Computer Upgrades

[fordsrmaster]

Hello, I have a question for everyone. At what point does a system upgrade cease to be a upgrade and become a whole new computer where my Windows 10 license is concerned? I want to replaced my motherboard from a z170 to a z270 ( or what ever happens to be the standard for Coffee Lake late this summer or early fall. For the sake of this discussion, let s say I do move from a  z170 to a z270 motherboard, and swap my processor from a i7 6700k to a i7 7700k.  Then of course the new Asus ROG Hero board sports 2 m.2 slots, so I was also thinking of replacing my gen 2 m.2 drive with 2 new gen 3 4 pci lane m.2 drives in raid. And then I was also thinking about upgrading my ram to RGB ram, because reasons. So with a new motherboard, new processor, new hard drives in raid, and new ram, am I going to need a new Windows 10 License? Does anyone have any ideas how I can continue to use my existing license? Is it possible to replace the motherboard and then boot the system using my old 6700k until windows logs in correctly, then power down and replace the CPU, then boot it and get windows to log in, then replaced the hard drives, and then reboot it into Windows, and then replace the ram and then reboot it? Any ideas or comments are welcome. Thanks for your time. 

[MadModder]

Basically if you replace anything but the GPU, RAM, or peripherals, MS considers it a different computer. W7 used to allow you to install it twice (one virtual) but W10 took that away. You can still re-install it, but it won't be supported, and you won't be able to register it as a legit OS. At least that's my understanding.

[fordsrmaster]

I thought that Windows 10 changed things up with the license being (Microsoft)  account bound so that if a motherboard failed, you could replace it without having to worry about getting a new Windows license. I'm not looking to cheat Microsoft, or steal any software that I am not entitled to. I just want to get my fair shake if the license can be transferred over legally . 

[MadModder]

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fordsrmaster

Upon researching, you may be correct. I was speaking from what I went thru, but that was a free-upgraded copy, which I guess is different. It's tied to the motherboard, but I've read posts that say that even so, if it's tied to your account you can call MS, and they will activate it. Color me confusitated.

[LogicalDrm]

It has always been that mobo is main component in OS' point of view. You can change everything else and OS just doesn't care. There used to be 10 reinstall limit per key with Vista, but thats long since been dead thing. Also one key per activated machine is also been a thing always, though there were special volume packs for XP/Vista.

 

This only have real concerns with OEM keys. Those really, really cheap ones. If you pay full price, you don't have any issues. Though if OEM key is connected with MS account, it should just activate on new hardware when account is accessed.