What happens if I use my W10 SSD on a new PC? (W10 Ver 2004.)

W10User123 · 24 Aug 2020

I built my PC out of parts in 2008, and it's now showing its age.
I bought W10 about 18 months ago from a PC store. It was on DVD, and I'm 99% sure it's an OEM disc. (I can't find it atm to double-check.)
It is 64-bit, home edition.
If I change my PC to a new one, can I plug in my W10 SSD, and hope it will boot up and work correctly?
(Naturally, I will have to correct peripheral driver issues.)
Or will it refuse to run on new hardware because of a W10 licensing problem?
Perhaps it will run, but I won't be able to download any current/future updates to the W10 OS?
(I am using W10 Ver 2004.)
Thanks a lot for any advice. I appreciate it.

dalchina · 24 Aug 2020

Hi, if you mean 'can I take the SSD from my old PC, plug it in to my new one...' -there are several possible issues.

a. the old one may be MBR. The new one may be UEFI only. You would need to check that for compatibility.
b. if you have an OEM license, you will not be able to transfer that- retail license can be transferred to new hardware.
Related tutorials available- easier if linked to a MS live id.

Moving system disks between PCs with different hardware but basically compatible configurations (BIOS/UEFI) often works and Windows will generally adapt the driver configuration for you.

Ensure you have a full backup (disk image) of all Windows partitions before attempting any such transfer so you can recover if things go astray.

Did you have a Win 7 retail license for your original PC which you haven't used to upgrade to Win 10? Was that a retail license?

If so you could use that and clean install Win 10 directly on a new PC. See upgrade paths in the Clean Install tutorial.

Megahertz · 24 Aug 2020

Adding to dalchina remarks, if you're 99% sure Win 10 you bought it's an OEM disc, it can't be used on another computer. (there are some workarounds but not sure it will work)

Samuria · 24 Aug 2020

If its a new pc then really you need to do a clean install why risk bringing junk and problems to a new pc?

bobkn · 24 Aug 2020

It may work. Windows 10 is pretty good about detecting the hardware change, and installing the new drivers. I managed to swap motherboards form an Intel X99 based one to an AMD X470 one without difficulties.

If it's really an OEM license, then I would expect activation to fail. You could have a working Win10, with whatever limitations are present when it isn't activated.

Maybe you should take advantage of one of those (dubious?) cheap Win10 licenses discussed in another thread, just in case.

Megahertz · 24 Aug 2020

Do you have the Windows (Win 7?) that you first installed on the 2008 build?

dalchina · 24 Aug 2020

Yep- as asked in my post #2... I think we need to wait for any reply..

Did you have a Win 7 retail license for your original PC which you haven't used to upgrade to Win 10? Was that a retail license?

MisterEd · 24 Aug 2020

dalchina said:

Yep- as asked in my post #2... I think we need to wait for any reply..

You are right. If the OP has a retail copy of Windows 7 that could be installed on another computer. Then he could do a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Of course all this makes no sense. Wouldn't a new computer already have Windows 10 on it? If so and if it is on a hard drive then it could be cloned to the SSD.

dalchina · 25 Aug 2020

If bought with Win 10, licensing isn't an issue. But you can buy PC's without an O/S.

Then there's another potential scenario- old license PRO, new PC comes with Home and user wants Pro. In this case that's not relevant as the user has Home.

AddRAM · 25 Aug 2020

Samuria said:

If its a new pc then really you need to do a clean install why risk bringing junk and problems to a new pc?

Of course you can use the SSD, but as said, do a clean install.

And ya, what exactly do you mean by "If I change my PC to a new one" ????

And how old is this SSD ?