Changing motherboard question

Hi All,
I just need a refresher on the correct way to activate Windows 10 Pro after the motherboard zapped and I am replacing it with a new one.
I will explain what I have in regards to Windows 10 Pro system(s) below;
My old system(wife was using) that crashed was the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe x38 dual core with a SSD with Windows 10 Pro which was upgraded from Windows 8.1 Pro years ago.
My newer system(I am currently using) is a ASUS Z270 TUF Mark 1 i7-7700k with Windows 10 Pro Retail.
I plan to leave everything intact on the ASUS Z270 motherboard for wife minus the video card and power supply and the new 1TB M.2 I just purchased. There is a 250GB M.2 already on the Z270 with the Windows 10 Pro so I don't have to touch that.

I assumed I had both motherboards under my microsoft account. When I logged in this morning to see if I could write down the digital key to the older system I can only find one system which is the ASUS Z270. I don't know where the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe system went from the microsoft account. It is activated under my MS account for years.

I checked my notepad that I keep all product keys and passwords and found the product key for the Windows 8 Pro so I would like to know if that would be the way to reactivate the Windows 10 Pro that is on the SSD when I place it in the new motherboard? Or do I just select hardware change and hope that works?

Here is what I am hoping to do;
I am buying the ASUS ROG Strix Z590 motherboard, CPU and RAM and want to plug in the old SSD drive from the P5E3 Deluxe to set it up first and activate and then I will install a M.2 drive in the ROG Z590 and transfer OS from old SSD to M.2 and just reinstall fresh once the motherboard is assigned to the Windows 10 Pro from the SSD.
I would like to be sure how to properly proceed before the new motherboard and components arrive.
I hope I didn't leave out any important details on what I am hoping to do.

Greatly appreciate any replies

Yes, you should be able to activate Windows 10 Pro with the Windows 8 Pro product key. Just realize that you cannot use it for the initial install, just click on "I don't have a product key". After Windows 10 Pro is installed, then you activate it with the Windows 8 Pro product key by going to the activation screen and change product key.

As a backup method you can use the activation troubleshooter and see if it will activate from the old system on your Microsoft Account. Even if the new system activates from the old system - it does not remove activation from the old system so you will still be good to go.

Finally, does your wife have a Microsoft Account? Have you checked devices listed on her account?

NavyLCDR said:

Yes, you should be able to activate Windows 10 Pro with the Windows 8 Pro product key. Just realize that you cannot use it for the initial install, just click on "I don't have a product key". After Windows 10 Pro is installed, then you activate it with the Windows 8 Pro product key by going to the activation screen and change product key.

As a backup method you can use the activation troubleshooter and see if it will activate from the old system on your Microsoft Account. Even if the new system activates from the old system - it does not remove activation from the old system so you will still be good to go.

Finally, does your wife have a Microsoft Account? Have you checked devices listed on her account?

Thank you for the reply. That's great news to hear. Greatly appreciate it.
I just checked my wife's MS account and a Windows 10 Pro is listed in details but no name like showing on this computer for me when I log into my MS account. In the details on her account I see Windows 10 Pro but no computer name or serial number in that field, but it has to be the OS on the P5E3. Now that is weird because all I done was give her that P5E3 Deluxe with all my info and programs on it. I didn't change anything. Never formatted or installed any application since 2017. The P5E3 was registered to me right from when I bought win 7 home and upgraded to 8.1 pro to 10 pro. Her MS name should not be on it. She should be only on the Windows 10 Home on her acer laptop. I only have 2 copies of Win 10 Pro. One is retail I bought when I upgraded components to the ASUS Z270 and other was upgrades to 10 Pro on the P5E3. I am baffled with that. But thanks for asking the question. I will have to look into that.

thanks

Has she logged onto the computer with her own MS account? All that is required for a computer to show up on a MS account is for that person to log into their MS account on that computer.

NavyLCDR said:

Has she logged onto the computer with her own MS account? All that is required for a computer to show up on a MS account is for that person to log into their MS account on that computer.

Thanks for the reply
I logged her into the MS account website on her laptop with Windows 10 Home to see if any device is there. All that shows when i click, on details is Windows 10 Pro. There is no computer name like when I log into my account. When I log in under mine I see the computer name which is same as when I go into system info and click on "about" so I know it is the Z270 . She cannot log into the P5E3 computer because it is zapped. And the funny thing is that there is no Windows 10 Home listed in her MS account page. When I click on devices it don't show a name but I am able to 'view details' and that's where i see windows 10 Professional.
Note: the serial number field just got the words 'serial number' on my account also so forget that part lol.

I am going to take your advice and do the Windows 8.1 Pro key when I get the new components. That will be Nov.10th when the last pieces arrive, if courier service is on time

Greatly appreciate your advice

Product keys are never shown for devices listed on the MS account webpage anyway....you are barking up the wrong tree trying to find Product Keys there.

NavyLCDR said:

Product keys are never shown for devices listed on the MS account webpage anyway....you are barking up the wrong tree trying to find Product Keys there.

I was hoping to find something related to the Windows 10 Pro that was installed on the P5E3 so I would be able to transfer that Legitimate copy to new components like Motherboard and M.2 drive.
Looks like the best way would be to use the Windows 8.1 Pro key when installing.

Thanks for your replies
Cheers

Just an update. I finally got all the components to start my install. I first attempted to boot with the SSD from the Z270 in the new Z590 MB. (My plan was to install the old SSD and then clone Windows 10 Pro to the M.2 drive) Well that didn't work so I removed that and Installed the M.2 drive on the Z590 MB. I tried to use the Windows Pro 8.1 license key but for some reason it came back invalid. So I tried the Windows Pro 8.0 key and that worked to install Windows 10 Pro. All went well and after installation I went into the activate and use the option "changed hardware" and entered the Windows 8.0 Pro key and my Windows 10 pro activated! So I am good to go and happy everything went well for me for a change :) Just can't figure out why the Windows 8.1 Pro key would not work Now I am all set for when Windows 11 is offered in my WU hehehe.

cheers

Scramjet said:

Just can't figure out why the Windows 8.1 Pro key would not work Now I am all set for when Windows 11 is offered in my WU hehehe.

cheers

The Windows 8.1 product key may have been used too many times in too short of a time period and was blocked by Microsoft from online activation.

NavyLCDR said:

The Windows 8.1 product key may have been used too many times in too short of a time period and was blocked by Microsoft from online activation.

I think I posted this in 2 places (sorry about that). That would be strange considering it was only issued to me when I upgraded from Windows 8.0 Pro which I got with the promotion to upgrade from Windows 7 Home for $29.00 CDN to Windows 8.0 and then upgraded to Windows 8.1 for free. I may have to contact MS and ask about that. I have no pirate keys for MS OS.

cheers