How to transfer Windows product key top new drive?

ShonRT · October 3, 2022

I am going to replace the SSD in my laptop with a higher storage one and was told I could reuse my Windows product key. What is the process of doing this?

I also saw someone said this:

"If he has an Microsoft account that he uses to log on to the PC, more than likely the license is digitally registered to that profile and towards the hardware in the laptop, so no need for a key. Just skip the activation step during install and activate it later after finishing installation and logging in with the same account."

Kid.Lazer · October 3, 2022

It doesn't matter if you have a Microsoft account or not, at least in the context of a boot drive upgrade. Any key entered at any point will now be tied to your hardware.

Are you reinstalling from scratch, or cloning your existing drive to the new, larger one? If the latter, nothing more needs done other than cloning. If the former, as soon as you connect to the internet, it will fetch your hardware ID and should reactivate automatically.

ShonRT · October 3, 2022

I am doing the former. Do I need to deactivate my previous windows license/key?

BobVonBob · October 3, 2022

It should be digitally linked to your Microsoft account and just reactivate when you log in, but in case you want a backup you can pull out the key using PowerShell.

Open PowerShell by either using Windows search and running it as an admin, or by pressing Win + X and choosing "Windows PowerShell (Admin)", then type this in and press enter:

(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey

If no key shows up it's definitely digital and you shouldn't have any issues. If a key does show up you can write it down to use if you have issues with digital activation.