Moving a Windows 10 M.2 drive to a new machine

warewasher2025 · 09 Apr 2021

I have an Intel NUC 7i5 running Windows 10 (20H2 1042. 906) on an NVME M.2 drive. The NUC is over heating and shutting down periodically.
I have replaced the fan and cleaned the cooling fins , but it still shutting down off and on. I'm fully backed with Acronis so I feel pretty safe in that respect. Can I buy a new NUC and move my M.2 into it without license issues? If I remember correctly I purchased the license online when I initially set up this NUC 3 years ago.

Thanks in advance.

spunk · 09 Apr 2021

You can place your M.2 into a new NUC and it should boot, it will take longer to load the new device drivers the first time. Windows should already be activated.
If you have problems, you can call Microsoft and plead your case.

bobkn · 09 Apr 2021

If it's a retail license, the license agreement allows you to transfer it to a new machine.

That includes the case that you needed to do a clean install. (Probably unnecessary.) You may have go through some additional actions to activate, but the activation troubleshooter may be sufficient. That's unlikely, especially if the initial activation was a while ago.

Megahertz · 10 Apr 2021

warewasher2025 said:

I have an Intel NUC 7i5 running Windows 10 (20H2 1042. 906) on an NVME M.2 drive. The NUC is over heating and shutting down periodically.
I have replaced the fan and cleaned the cooling fins , but it still shutting down off and on. I'm fully backed with Acronis so I feel pretty safe in that respect. Can I buy a new NUC and move my M.2 into it without license issues? If I remember correctly I purchased the license online when I initially set up this NUC 3 years ago.

Thanks in advance.

What is overheating, the CPU, the chipset?
My chipset was always very hot so I installed a big heat sink over the original chipset heat sink
Do you have a hardware monitor? open hardware monitor don't need to be installed. Extract to C:\Program Files (x86)\HardwareMonitor and run. You can set to start with windows.

Moving a Windows 10 M.2 drive to a new machine-hard_mon.jpg

Moving a Windows 10 M.2 drive to a new machine-hdmonitor2.jpg

The Win 10 license is tied basically to the MB. If you change the MB and your license isn't Retail, it may not activate.

warewasher2025 · 10 Apr 2021

I'm assuming it's the CPU that is overheating.
I'll download Open hardware monitor and watch it to see what causing the shut down. Changing the fan was an ordeal, Getting the MB in and out of the case is no easy task not to mention the tiny wires that have to be disconnected and moved out of the way. May look at and external fan blowing on the case or as you mentioned a heat sink.
Thanks for the suggestion

AddRAM · 10 Apr 2021

Assuming ? Assuming ?

Just put Core Temp down on the taskbar.

Core Temp (alcpu.com)

Paul Black · 10 Apr 2021

Hello @warewasher2025,

warewasher2025 said:

Can I buy a new NUC and move my M.2 into it without license issues? If I remember correctly I purchased the license online when I initially set up this NUC 3 years ago.

Information that might help . . .

License Types and Rules

MS offers Win 10 Licenses in many channels governed by different rules, but for most users, you can only acquire a License through the OEM [ Original Equipment Manufacturer ] or Retail channel.

An OEM License refers to the License that a manufacturer installs on new devices. If this is your case, the Product Key is NOT transferable, and you can NOT use it to Activate another installation [ unless you are re-activating a new installation on the same computer ].

A Retail License refers to the License that you acquire when purchasing a copy of Win 10 from your local store or an online retailer [ such as from MS or Amazon for example ]. If you have a Win 10 Retail License, you CAN transfer the Product Key to another computer, as long as you DEACTIVATE the Product Key on the other computer.

A Volume License is designed for large Businesses, Education, and Government. Usually, a Volume License allows organizations to use one master Product Key to Activate ANY installation of Win 10. Although you can use this License multiple times on different computers, you can NOT transfer it with the device when the system ownership changes, and you are NOT allowed to use the License to Activate devices that are NOT part of the Organization.

I hope this helps.