I have a concern about windows 10 license and activation.

I have an old laptop that its screen is not lit when I boot up. I hear a beep after about 10-20 seconds. I plug in an external monitor and nothing happens ...the external monitor is blank. Feeling frustrated, I would like to transfer my Windows 10 license on this faulty laptop to a refurbished laptop which I have purchased. It comes with Windows 10 Home and my faulty laptop is on Windows 10 Pro. It was originally a Windows 7 laptop and has been successfully upgraded to now version 1909 and OS build 10.0.18363.1440.I would like to transfer the SSD from this faulty laptop (with the OS and programs installed) to this refurbished laptop. Is it possible and how do I go about doing this?Thank you. Appreciate your help on this..Rgds,fonzie

Do you still have that Windows 7 license key? Then you can use it to upgrade your new laptop to Pro. The way to go about it, is first to disconnect from the internet and upgrade Windows using the "generic" Pro key (VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T), see this handy tutorial

Generic Product Keys to Install Windows 10 Editions.

Then, once the upgrade is done, you can connect to the internet and activate using your Windows 7 license key. There are obviously other ways of doing it as you can find by searching these Forums, but it seems that in your case that's the way I would do it.

It's been a long time and I don't think I have the product key.

If it helps, this faulty laptop when upgrading from Windows 7 until now, MS says I have a digital license....

So is it OK to just plug in the SSD into this refurbished laptop, boot it up and it's good to go?

Rgds,
fonzie

fonzie said:

It's been a long time and I don't think I have the product key.

If it helps, this faulty laptop when upgrading from Windows 7 until now, MS says I have a digital license....

So is it OK to just plug in the SSD into this refurbished laptop, boot it up and it's good to go?

Rgds,
fonzie

Yes, transferring the SSD from the old laptop to the new laptop and there is a good chance it will boot up, install new drivers and be OK. There are a couple of roadblocks, legacy BIOS v. UEFI, and disk controller drivers are the two biggest hurdles.

However, unless the new laptop already has a digital license for Windows 10 Pro created for it, Windows will detect the hardware change and deactivate. You will then either need to transfer the old digital license to the new computer using the Activation Troubleshooter and the Microsoft Account from the old computer - or you will need to enter a valid product key - such as from the Windows 7 COA sticker on the old laptop.

Thank you folks for your assists.....Yes I have my digital license linked to my MS account. I'm only concerned that when I boot up with my SSD in the refurbished laptop, I may face licensing issues...

Rgds,
fonzie

fonzie said:

Thank you folks for your assists.....Yes I have my digital license linked to my MS account. I'm only concerned that when I boot up with my SSD in the refurbished laptop, I may face licensing issues...

Rgds,
fonzie

It depends on what you call a licensing issue. There is 99% chance it will lose activation. I do not consider that to be a licensing issue.

Sorry it's activation concern. The refurbished laptop is an i3 model with Windows home......old but ok for an old lady of mine.My plan was to take out my SSD (presently with Windows 10 Pro from the faulty laptop and installed in this refurbished laptop. Can this be done?Plan B: Can I reformat my SSD and install it in the refurbished laptop - if above plan not workable? Then do a clean install from there. Can this be done? Would I get an activation issue?RGds,fonzie

Maybe the first question to ask would be why does it require Windows 10 Pro? Why is Windows 10 Home not sufficient? If the goal is only to get an SSD into the refurbished laptop, then why not just move the SSD over and, as you suggest, do a clean install of Windows 10 Home?

1. Create a USB flash drive of Windows 10 using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, I recommend a 16 GB or 32 GB flash drive:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

2. Create a folder on the flash drive created in step 1 above and export the existing refurbished laptop drivers to that folder:
Backup and Restore Device Drivers in Windows 10

3. Replace the hard drive in the refurbished laptop with the SSD.

4. Boot the refurbished laptop from the USB flash drive created in step 1 and perform a clean install of Windows 10 Home.

5. After Windows 10 Home is installed, re-install drivers from the USB flash drive for any hardware in device manager that is missing drivers.

If you re-install Windows 10 Home, there will be no activation issues - it will activate using the already existing digital license for Windows 10 Home for the refurbished laptop. If you put Windows 10 Pro onto the refurbished laptop - either with a clean install or by moving from another computer, you will have to manually activate it to establish the digital license for Windows 10 Pro for the refurbished laptop.