Bundle upgrade & Windows

KNiVES

KNiVES

KNiVES

Soldato
Joined
4 Jan 2005
Posts
15,010
I'm considering purchasing one of the bundles off the store to replace my aging 2500k and its slow memory. However, as the motherboard is being replaced, does that mean I cannot use my existing Windows 10 on the system anymore? I have heard before that Windows refuse to validate on systems that has a different motherboard to before.
 
My understanding of the licensing is that it is ok to change some elements of the PC, such as the processor, memory, CPU, GPU, however changing the motherboard is considered a new machine, therefore you need a new license.
 
What was your history in terms of updates for this machine, did you go straight to Win 10 from 7 and do you know if your license was OEM or Retail?
 
RJC said:
What was your history in terms of updates for this machine, did you go straight to Win 10 from 7 and do you know if your license was OEM or Retail?
Click to expand...

With this machine I was on Windows 7 OEM license for several years, then I used the free upgrade to Windows 10 last year. A couple of months ago I bought a new SSD and an OEM version of Windows 10 off the store and did a completely fresh reformat & install with it.

Windows 7 OEM > Windows 10 upgrade on existing license > new Windows 10 OEM license
 
You can tell if you have a retail or OEM license (the former is transferable, the latter is not) by running "slmgr -dli" from a command prompt.
 
KNiVES said:
With this machine I was on Windows 7 OEM license for several years, then I used the free upgrade to Windows 10 last year. A couple of months ago I bought a new SSD and an OEM version of Windows 10 off the store and did a completely fresh reformat & install with it.

Windows 7 OEM > Windows 10 upgrade on existing license > new Windows 10 OEM license
Click to expand...

OEM is tied to the board it was originally installed / activated on, so you will need a new license.
 
RJC said:
OEM is tied to the board it was originally installed / activated on, so you will need a new license.
Click to expand...

Officially true but Microsoft may be sympathetic given the limited availability of Retail Windows in stores these days, plus the fact he only bought Windows 10 OEM a couple of months ago. You will probably need to phone them and explain, though.
 
Why did you buy a new oem version of windows 10 when you got a new ssd? You should have done a clean install of your existing upgrade instead which is what I and many others have done. What I would try if I were you is to install your windows 7 on the new machine and see if it will activate. If it does then do the upgrade to 10 (make sure it's before the free upgrade runs out next month). If win7 doesn't automatically activate then try activating it over the phone and most of the time it will work, then do the free upgrade. If it's after the free upgrade period try the same with your new win10 and see if it activates. I have seen several cases of people in a similar situation as you that have win10 activated over the phone. It's worth a try anyway to save wasting another £80+.
 
You didn't need a new oem for your new SSD.
Your existing licence would work on it.
Microsoft will probably let you activate it on your new pc over the phone if you explain the situation to them.
Why not contact them - tell them you installed the new oem by mistake, not realising your existing oem was valid and ask if you can install your new oem on the new PC.
 
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