Transfer Win 10 license to new PC. What happens with the old PC?

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  1. Posts : 195
    Windows 10
       #1

    Transfer Win 10 license to new PC. What happens with the old PC?


    Hello,

    I will buy a new computer and transfer the current Win 10 license to this new PC.

    Is there anything important I must keep in mind before doing so?

    What happens to the old computer. Some say it should still work to a limited degree. What limitations would be put on the old PC?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,737
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, new PCs mostly come with an O/S - unless you are specifically buying one without.

    There are tutorials and much advice in various threads supporting the transfer of a license- easier if linked to a MS account (Tutorials refer).

    Are you aiming to transfer your current configuration/installed programs etc, or start afresh with a new installation?

    You'll lose most giveaway licenses if you have any, and need to give due consideration to how you'll transfer various data from your old build to a clean instal of course- email clients need particular consideration, also browser-related data.

    I won't comment on the last question, not having been through that myself.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 16,786
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #3

    Hoggorm said:
    What happens to the old computer. Some say it should still work to a limited degree. What limitations would be put on the old PC?
    I assume you are talking about Windows that has been bought as a Retail licence.
    You do not have the right to transfer a licence for Windows that was pre-installed by the computer maker, a so-called OEM licence.
    my licence transfer terms ditty with links and extracts [post #16] - TenForums

    You should remove Windows from the original computer.
    If you did not do so & you kept using it without ever connecting it to the internet then nothing would change, you would not see any difference in its behaviour.
    If you ever connected it to the internet then it ought to get your new computer's activation cancelled. But I've never seen a post by anybody saying that that had happened.

    You could consider installing another OS such as Linux. I know nothing about other OSs.

    Denis
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #4

    If you transfer the license from the old computer to the new computer using your Microsoft account, nothing happens to the old computer, it remains activated. OEM v. Retail no longer matters to Microsoft.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 195
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    dalchina said:
    Hi, new PCs mostly come with an O/S - unless you are specifically buying one without.

    Are you aiming to transfer your current configuration/installed programs etc, or start afresh with a new installation?

    You'll lose most giveaway licenses if you have any, and need to give due consideration to how you'll transfer various data from your old build to a clean instal of course- email clients need particular consideration, also browser-related data.
    The new computer is sold without Windows. I am aiming at a clean install with no transfer of software or files from the old to the new computer.

    I was planning on letting the kids use the old computer, but that depends on what limitations are imposed. No more updates are ok, but if everything starts to shut down and eventually makes the computer unusable, that would not be ok. Then I have to solve it by other means.

    Try3 said:
    I assume you are talking about Windows that has been bought as a Retail licence.
    You do not have the right to transfer a licence for Windows that was pre-installed by the computer maker, a so-called OEM licence.

    You should remove Windows from the original computer.

    If you ever connected it to the internet then it ought to get your new computer's activation cancelled. But I've never seen a post by anybody saying that that had happened.

    Denis
    This is not a OEM license. It is a retail.

    So you say if I remove the license on the old computer, and uses it on the new one. The old computer will force the new computer to stor working if I still use the old..?

    I have another Win 10 Pro license on a laptop. Would it be possible to remove the license from that laptop and buy a new Home, or OEM licence for it?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 16,786
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #6

    Hoggorm said:
    So you say if I remove the license on the old computer, and uses it on the new one. The old computer will force the new computer to stor working if I still use the old..?
    No, that's not what I said.
    Nothing is removed from the old computer.
    Activating your licence on the new computer removes your right to have Windows on the old computer.
    If MS detect that you are breaching their licence terms then they have the right to take action.

    Hoggorm said:
    I have another Win 10 Pro license on a laptop. Would it be possible to remove the license from that laptop and buy a new Home, or OEM licence for it?
    Nothing is removed from the old computer by the act of using its licence on a new computer other than your right to use Windows on it.
    You can install & activate Home on that other computer using a new licence if you want to.

    Denis
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 42,737
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #7

    I have another Win 10 Pro license on a laptop. Would it be possible to remove the license from that laptop and buy a new Home, or OEM licence for it?
    Downgrading from Pro to Home is, as I understand it, not officially supported. See e.g.
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-237cbec072c8
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 195
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Try3 said:
    No, that's not what I said.
    Nothing is removed from the old computer.
    Activating your licence on the new computer removes your right to have Windows on the old computer.
    If MS detect that you are breaching their licence terms then they have the right to take action.


    Denis
    I got you.

    Thank you very much for the clearification.

    dalchina said:
    Downgrading from Pro to Home is, as I understand it, not officially supported. See e.g.
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-237cbec072c8
    I see... So if this is the solution to go for, this laptop would require a clean install to be able to use a new Home license?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 15,444
    Windows10
       #9

    When you transfer a licence from old pc to new pc, as @NavyLCDR says, you will still remain activated on old PC.

    According to the EU, you are supposed to remove Windows from old pc. However if you do not, nothing bad will happen, and in the end, it is really a matter of personal conscience if you keep windows on old pc.

    Frankly, MS do not seem to care that much, partly as their main objective is to keep users using Windows - they make money out of services such as Office 365, Azure, adverts etc.

    In any case, the cost of policing the few transgressions is probably more than a licence is worth.

    However, they do try and stop volume licenses being used illegitimately, as that leads to wholesale piracy e.g. they can afford to ignore one licence being use against terms of EULA, but not hundreds. It is all a matter of perspective.

    For avoidance of doubt, I am not encouraging any users to flout terms of the EULA but merely explaining the facts.

    Some say, replies like this encourage piracy, but I counter that I can explain how guns and bullets work, but that is not condoning murder LOL.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 16,786
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #10

    Hoggorm said:
    this laptop would require a clean install to be able to use a new Home license?
    Yes.

    I think I once saw a claimed procedure for downgrading to Home without a clean install [posted somewhere online] but the procedure instilled so little confidence that I don't seem to have even kept a link to it.

    Denis
      My Computer


 

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