cloning clean installed windows 7 to a new build

[NinjaPenguin1]

i am going to build my first pc and i wondered if i can clone a clean installed laptop oem windows 7 to my new hdd?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

No you can't, for two reasons:

1) The factory pre-installed (OEM) Windows installation is permanently "married" to that laptop and it's illegal to try to use it on a different PC. When your laptop finally "dies", that pre-installed copy of Windows effectively dies with it. It is not transferable to another system.

2). Windows will not run properly (if at all) if it's carried over from one machine to another anyway. You have to install Windows from scratch on a new build so that Windows Setup can generate a hardware-specific Product ID which is subsequently used for Product Activation.

 

[NinjaPenguin1]

ok