"Saving" Retail Pro licenses for use in future systems

I hope this is the right place for this question. I would like to reuse Retail Pro licenses for OEM Home systems.

I have two old, "broken down" systems with Retail Pro licenses, both included in my Microsoft account. These systems are old, have problem, so I want to "scrap out" these systems (recycle the parts, etc.) At the same time, my wife's new laptop is only OEM Home. I also expect to get an OEM Home license when I get a new laptop later this year or early next year.

Can I somehow "save" these Retail Pro licenses and then apply them to the OEM Home systems? I don't want to actually scrap out the two old systems until I know how to save the licenses, if that is possible.

NavyLCDR said:

Do you have the Windows 10 Pro retail product keys?

Not sure. From the age of these systems, they were Win 7 upgrades. I'll have to check my records. Or, can I retrieve the product keys?

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MisterEd said:

As long as they are retail Windows licenses you can reuse them. They will activate fine as long as they are not being used on another computer at the same time. I have done so many times.

In technical terms, what are the steps?

• Do I need to deactivate the licenses first on the old systems?
• Where are the licenses stored? Or, how do I retrieve them?
• Do I just apply the retrieved keys to the OEM licenses? At that point, do the systems become Retail licensed?

OEM Windows licenses are meant to only be used on one computer and are not transferable.

Understood.

BTW, my son gave me an old broken laptop he got at an auto salvage yard. I pulled the Window 7 Home license from it. I reused the key on another computer I have. Note the laptop originally had Windows Vista on it so Windows 7 was probably retail.

Good deal. Did that auto salvage yard system boot up? Or did you somehow extract the license after retrieving the hard drive from the salvage yard system?

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So I look at this problem as an opportunity to extend my technical knowledge.

As I pointed out in another thread, I'm not an IT professional, but I still seek to increase my technical knowledge. I'm often the go to person for my family and friends on Windows/systems issues. Right now I'm about to install an SSD into the laptop of a friend who runs Linux on his laptop (for his work) and is extremely reluctant to open up any of his hardware. He will plug in cables, but that's it.