Can I move Windows 10?

[AYDANN6ix9ine]

So I'm just planning a new build for a friend that can do light gaming for only $100. He doesn't need new parts just a decent pc. So my idea is to get a decent, cheap used pre-built PC (with Windows 10 activated already installed) that I can upgrade with a graphics card and maybe upgrade the PSU for cheap. I also want to maybe get a cheap $10 used SSD but my question is when re-installing Windows, would I lose the licensing or activation when wiping the HDD and reinstalling the OS on the SSD?

[birdflyer]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

Use this link. You can download the installation tool. You will need internet, a flash drive, and some patience. Open the file once downloaded, agree to Microsoft policy, wait for it to buffer, click create installation media, wait a while, and now you are complete!

[birdflyer]

To answer your question, yes it would ultimately destroy every thing on the disk drive and possibly the entire Earth. just kidding!

[brob]

If you are not changing the cpu and motherboard it shouldn't be a problem. Ideally you should have the activation key before you start. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/10749/windows-10-find-product-key and https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/12440/windows-10-activate.

 

[birdflyer]

My advice is unless he or she is going to be using the device for less then a year buy a SSD with decent memory modules as well as a decent controller (those are usually what fail.)

[birdflyer]

I might be miss under standing you. Are you going to be copping over everything from the HDD? 

12 minutes ago, AYDANN6ix9ine said:

So I'm just planning a new build for a friend that can do light gaming for only $100. He doesn't need new parts just a decent pc. So my idea is to get a decent, cheap used pre-built PC (with Windows 10 activated already installed) that I can upgrade with a graphics card and maybe upgrade the PSU for cheap. I also want to maybe get a cheap $10 used SSD but my question is when re-installing Windows, would I lose the licensing or activation when wiping the HDD and reinstalling the OS on the SSD?

 

[TomvanWijnen]

16 minutes ago, brob said:

If you are not changing the cpu and motherboard it shouldn't be a problem. 

It's actually just the motherboard it's tied to. I've done a couple of CPU replacements and it is literally just as simple as plop the new one in, boot, "new device detected, installing drivers". Very satisfying.

 

---

 

If you copy the code (with ProduKey or so) beforehand, you should be able to get away with it if you use the same motherboard.

[AYDANN6ix9ine]

5 hours ago, birdflyer said:

I might be miss under standing you. Are you going to be copping over everything from the HDD? 

 

I'm saying that what if I wanted to do a clean install of Windows 10. You know, going to settings and doing the reinstall Windows 10. If I did that, would it wipe the drive of the storage and would I be able to reinstall fully activated onto an SSD. 

[brob]

12 hours ago, AYDANN6ix9ine said:

I'm saying that what if I wanted to do a clean install of Windows 10. You know, going to settings and doing the reinstall Windows 10. If I did that, would it wipe the drive of the storage and would I be able to reinstall fully activated onto an SSD. 

 

If you are asking about using the Reset this PC option, once the function has completed on the hdd you would then have to migrate the hdd to an ssd. Alternatively, if the contents of the hdd will fit on the ssd it could be migrated and then the Reset this PC option could be used. There are a number of migration utilities.

 

I've used the one for Samsung drives and the Acronis utility which comes with their backup software and is available standalone for Crucial drives to migrate hdd. It's a pretty straightforward procedure.