Can a single ISO be used on 2 different PCs to reinstall Win10?

Can a single ISO (USB installer) be used on 2 different PCs to reinstall windows10?g used the Microsoft page to create a bootable installation USB drive for my laptop (Acer) via the "Win10-MediaCreationTool" I was wondering if I can use the same one on my other laptop (Dell)? If the Win10-MediaCreationTool takes the serial while creating the bootable then the answer would be no, but if the serial is only added after the new installation then I would assume it may be used. Or am I wrong?



Can a single ISO (USB installer) be used on 2 different PCs to reinstall windows10?


Having used the Microsoft page to create a bootable installation USB drive for my laptop (Acer) via the "Win10-MediaCreationTool" I was wondering if I can use the same one on my other laptop (Dell)? If the Win10-MediaCreationTool takes the serial while creating the bootable then the answer would be no, but if the serial is only added after the new installation then I would assume it may be used. Or am I wrong?Having used the Microsoft page to create a bootable installation USB drive for my laptop (Acer) via the "Win10-MediaCreationTool" I was wondering if I can use the same one on my other laptop (Dell)? If the Win10-MediaCreationTool takes the serial while creating the bootable then the answer would be no, but if the serial is only added after the new installation then I would assume it may be used. Or am I wrong?


Can a single ISO (USB installer) be used on 2 different PCs to reinstall windows1

When you use the Media Creation Tool to make the USB install media you are asked to choose which architecture you want (32 bit, 64 bit or both) and a language. That's all - the USB doesn't hold any information about the machine that you ran the MCT on to make the USB.

You can use the USB to do a clean install on as many machines as you like, provided you want the same language on each (and the same architecture, if you chose to download just one). The same USB can be used to do a clean install of Home or Pro, you will be asked to choose when you run Setup. Note that if you are doing a clean install on a machine that already had an activated copy of Windows 10 it has a digital licence on Microsoft's activation servers. The clean install will activate automatically. You can change the architecture (32/64 bit} but cannot change the edition (Home or Pro) or it will not activate.

For an upgrade install you must use the same architecture as the version being upgrade. Setup will choose the appropriate edition (Home or Pro) depending on what version is already installed.

I have ask this question before, but never got a yes or no answer. Can a single USB drive be used to install on a UEFI and a Legacy BIOS system?

Clint said:

I have ask this question before, but never got a yes or no answer. Can a single USB drive be used to install on a UEFI and a Legacy BIOS system?

If it is created properly, yes it can. Need to check that it has a FAT32 partition and the partition is marked as active. If the partition on the USB flash drive is NTFS - then it will most likely boot under legacy BIOS mode only. If the partition is not marked as active, then it will most likely boot under UEFI only. FAT32 + active is likely bootable under both.

NavyLCDR said:

If it is created properly, yes it can. Need to check that it has a FAT32 partition and the partition is marked as active. If the partition on the USB flash drive is NTFS - then it will most likely boot under legacy BIOS mode only. If the partition is not marked as active, then it will most likely boot under UEFI only. FAT32 + active is likely bootable under both.

Thanks NavyLCDR. I'm taking that as a yes.

Thanks Bree. Yes, both have x64, both English and both Home and both were originally upgraded to Win 10. But if memory serves me right one may have been originally WIn 7 while the other was definitely Win 8.1.

pintree3 said:

Thanks Bree. Yes, both have x64, both English and both Home and both were originally upgraded to Win 10. But if memory serves me right one may have been originally WIn 7 while the other was definitely Win 8.1.

Does not matter what they were upgraded from so you are good to go.

Jim