Will I need new copy of Windows 10?

TheRealist · 20 Sep 2017 at 16:34

Im getting a new build and the only thing that won’t be new is the HDD, as it’s from an old PC but has windows 10 on it. Question is - will I need to rebuy windows and activate it or is it just as simple as plugging in the HDD and then booting it up to the windows password screen?

Marzipanogram · 20 Sep 2017 at 20:25

I can't imagine Windows Activation will be happy with your new setup, when you connect to the internet.
From my experience, you will have to contact MS (phone) and ask for the license to be transferred over to your new setup.
Which they did for me, when I bought a new MoBo etc. I did a clean install though.

ED209 · 20 Sep 2017 at 20:38

First off I would do a clean install to stop any conflicts of drivers from your previous build interfering with each other.

what version of W10 is it? OEM is tied to the mobo its first installed on and retail can be moved around.

As Marz said you can always try and contact MS once windows is up and running on the new system and they maybe able to help, people have had success of activations working if you use your MS account as this can store your Windows key etc

Tomsk · 20 Sep 2017 at 22:02

You could change to a digital licence linked to a MS account.

TheRealist · 20 Sep 2017 at 22:21

Tomsk said:
You could change to a digital licence linked to a MS account.

You mean when I go ahead and activate it, I put in an email linked to a MS account.

TheRealist · 20 Sep 2017 at 22:23

ED209 said:
First off I would do a clean install to stop any conflicts of drivers from your previous build interfering with each other.

what version of W10 is it? OEM is tied to the mobo its first installed on and retail can be moved around.

As Marz said you can always try and contact MS once windows is up and running on the new system and they maybe able to help, people have had success of activations working if you use your MS account as this can store your Windows key etc

Pardon my ignorance but is a clean install just using a new HDD? Also I think it’s a retail version because I bought windows 7 from online years ago and then updated it free to 10.

Tomsk · 20 Sep 2017 at 22:33

Chnage the licence on the current PC to the MS account and when you re-install, instead of using a product key, you use your MS account.

gord · 21 Sep 2017 at 09:28

Tomsk said:
Chnage the licence on the current PC to the MS account and when you re-install, instead of using a product key, you use your MS account.

Is this a new authentication method for Windows now? Haven't had to do a new install for a while and when Win 10 first came out there was a lot of confusion about the lack of retail and upgrading.

kedge · 21 Sep 2017 at 09:58

After you add your Microsoft account and link it to your digital license, you can use the Activation troubleshooter to help reactivate Windows after a significant hardware change.

Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change - Windows Help