Any problems moving Win7 from 1 PC to another

Diss

Diss

Diss

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Joined
28 Oct 2002
Posts
1,510
Hi

I have Win7/64 Home Premium (legit full version) on an old PC and am thinking of doing a new build and would want to put my Win 7 on it (fresh install). Is it as simple as formating the old HDD with it on and doing a new install on the new HDD or are Microsoft going to get heavy and send a SWAT team around or something?

Would i have to reauthenticate somehow?

thanks
 
Is it OEM or Retail version, as the OEM is tied to the machine it has been installed on and retail you can install on the new machine as long as you remove it from the previous one.
 
As mentioned ^,

OEM - tied to the motherboard
Retail - Should be fine as your formatting the only other copy

And they don't send out SWAT teams anymore so don't worry. I hear they send people to hack your phone now :D
 
thanks guys
its retail - phew, can sleep at night now
though just to be safe will shut down all my interwebz, pull the curtains, and possibly snigger to myself whilst hiding under the table :D
 
i thought OEM could be transfered (i have done this) but after a few days it says it needs activitating. you do the phone activation as normal, but at the end it asks you how many pcs its installed on, press 1 and activation is successful.
 
paradisiac said:
i thought OEM could be transfered (i have done this) but after a few days it says it needs activitating. you do the phone activation as normal, but at the end it asks you how many pcs its installed on, press 1 and activation is successful.
Click to expand...

Technically activated but against the EULA strictly speaking.
 
paradisiac said:
but if the old computer is decomissioned then as i purchased the license with the hardware i should still be able to use it? and why do they allow it if its breaking the terms?
Click to expand...

If you have your driving license revoked and you attempt to drive a car - what happens?
Yup - you can still drive the car, nothing magically stops you from driving.

What happens if you attempt to move an OEM license?
Nothing really, but you are breaking the license agreement and thus your copy of Windows is no more legal than somebody who downlaoded themselves an illegal copy.
If that is your plan - don't buy an OEM copy, simply warez it - it's just as legal.

Your OEM license is tied to the motherboard on which it was orignally installed.
If you were sold you OEM license and told it was tied to a piece of hardware like a mouse or keyboard then you were had.
So unless you are building your new PC around your old motherboard you cannot transfer your OEM license.

Retail licenses are less than twice the cost of an OEM one.
If you plan on doing one motherboard upgrade during the lifetime of the OS you are better off buying retail - as this allows the license to be transfered around as much as you like.
 
ok, i was unaware of this, i thought that if you owned a license you could use it aslong as it was only on one computer.
i got my license with a laptop which died, so transfered it to an older laptop that was running xp.
 
final question - i hope

it seems i can install on a new PC at the same time as its on the old PC - becasue i don't have to activate it for 30 days or 50 restarts - so i could use this period where both installed to transfer across data etc. So after the 30 dyas i can format the old copy and phone microsoft to 'activate' it on the new PC.

Have i got this right?

many thanks

diss
 
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