Wanting to swap old HDD into brand new system

There is no need to do that. If the os he puts in the machine on transferred HD matches the editiuon the new pc is licensed for, it should be fine.

Otherwise, he can change the edition of the installed OS to match the license of the new machine.

Yes, that is the way to deal with the license

. Also, the chances are it will start up ok on the hardware. If not, you can use the giveaway version O&O I linked earlier.

Though personally I don't see why you'd want to use the old system.

Maybe has a lot of settings, programs installed, etc.

Bree said:

Boot the PC when you get it and set up the Windows 10 Pro it comes with, make sure that it says 'activated with a digital license...' in Settings > Update & Security > Activation. Then you can put the old HDD in. You will not get Home to activate, but you can change the key to the generic Pro key. Windows will check on the activation servers, find the digital license for Pro and allow you to upgrade the old HDD from Home to Pro.

Though personally I don't see why you'd want to use the old system. You could always put the old HDD in an external usb drive case and access the files on it.

I use a lot more data than most people typically do, so doing things the old-fashioned way would take very long. Just trying to cut corners where I can haha.

Bree said:

Well, if it's just the data you want from the old drive, I'd get a USB3 drive enclosure - they're not expensive...

Hard Drive Enclosures | Amazon.com

No you misunderstand me, it would take a very long time to get everything set up the way it was on the old PC if I did things the old way. Not something just horrible but I'd prefer to try other options first. Simply put, I have a vast amount of files, settings, programs, etc etc that all have their own specific and intricate setups. To reinstall all of that would be a lot of effort, which is why I'm trying to see if it's not necessary.

Bree said:

Well, as I said, first set up the PC as it comes out of the box so that you get a digital license stored on the activation severs and linked to the hardware of the new PC. After that you are free to try the old drive.

Gotcha, will do. Guess I'll report back to thread when PC is here.

similar situation here... so I just install windows 10 normally on new pc with the hdd it comes with, then put in old hdd.. then "change key"? how do i do that? can you go more detail for me please bro im not much a computer guy!

please man.. is urgent!! can you help ?