Upgrading my system after motherboard broke, can I recover windows?

Stiffler05 · 14 Dec 2017 at 06:59

Hi guys,

So, my motherboard broke and I've decided to upgrade my whole system: i5 2500k to Ryzen 1600 with new ram, motherboard (m-itx) and SSD.

Now my question is, can I recover my installation of Windows 10? If I plug in my old hard drive into the new motherboard will it repair windows and wipe all my previous content? I'm not too worried about losing all my stuff as it was mostly games but I don't want to pay for Windows again. This will be the first time I've built a system from scratch so I'm a bit of a novice.

Thoughts and advice would be really appreciated.

Disco_P · 14 Dec 2017 at 09:37

Windows will still boot and work with the new parts but it will take a while the first time plus the performance is likely to be affected so do a fresh reinstall when convenient.

Whether windows will be activated depends on the what variety of license you have. If it is OEM then you might have issues, though some people have had success with associating the license with their microsoft account and using that.

Finally it doesn't want to activate for the new hardware, leave it deactivated. Microsoft want everyone on 10 ao much that the drawbacks of deactivated windows are minor to insignificant.

orbitalwalsh · 14 Dec 2017 at 09:49

just use webchat to MS and tell them your board broke and RMA was useless so you got your own and need it reactivating

Stiffler05 · 14 Dec 2017 at 12:56

Thanks for your replies guys. I'll try and web chat with Microsoft to see if they can give me a new license or link it to my Microsoft account.
At least the pc will boot up with a deactivated windows. From there I should be able to sort things out.
Cheers for the help.

Nugsy88 · 14 Dec 2017 at 13:36

I did this the other day and it definitely works. Just install the new hardware, go to activation, it will say this license isn't valid, you then select I have recently changed hardware and it will auto detect and switch for you.

On Holiday · 14 Dec 2017 at 13:41

If all else fails, don't be afraid to call the relevant Microsoft number for activation, they really are helpful!

Baggi0 · 16 Dec 2017 at 11:26

I did this as well and it worked fine.

I had to call Microsoft to get a new code though because the previous one was linked to the old mobo.

I told them mine broke, they were fine with it and gave me a fresh code