Installation: New drive, same laptop, same license

[Franz Dano]

So I've had my laptop for a few months now and I've finally decided to use the vacant M.2 slot on it now that I saved enough money to buy an ssd for it.

But I have no idea how the product key on the Windows 10 that i use will react to it and I don't want to risk losing the license.

 

I just need to know if it's possible to do a fresh install of the same version of Windows 10 onto the same laptop but on a new drive (ssd upgrade) and still keep my product key

- The OS was pre-installed

- I didn't want to migrate the data from the old drive since I wanted to clear out the bloatware and other junk from it anyway

- If it's possible, is there anything special I have to do to besides the usual OS installation stuff?

[DnFx91]

as far as i know, if windows realises that its hardware fingerprint of your system has changed, it will simply update that serverside to include your new hardware, and will simultaneously un-license your copy of windows from your old hardware.

 

 

[DnFx91]

also, it depends on what type of windows license you have, if you have an OEM license, then you wont be able to activate it on new hardware. If it's a retail version that you bought from microsoft, then you should be able to unlicense it then relicense it after the upgrade.

[Guest]

If it is the same laptop, you should have no problems at all. Just skip the part where you input a product key and login with your same account(Might not need to be the same account) and it should work like that.

[Franz Dano]

7 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

also, it depends on what type of windows license you have, if you have an OEM license, then you wont be able to activate it on new hardware. If it's a retail version that you bought from microsoft, then you should be able to unlicense it then relicense it after the upgrade.

Even if it was to be installed on the same laptop? since i only plan on swapping the boot drive to the new ssd by installing windows to it

[Guest]

Just now, Franz Dano said:

Even if it was to be installed on the same laptop? since i only plan on swapping the boot drive to the new ssd by installing windows to it

It shouldn't matter what type of license if its on the same laptop/mobo.

[DnFx91]

2 minutes ago, tjcater said:

It shouldn't matter what type of license if its on the same laptop/mobo.

windows fingerprints the boot media, so a new drive will result in a differing hardware fingerprint. Ive lost over 10 activations before by upgrading my fleet to new SSD's, due to my predecessor being a moron and buying OEM 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, DnFx91 said:

windows fingerprints the boot media, so a new drive will result in a differing hardware fingerprint. Ive lost over 10 activations before by upgrading my fleet to new SSD's, due to my predecessor being a moron and buying OEM 

That would be for buying an OEM key, not an OEM key embedded into the system correct? My laptop shipped with 10 Pro and I had also upgraded to an SSD with no issues. I'm pretty sure the OP has the embedded kind from how he described the question. (Could be wrong so feel free to correct me.)

[Franz Dano]

Just now, tjcater said:

That would be for buying an OEM key, not an OEM key embedded into the system correct? My laptop shipped with 10 Pro and I had also upgraded to an SSD with no issues. I'm pretty sure the OP has the embedded kind from how he described the question. (Could be wrong so feel free to correct me.)

Basically when I bought the laptop, it was ready to do the first time setup stuff out of the box, no installations had to be done after taking it out, I dunno if that's OEM or pre-installed or if the two are the same thing or something

[DnFx91]

1 minute ago, tjcater said:

That would be for buying an OEM key, not an OEM key embedded into the system correct? My laptop shipped with 10 Pro and I had also upgraded to an SSD with no issues. I'm pretty sure the OP has the embedded kind from how he described the question. (Could be wrong so feel free to correct me.)

yeah that sounds about right man, but when people say "embedded into system or BIOS" that just means that it is hardware fingerprinted. Honestly after working with windows licensing for the last 3 years i feel like they move the goalposts every single day. Just get a decent cracked copy of 10 Pro and be done with this silly licensing nonsense

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

yeah that sounds about right man, but when people say "embedded into system or BIOS" that just means that it is hardware fingerprinted. Honestly after working with windows licensing for the last 3 years i feel like they move the goalposts every single day. Just get a decent cracked copy of 10 Pro and be done with this silly licensing nonsense

Yah, even though windows will now work fine even unactivated (Was it a reboot every hour in past version?)

7 minutes ago, Franz Dano said:

Basically when I bought the laptop, it was ready to do the first time setup stuff out of the box, no installations had to be done after taking it out, I dunno if that's OEM or pre-installed or if the two are the same thing or something

They are the same thing. The OEM is the company who built your laptop (Usually)(Think Dell, Acer, Etc.).

[DnFx91]

2 minutes ago, tjcater said:

Yah, even though windows will now work fine even unactivated (Was it a reboot every hour in past version?)

They are the same thing. The OEM is the company who built your laptop (Usually)(Think Dell, Acer, Etc.).

yeah but working as a Comp Sys Engineer, the sight of that activation watermark chills me to the bone. 

 

I've heard loads of stories about windows doing shitty things when you dont activate it, locking the refresh rate to 30Hz, not allowing wallpapers or screensavers, not allowing video output, disabling sound devices haha. Not sure how many are true but ive never ran unactivated windows for more than 30 seconds before the watermark got to me, id rather run Debian without a GUI lol

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, Franz Dano said:

So I've had my laptop for a few months now and I've finally decided to use the vacant M.2 slot on it now that I saved enough money to buy an ssd for it.

But I have no idea how the product key on the Windows 10 that i use will react to it and I don't want to risk losing the license.

 

I just need to know if it's possible to do a fresh install of the same version of Windows 10 onto the same laptop but on a new drive (ssd upgrade) and still keep my product key

- The OS was pre-installed

- I didn't want to migrate the data from the old drive since I wanted to clear out the bloatware and other junk from it anyway

- If it's possible, is there anything special I have to do to besides the usual OS installation stuff?

Of course! The product key is actually stored in the UEFI chip of your laptop. Simply use Microsoft Media Creation Tool on another PC with a USB Flash drive or blank disk to get Windows 10, and prepare it your disk or USB flash drive with it. Then simply insert the disk or USB flash drive on your laptop, boot form it, and install Windows 10.

 

During the setup, Windows 10 Setup might ask you for a product key. Simply pick "I don't have one" blue link, if it asks, and Windows 10 setup will resume. Once WIndows 10 is installed it should be activated by then, or will be shortly after. You can check for updates in the mean time. Usually that wakes the activation process.

[Franz Dano]

16 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Of course! The product key is actually stored in the UEFI chip of your laptop. Simply use Microsoft Media Creation Tool on another PC with a USB Flash drive or blank disk to get Windows 10, and prepare it your disk or USB flash drive with it. Then simply insert the disk or USB flash drive on your laptop, boot form it, and install Windows 10.

 

During the setup, Windows 10 Setup might ask you for a product key. Simply pick "I don't have one" blue link, if it asks, and Windows 10 setup will resume. Once WIndows 10 is installed it should be activated by then, or will be shortly after. You can check for updates in the mean time. Usually that wakes the activation process.

Alrighty, I got the OS installed on my new SSD and thankfully it skipped past the activation process entirely, and windows is still activated

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, Franz Dano said:

Alrighty, I got the OS installed on my new SSD and thankfully it skipped past the activation process entirely, and windows is still activated

Excellent!