and check:
 
a) Press Windows key + R, type “slui.exe 3” and press enter
b) Enter the new product key and check if it works.
c) If you still get the same error, I would suggest you to again press Windows key +R
d) Type “slui.exe 4” and press enter and then follow the prompts to activate the copy by phone.




For more information please refer to the original forum posts:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/i-want-to-activate-my-pc-windows-11-pro-with-a/43ce1b49-cbb9-4016-9c7c-5b50c610b79c

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/get-error-0xc004e016-on-a-computer-running/399c811d-5e7a-4d32-b5a9-d90b4670d40b?page=1