Migrating Windows 10 OEM from old to new desktop

cereberus · 01 Jun 2018

Superfly said:

The new PC has it's own licence - the old licence is irrelevant - there is no transfer - a new DL is attained on the restored image using the firmware key.

Dell must have been referring to drivers and the like which rightly should not be restored on a different PC.

And even then, Windows 10 is really good at sorting such issues. It is ages since I had to do a sysprep. As usual best plan is a image backup first, just in case .....

orlbuckeye · 01 Jun 2018

Superfly said:

The new PC has it's own licence - the old licence is irrelevant - there is no transfer - a new DL is attained on the restored image using the firmware key.

Dell must have been referring to drivers and the like which rightly should not be restored on a different PC.

When using the term old license i was referring to the HP (5 year old). Meaning it came with Windows 7 or 8 and an upgrade was done to get to Windows 10 or a clean install. The upgrade process verifies the Windows 7 or 8 is activated and then creates the digital Signature for Windows 10. The Dell was purchased with WIndows 10 that was installed in the factory which uses a key and that key is stored in BIOS.. The old key is used only if Windows 7 or 8 gets reinstalled again and the digital footprint is used for Windows 10..

NavyLCDR · 01 Jun 2018

I've moved Windows 10 installations between computers that had OEM Windows 10 installed from the factory and that have been upgraded from OEM Windows 7 and retail Windows 7. Once a computer has had an activated Windows 10 installation on it - let's say Windows 10 Home, you can move any other Windows 10 of the same edition, such as Home, to it, and it will activate based upon the previously granted license for Windows 10. And it does not violate the EULA to do so.

Computer A: Windows 7 OEM Home upgraded to Windows 10 Home.
Computer B: Windows 10 Home OEM from the factory.
Computer C: Full retail Windows 10 Home - either upgraded from Retail Windows 7 or purchased retail Windows 10.

You can have one image of Windows 10 from any one of the computers and move it to any of the other computers and it will activate just fine, and it does not violate the EULA in any way to do so because each computer has it's own digital license for Windows 10 stored on MS activation activation servers. As long as the edition is exactly the same, Home, Pro, N or regular, single language or regular.

Helmut · 02 Jun 2018

But the original question was double edged a System Image is not Just Windows 10.

If both PCs have an OEM Windows 10 Home version license then obviously Windows 10 itself can be moved. You are not violating any Windows 10 license.
The hardware will be different so different drivers need installing.

"I want to avoid at all cost installing every program and setting up my desktop the way I prefer it!"
You maybe violating the license terms of installed Applications.

You have, or will have a new working Dell, all drivers etc installed. I would not want to mess about with that, start with a clean machine. Install all your applications and transfer your personal files.

I have done this every time on a new PC, a new clean start with none of the dross accumulated on the old one.

cereberus · 02 Jun 2018

Helmut said:

But the original question was double edged a System Image is not Just Windows 10.

If both PCs have an OEM Windows 10 Home version license then obviously Windows 10 itself can be moved. You are not violating any Windows 10 license.
The hardware will be different so different drivers need installing.

"I want to avoid at all cost installing every program and setting up my desktop the way I prefer it!"
You maybe violating the license terms of installed Applications.

You have, or will have a new working Dell, all drivers etc installed. I would not want to mess about with that, start with a clean machine. Install all your applications and transfer your personal files.

I have done this every time on a new PC, a new clean start with none of the dross accumulated on the old one.

If OP backs up data, I see no reason why OP should not try using an existing drive on another PC FIRST.

Windows 10 is really good at sorting drivers for a new pc. If that proves to be problematic, sysprep usually does the trick.

2times2 · 02 Jun 2018

Hello,

Macrium reflect boot disk comes with Windows PE so I can redeploy the image of my old system to new computer.

I think it's a good idea to take my old SSD and plug it in to the new system and see if it boots and reactivates.
Or
I can create a 2nd bootable partition on the new computer M.2 SSD & redeploy Macrium image file and see if it boots up.

In case it boots up and does not activate can I buy a license from Microsoft?

It will be painful if I had to reinstall everything on the new computer from scratch!