Hello, I am new here. Please help me.
My father's computer upgraded from win7 to win10. And now I want to help him to change the motherboard.
I know I will have activation issue if i just change the board, so what should i do to solve the issue?
I heard that windows 10 can now use win7 keys to activate, is that correct?
Hello sunny7day Welcome to the Ten Forums!
The first thing to ask here is what type of product key did the 7 install see? Since a new board will mean a major hardware change a clean install of 7 would be seen with the retail 7 key under the EULA. That allows transfer of the license to the new pc. Once MS has activated the fresh 7 install with the new board installed you can then choose between two options to see 10 installed. These two guides for either choice will take you through things step by step for seeing 10 go on once the 7 situation is corrected for the new board.
The first is the immediate upgrade type install following the fresh 7 "with SP1" required install you would upgrade from once activated which then will immediately see a record of the new profile stored on the MS activation server. But you might run into a buggy upgrade despite the fresh clean 7 install and later need a second 10 clean install which is where Option #2 comes in! Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums
The second being the Clean Install of 10 Without Upgrade First is where you will want to be once 7 is on and activated following a call in to MS to get that straightened out. From there the 7 install can be backed up with a full system image and stored on a separate drvie if you have one. And then you have to be sure to unplug any storage drives or anything non OS as the guides explain. That prevents things like boot files and temporary installation folders from ending up on the wrong drive!
Windows 7 keys cannot be used to activate windows 10 RTM, this option is available for just Insiders.Expect some time before it gets rolled out to everyone.
You should try phone activation as mentioned if you encounter problems regarding the activation:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/950929
With a board change being a replacement component a quick call into MS shouldn't actually run into any problem as far as seeing a clean install of 7 activated. I ran into a similar problem replacing memory on the present build shortly after getting it together and already having put 7 on.
I gave MS a call back then to see 7 reactivated while a board change will need a bit more explaining. That's where the type of license could pose a problem if OEM and not Full Retail while on past occasions when only having an OEM disk bought online from a place like Newegg a call to MS saw the fresh install on a new build activated.
The old pc's drives were simply moved into the new build leaving the older case without any but floppy and optical for that old XP disk. MS is now changing their activation procedures a bit however and if explained you need 7 activated in order to upgrade to 10 that should be a selling point!
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