Hardware Swap

[ZFGeek]

I am planning on changing my mobo, CPU, and ram soon because I am running fx series still. Is this possible with oem windows 8.1? If so, how?

[bellabichon]

I'm pretty sure that OEM Windows is directly tied to your motherboard, so I think you'll have to buy a new key. I would suggest https://www.kinguin.net/.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Windows 10 is a good amount better with hardware changes. Id make a backup first and see how it goes. Id suggest upgrading to windows 10 if you can as 8.1 isn't supported on new hardware.

[dizmo]

If you don't want to buy it from a legitimate source, just use Windows without activating it. No need to give money to someone for nothing.

[RAM555789]

No, you will need to buy a new OEM codes, they are a 1 time use code, that why it can be worth it to buy a full retail copy of windows 10, and with their new features it can be transferred over and over again. Linus goes into some details in this video about how that works, and how different copies of windows work. 

 

[RAM555789]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

If you don't want to buy it from a legitimate source, just use Windows without activating it. No need to give money to someone for nothing.

While this is a plausible choice, your stuck with an annoying watermark, and some features are restricted, though most of them are not that important.

[homeap5]

1 hour ago, ZFGeek said:

I am planning on changing my mobo, CPU, and ram soon because I am running fx series still. Is this possible with oem windows 8.1? If so, how?

Try, who knows. Maybe phone Microsoft will be enough, maybe not. You always have chances. Just don't reintstall, just boot. And when asked, you just repaired your computer and don't know what "they" replaced.

[dizmo]

9 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

While this is a plausible choice, your stuck with an annoying watermark, and some features are restricted, though most of them are not that important.

IIRC all it restricts is your desktop.