Macrium Reflect Cloning question


  1. Posts : 28
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Macrium Reflect Cloning question


    I am upgrading 275GB SSD C: drive to a 500GB SSD, and also upgrading 1TB HDD D: drive to a 1TB SSD. I have Macrium Reflect 8 paid latest version.

    I wish to use MR to clone the C: drive to the new one, and I noticed in the v8 user guide a section "Removing your Licence key when Upgrading your PC".

    Can someone confirm that the process would be to remove the licence key, then perform the cloning with MR running as Free version, then reactivate MR with same licence key.

    Am familiar with reactivating Windows after hardware change, and the few other softwares that I have.

    Windows 10 version 21H1 build 19043.1237
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 1,612
    11, 10, 8.1 and 7 all Professional versions, and Linux Mint
       #2

    There is no need to follow that procedure
    Removing your License key when Upgrading your PC - Knowledgebase 8.0 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

    your change is not changing the computer or even a hardware change as far as microsoft is concerned

    the hardware hash of the computer against which your windows 10 is activated on the Microosft servers does not include the drives

    Nevertheless it would be good practice to use a microsoft account and then any difficulty activating can be easily overcome
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...d-fb3fc72b6665
    When you're ready to reactivate, make sure that your device is connected to the internet and then follow the steps for either a digital license or product key.

    If you have a digital license, run the Activation troubleshooter.
    You’ll need to first add your Microsoft account and link your account to the digital license on your device. After linking your Microsoft account, run the Activation troubleshooter to reactivate Windows 10
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 31,471
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #3

    ozradar said:
    I am upgrading 275GB SSD C: drive to a 500GB SSD, and also upgrading 1TB HDD D: drive to a 1TB SSD. I have Macrium Reflect 8 paid latest version.

    I wish to use MR to clone the C: drive to the new one, and I noticed in the v8 user guide a section "Removing your Licence key when Upgrading your PC".
    Can someone confirm that the process would be to remove the licence key, then perform the cloning with MR running as Free version, then reactivate MR with same licence key.

    Am familiar with reactivating Windows after hardware change, and the few other softwares that I have.

    Licensing for Macrium Reflect works quite differently from Microsoft's activation for Windows 10. Upgrading your hard drive does not count as a hardware change as far as Microsoft is concerned, in fact the hard drive plays no part in the hardware ID used to identify your PC on Microsoft's activation servers. Your SSD upgrade will not cause any activation issues.


    My System One in My Computers below is getting too long in the tooth to run W11, so I have bought a newer laptop to replace it. That's currently running with a restored Macrium system image of W10 from my main laptop, then upgraded to W11. This was a test run, just to prove it was practical. On release of W11 I'll be wiping it clean and repeating the migration permanently, with a few changes to my procedure based on what I've learned in my test run.

    One thing I learned is that if you restore an image that contains a licensed Reflect v8 to another machine you'll end up with two fully functional installs of Reflect, both with the same licence key. I'm not sure if Macrium even checks for hardware changes, as the 'donor' system was from an Intel processor Legacy bios/MBR system and the recipient machine is UEFI with an AMD processor. So far neither of the machines have complained that they are not correctly licensed.

    I'm rather embarrassed to now have two machines with the same licence key, and am reluctant to try removing the key from either of them in case Macrium's licensing servers get confused by the multiple machines and I loose the use of my key entirely. As I said, I'll shortly wipe the new machine and repeat the imaging of the old and restore to the new. This time I will remove the Macrium licence key before making the system image, then install the key on the new machine after the image has been restored. In this way I will have correctly transferred Macrium's installed key from one machine to another, as per Macrium's instructions.

    Removing your License key when Upgrading your PC - Knowledgebase 8.0 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

    I will not however uninstall Reflect from the old machine as recommended in those instructions. Previously I have successfully tested removing and reinstalling the installed key. With the installed key removed Reflect v8 reverts to Reflect Free v8 key and continues to work as the Free edition.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 28
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks


    Thanks Bree and MacMaster. Your responses appreciated. I have Win 10 linked in MS account, so if any issues will just use the activation troubleshooter. I will deactivate MR and the reactivate after I have done the clone.
    Cheers, Mark
      My Computers


 

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