Moving windows 10 license

[daztrouk]

Scenario:

I have 2 laptops. A new hp with windows 10 home on it, and an aged hp which was previously windows 8.1, which then got upgraded to Windows 10 pro for free from Microsoft when they had that offer on some years back.

Ideally I want to upgrade my new hp to Windows 10 pro, and use Windows 8.1 on the old laptop, but is this possible, due to the fact they will both be used, and the win 10 pro license came about due to the 8.1 license in the first place?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

You might struggle with this. The reason being that the original licence on the machines will in each case be an "OEM licence", which is legally bound to the hardware. You're in for a 3-step process: install and activate Win 8.1 on the new laptop, then upgrade to Win 10 Pro, then install Win 10 Home on the older machine.

There's a reasonable chance that you won't be able to activate the licences on the "wrong" machines, because of the hardware change. You may be able to activate Win 8 on the new laptop over the phone with Microsoft, which would green-light you to do the 8.1 -> 10 upgrade, and then you'd probably have to go through telephone activation again on the older laptop to move the OEM Home licence across.

Whether that's worth the hassle to you, only you can know!

 

[daztrouk]

Maybe be more hassle than it's worth. Thanks for the info, appreciated.