Activation was free?

[davidducion1]

My old HDD died on me so iv bought a new one, anyway installed the new HDD into my PC, installed windows 10 by disk. When it came to activate on set up, i clicked activate later. When it was my new HDD was all set up and everything was installed, i went to go activate, some how it was already activated. How was this possible i never entered no key, previous installs on my old HDD, i had to type the product key in everytime?

 

[USAFRet]

My old HDD died on me so iv bought a new one, anyway installed the new HDD into my PC, installed windows 10 by disk. When it came to activate on set up, i clicked activate later. When it was my new HDD was all set up and everything was installed, i went to go activate, some how it was already activated. How was this possible i never entered no key, previous installs on my old HDD, i had to type the product key in everytime?

You're fine.
A reinstall on the same system generally does not require entering the license key.

 

[davidducion1]

My old HDD died on me so iv bought a new one, anyway installed the new HDD into my PC, installed windows 10 by disk. When it came to activate on set up, i clicked activate later. When it was my new HDD was all set up and everything was installed, i went to go activate, some how it was already activated. How was this possible i never entered no key, previous installs on my old HDD, i had to type the product key in everytime?

You're fine.
A reinstall on the same system generally does not require entering the license key.

I dont understand how it picked my old activation key up if im using a completely new HDD.

 

[bignastyid]

My old HDD died on me so iv bought a new one, anyway installed the new HDD into my PC, installed windows 10 by disk. When it came to activate on set up, i clicked activate later. When it was my new HDD was all set up and everything was installed, i went to go activate, some how it was already activated. How was this possible i never entered no key, previous installs on my old HDD, i had to type the product key in everytime?

You're fine.
A reinstall on the same system generally does not require entering the license key.

I dont understand how it picked my old activation key up if im using a completely new HDD.

The hardware id is tied to the motherboard not the HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

I dont understand how it picked my old activation key up if im using a completely new HDD.

The "digital license" is held at the activation server farm at Microsoft. It is a hash of your hardware (primarily the motherboard) and your OS license details.
Reinstalling on a new drive is of no consequence.

After the install, the system contacted the activation farm..."Oh look, it's David's PC again. Activate it."

 

[davidducion1]

I dont understand how it picked my old activation key up if im using a completely new HDD.

The "digital license" is held at the activation server farm at Microsoft. It is a hash of your hardware (primarily the motherboard) and your OS license details.
Reinstalling on a new drive is of no consequence.

After the install, the system contacted the activation farm..."Oh look, it's David's PC again. Activate it."

Thanks for explaining