Windows 10 on a New Mobo & Processor

[Kenos]

I'm looking to upgrade my PC, something that I haven't done in a VERY long time, and I'm trying to sort through a mix of different information about the free upgrade of Windows 10 (so no disk or anything to re-install off of) and what I'd have to do to carry it over in my new build (as I've been told I should delete most everything before doing an upgrade like this). Some websites say that it can't be done, a few say that it can be done if I register Windows 10 with a Microsoft account first, and some say I need to get Windows 10 onto a flash drive first.

 

Does anyone have a direct answer or recent experience with this? It seems as though part of the reason the answer keeps changing is because Microsoft has updated the free upgrade of 10 a few times in relation to changing your hardware.

 

Thanks!

[iRileyx]

If you're only changing the motherboard and processor, (NOT swapping any drives) as long as you don't have an OEM version of windows you'll be fine just plugging your SSD/HDD in and it should boot up. Just make sure to install the new drivers for the new motherboard and/or CPU, and delete the old ones for your old CPU/motherboard. 

In relation to the main question, if you haven't already upgraded to windows 10, don't do it until you get the new hardware set up, when thats set up and working, upgrade to windows 10 and you shouldn't have any issues.

[Kobathor]

I swapped my SSD from my 990FX platform to my new Z97 platform with no issues. Delete drivers and you should be good to go. But, Windows will be deactivated when you do this, so you'll need a key to activate it.

[Kenos]

3 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

If you're only changing the motherboard and processor, (NOT swapping any drives) as long as you don't have an OEM version of windows you'll be fine just plugging your SSD/HDD in and it should boot up. Just make sure to install the new drivers for the new motherboard and/or CPU, and delete the old ones for your old CPU/motherboard. 
 

I think I have the OEM version. Considering I just learned about what OEM was yesterday I could be wrong but isn't OEM the version you get if you upgraded for free from Windows 7 to 10?

 

3 minutes ago, Kobathor said:

But, Windows will be deactivated when you do this, so you'll need a key to activate it.

Would there be any chance that's where connecting your Windows account to your OS comes in? I read on Microsoft's website that you can "reactivate" a connected version of 10 by signing into your microsoft account and essentially saying "hey it's me I just upgraded my mobo" if you have version 1607 of windows 10.

[Kobathor]

Just now, Kenos said:

Would there be any chance that's where connecting your Windows account to your OS comes in? I read on Microsoft's website that you can "reactivate" a connected version of 10 by signing into your microsoft account and essentially saying "hey it's me I just upgraded my mobo" if you have version 1607 of windows 10.

No idea. The Windows 10 on my desktop is still not activated, I'm too lazy.

[Kenos]

1 minute ago, Kobathor said:

No idea. The Windows 10 on my desktop is still not activated, I'm too lazy.

I can appreciate that. I still have my Windows 7 disk so it's not like I'll be alone in the woods if I can't get Windows 10 over, I'd just prefer not to lose it if I can avoid it.

[Kobathor]

1 minute ago, Kenos said:

I can appreciate that. I still have my Windows 7 disk so it's not like I'll be alone in the woods if I can't get Windows 10 over, I'd just prefer not to lose it if I can avoid it.

You can activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7 key if you call Microsoft. I'm not sure of the whole procedure, but that's what my friend did.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Your millage may very when you're just swapping drives to different platforms. I had a HDD with a relatively clean Install of Windows 7 from an old computer that I completely forgot about, plugged it into a new system and watched it bluescreen the moment it tried to boot Windows.

 

So be prepared to do a clean reinstall if necessary. And even if you do get it to boot up and activate in the new platform, there's no guarantee that it's going to last as long as a fresh install. There are always going to be little bugs here and there when you use an installation from another system.