Windows updates stuck at 100% - Formatting drive but the Windows-Key?

PFGrony said:

Hi guys!

[snip]
I have decided to format the SSD, reinstall Win10 again through the Windows 10 Full Home I brought 3 months ago, and just install the few programs I will lose.

However, I am concerned about how Microsoft stores the key. I have chosen to do a new install as I am planning to use OOBE (Out-of box experience) with Sysprep to move my installation to a new custom-built computer within the next year or so and the guide for doing OOBE with Win7 express that any form of upgrade or repair installation will prevent OOBE from working.

So what will happen when I format drive - Will I be able to use my original product key again? Or will Microsoft remember my hardware and just let me in? - If so, can I use OOBE or is the Windows 10 installation tethered to this hardware forever?

Help will be appreciated!:)

Hi PFGrony and welcome to Tenforums.

The clean install should resolve any problems you are having currently, unless, of course, your mouse or keyboard is failing.

For activation, do not input any key during the install; your system will have been registered already with MS, and should activate either immediately, or within a couple reboots. Please remember to turn System Restore on and set a restore point as soon as the install is completed. You may also want to turn off Fast Startup.

The Windows 10 Home you purchased needs to be identified as to what it is you actually bought, before we can determine if it has transfer rights or not. An OEM/Installer/System Builder license is bound to the system. A full retail version is transferable. So, if you have a full retail version, once you have unregistered and removed it from the old machine you can install and activate it on the new one.

To unregister the key from the old machine, open an administrative command prompt and type:

Code:

slmgr /upk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Where x = your retail key code

This will save you the trouble of having to call MS to have the key re-registered on the new system.

Hope that helps!

Hello PFGrony Welcome to the Ten Forums!

The Hardware profile is what gets stored but locally on a drive but on the MS Activation servers. During the initial installation Windows creates a hardware profile ID the Activatrion servers make a record of. You can clean install 10 or any previous version an endless number of times on the exact same hardwares and still see a fresh install activated for that reason.

As for an entirely new build you are looking at an entirely new hardware profile and need to call into MS to have the present key transferred over as you would for any previous version. And you are much better off planning on a full clean install on any new build in order to see that Windows install bound with that set of hardwares. You will find the best results are generally seen with a fresh install of the OS when you have put together a new set of hardwares.

As for the present build rather then the media you bought you can still see that used on a newer build of 10 since it likely the 10240 OEM build and not the 10586 Threshold 2 Update you would still end up seeing through the Windows updates as an upgrade by the WU. Why not simply go for the TH2 and see the new 10 media created? SInce the update contains both Home and Pro editions in both 32bit and 64bit kernels the size comes upto 5.48gb on disk which would require an 8gb flash drive. Windows 10 ISO Download

Option One would be for the dual edition ISO download in either the 32bit or 64bit not both there. That runs about 4.5gb in size.. Option Two is where you first download the MC tool and then have the options for immediate upgrade, seeing the usb media created, burning to a blank 8gb size not typical dvd-r, or simply saving the "Windows.iso" file to a folder on the drive to be later burned to disk or written to a flash drive.

PFGrony said:

Thanks simrick and Night Hawk!:)

I did not know about the slmgr /upk feature which I will probably use when I move to new hardware.
I am confident it is a full retail license I have bought.

I will just use the installation media I bought because the download speed of where I live is too slow to download the TH2 update and on top of that I don't have an 8GB drive free at the moment.

Sounds good!

PFGrony said:

Thanks simrick and Night Hawk!:)

I did not know about the slmgr /upk feature which I will probably use when I move to new hardware.
I am confident it is a full retail license I have bought.

I will just use the installation media I bought because the download speed of where I live is too slow to download the TH2 update and on top of that I don't have an 8GB drive free at the moment.

You wouldn't have to worry anyways since the TH2 will be arriving along with the rest of the updates once the fresh install is complete. The smaller updates will be the first seen during the setup. Either way a clean install will clean up a mess fast enough as a general rule. Let us know how things turn out. :)

PFGrony said:

Everything went smooth. WU has just updated to build 10586 and Windows is activated. Thankfully, my mouse and keyboard problems were software related and was fixed by the clean install of Windows. Thanks again for the help!:)

Excellent news! Glad to hear it!