Can i take a SSD with Windows installed out of one pc and put it in a brand new pc and windows will work on that new pc?

[Finlay OReilly]

Can i take a SSD with Windows installed out of one pc and put it in a brand new pc and windows will work on that new pc?

 

I want to keep the 200gb of data on it will this work? 

 

and the new pc has different hardware 

 

[Michael2]

Yes it will work, Windows will usually deal with all the driver stuff for you.

[kriegisyourbae]

Make sure to update crucial drivers though, such as chipset and graphics. Otherwise, you shouldn't run into any issues.

[SpookyCitrus]

As long as the Windows on the HDD is compatible with the new hardware it should work. If the Windows install is not compatible then you would have to do a few things to move it over. If the Windows on the drive is installed on MBR and setup in legacy and the new hardware is UEFI only then it may not work.

[jaslion]

Yes but it is very known to cause issues either soon or later. Best to just start over. You can just copy the data to another drive.

[Alex Atkin UK]

22 minutes ago, Finlay OReilly said:

Can i take a SSD with Windows installed out of one pc and put it in a brand new pc and windows will work on that new pc?

 

I want to keep the 200gb of data on it will this work? 

 

and the new pc has different hardware 

 

The actual answer to this is maybe, but you really shouldn't.

Windows activation is tied to a specific PC, you move it to another one and it will become unauthorised and unless its a retail copy your license does not cover re-authenticating it on a different PC.

There are sometimes workarounds and OEM copies "sometimes" will stay authorised (or they used to, not sure about current Windows editions) but technically you're in breach of the license in doing that.

[Finlay OReilly]

43 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

The actual answer to this is maybe, but you really shouldn't.

Windows activation is tied to a specific PC, you move it to another one and it will become unauthorised and unless its a retail copy your license does not cover re-authenticating it on a different PC.

There are sometimes workarounds and OEM copies "sometimes" will stay authorised (or they used to, not sure about current Windows editions) but technically you're in breach of the license in doing that.

I built the pc myself and activated windows myself it is not activated by an OEM 

[wseaton]

4 hours ago, Finlay OReilly said:

I built the pc myself and activated windows myself it is not activated by an OEM 

You still have a license that came from somewhere if you built it yourself. Even if you've upgraded from Win7. If you bought the license from a legit source it's either OEM or retail, and most likely it's OEM. Open a command prompt and enter slmgr /dlv

 

OEM's officially cannot be moved off their existing motherboard they were installed on. Sometimes they re-activate, mostly they don't and Windows just keeps pestering you unless you buy another license.

 

 

[worstalentscout]

i've read that most people say it won't work but it did work for a few people................

 

my old desktop's SSD is on Win7-32bit...............i wonder if it can work in a laptop that had a HDD with Win10-64bit..............??

[Finlay OReilly]

On 2/8/2022 at 10:43 PM, wseaton said:

You still have a license that came from somewhere if you built it yourself. Even if you've upgraded from Win7. If you bought the license from a legit source it's either OEM or retail, and most likely it's OEM. Open a command prompt and enter slmgr /dlv

 

OEM's officially cannot be moved off their existing motherboard they were installed on. Sometimes they re-activate, mostly they don't and Windows just keeps pestering you unless you buy another license.

 

 

it says it is a retail key

[Finlay OReilly]

On 2/8/2022 at 5:21 PM, kriegisyourbae said:

Make sure to update crucial drivers though, such as chipset and graphics. Otherwise, you shouldn't run into any issues.

so should moving between an amd and nividia graphics card cause problems?

[kriegisyourbae]

On 2/12/2022 at 2:37 PM, Finlay OReilly said:

so should moving between an amd and nividia graphics card cause problems?

I haven't switched between GPU manufacturer's myself yet, but I am pretty sure this shouldn't cause issues. However, I'd advise you uninstall the drivers of one and then install the drivers of the other to make sure that everything is clean. A tool designed and often recommended to remove GPU drivers is DDU: https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html