I have Windows 10 Home Anniversary update. I installed this OS by a free upgrade from Windows 7. I want to take the hard drive and put it in another tower that has a different motherboard, memory, and processor. What will I have to do to make sure the OS stays activated?
Or maybe it will work [has for me a couple of times] to log into your Microsoft Account while online and check the Activation. And it probably will help to check Device Manager to assure all the necessary drivers are installed.
Hi S,
Actually, it is not necessary.
Use Activation Troubleshooter in Windows 10 Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials
cheers
M.
That doesn't matter.
Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change
What does matter is that the activation page says this:
Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account
It is interesting that after all this time MS have still never modified the EULA to reflect fact the activation troubleshooter works regardless if original licence was oem or not.
I am 99% certain that MS cannot tell history of digital licence.
I had an old laptop which came with W8 preinstalled, and I upgraded at some point to AU version, and mobo died. I installed Home on a laptop that had Vista, and the digital licence transferred fine!
So am I in breach of EULA - technically I an sure yes, but MS introduced the tool that allows digital transfers, so I do not see how they could prosecute any individual for violating EULA when they introduced the very tool that permits one to do just that.
In the end, Windows licensing is full of inconsistencies.
And here is my most recent experience, @cereberus. I replaced my MSI motherboard with an Asus motherboard. I am dual booting Windows 10 and Windows 7. I kept the same SSD and HDD that have Windows 10 on the SSD and Windows 7 on the HDD. I did the sysprep with generalize on the Windows 7. I booted into Windows 7, ran the command SLUI 4 to bring up the phone activation window, then activated Windows 7 on the new system, no issues (retail license). Then I booted into Windows 10 Pro. It went through the process of configuring for the new hardware. I expected I would have to transfer my digital license from the old "computer" (motherboard) to the new "computer". But.... nope..... It automatically came up with "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account"! Did not have to do anything manually for the "transfer?" of the Windows 10 license.
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