Question Fresh Start Windows 10 Product Key necessary?

[erini]

Hello,
I'm about to do an uninstall and reinstall of Windows 10 after not being able to pinpoint the definite issue related to super lag during gameplay after upgrading a bunch of parts. Is what I'm finding online correct...that you don't need a Windows 10 product key if you use the Fresh Start method? When I use the Belarc to find my product keys, it tells me that my Windows 10 key might not be the key specific to my install but that it could just be a standard key that the manufacturer uses when a pre-install is done on a pre-built PC. So, I don't even know if the product key it shows is the actual product key that I would need to use if something goes wrong with the Fresh Start. Has anyone used the Fresh Start and had to use their product key anyway?
Thanks in advance for any guidance on this.

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

If you are re-installing on same computer with same components, then you should be ok. Microsoft sets and records your system, and if it detects the same settings it will just reinstall with no problems.

If you are unsure, you can download and run Belarc Advisor (Free program). It will show all your codes on your computer, including your windows 10 install code. You can reuse it if you feel uncertain.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I believe that option is just like when you reset your phone they keep your settings but reinstall the software and I think you’ll be OK and not have to reactivate. But this may not solve your problems sometimes a clean install is what is required and that involves reformatting your windows drive. Also before installing windows remove the other hard drives present otherwise windows will put boot loader files on them

 

[karenjoly]

Replacing the main board will de activate the OS. Lesser changes will not. The product key you have will not reactivate a new board. You will need a new one. Be prepared to pay through the nose for it.
Fresh start will not pay for the new code. If it does, let me know.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not true. I've reactivated after a motherboard change on over 50 systems. So long as you associate your Windows 10 key with a Microsoft account before you change the motherboard, your digital entitlement will move to the new system once you make the change. In ALL cases however, it's a good idea to record your current product key or digital entitlement number BEFORE making the change. There are plenty of utilities out there to extract your current activation key if you search for them.

This is only for the purpose of having a record. It should not be necessary to record your current product key, but there have been a few instances where users had upgraded to Windows 10 and couldn't reactivate without a long process of dealing with Microsoft technical support regarding the issue, so having that activation key may alleviate the necessity of having to do that IF that happens to you. Normally, if your product is associated, you will have no issues.

How to associate your windows 10 license with a Microsoft account

Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change

Windows build 1607 and activation after a hardware change
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[Colif]

Refresh doesn't go that far back, it takes PC back to stage after the licence key has been entered. It starts from after the setting up user stage

• Refresh your PC to reinstall Windows and keep your personal files and settings. Refresh also keeps the apps that came with your PC and the apps you installed from the Microsoft Store.
• Reset your PC to reinstall Windows but delete your files, settings, and apps—except for the apps that came with your PC.
• Restore your PC to undo recent system changes you've made.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/17085/windows-8-restore-refresh-reset-pc

You don't need license details for a refresh or reset

I don't even know if the product key it shows is the actual product key that I would need to use if something goes wrong with the Fresh Start.

Your licence key is fake on Win 10 PC, it is one of 10 keys that almost every Win 10 key shows. Your actual key is stored on Microsoft servers, they have all the details of PC + old licence key (if its an update from 7 or 8) and possibly a email address that you registered win 10 with

If you did go as far back as needing code, you just click the "I don''t have a key" choice and win 10 will check the activation servers after it finishes and will likely reactivate itself

Replacing the main board will de activate the OS. Lesser changes will not. The product key you have will not reactivate a new board. You will need a new one. Be prepared to pay through the nose for it.

No. this is wrong. as DB pointed out, this stopped being the case in 2016, you can replace the entire PC provided the licence is tied to your email address. I have helped countless people with that since then, and worse case scenario is the user just needs to contact Microsoft and explain what they have done and in most cases they can fix activation up from their end.

The only keys you can't move are Win 10 OEM keys of giant OEM companies that have special licenses that only work on their machines.

 

[karenjoly]

Not so sure. You say in most cases. Well the message says his may well be a minor case and he can be prepared, like I said, to buy new. I was in that situation just last weekend and support said I needed a new licence, said just what the message he quotes says, the on board licence is generic and cannot be moved. It was an upgrade from an oem 7 licence.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I was in that situation just last weekend and support said I needed a new licence, said just what the message he quotes says, the on board licence is generic and cannot be moved. It was an upgrade from an oem 7 licence.

That is plain wrong. Support lied to you or was misinformed.
I have personally transferred multiple such windows 10 licenses (upgraded from oem windows 7) between different computers. It works just fine.
Simple transplanting of drive doesn't always work. Clean reinstall of windows is usually necessary for proper license transfer.

 

[karenjoly]

Well sure that's what I thought until support said differently, so what are you gonna do then, sport ? I said to OP to be prepared and that is the OP and others should do.What else to do? One can ask for a second tier level agent but in India ? Go ahead.

This is the difference between theory and practice. Best to be aware.

 

[Darkbreeze]

"Support" usually knows less than half the people coming here looking for help. The majority of them are scripted employees, half of whom have been on the job for only a short time, and the other half of whom get lost in translation the second they have to deviate from the scripted responses they are trained to use.

So long as your installation is tied to your Microsoft account, and it might also not be a bad idea to take a screenshot of your system settings page in Control panel to verify your specific system showing as activated, plus extract the current key (Regardless of whether it's a generic key used for the majority of freely updated Windows 10 systems or not) AND take a screenshot of your profile page for your Microsoft account SHOWING that you have a digital entitlement, all for the purpose of helping give yourself some firepower later on IN CASE you happen to be one of those very few and rare individuals who finds that their digital entitlement via MS account doesn't work after the change of hardware.

I've seen several people like that here on the forums, whom I can't specifically discredit, however, I've never seen it myself on any system that had a digital entitlement. They have ALL worked fine so long as you are logged in using the CORRECT MS account and email. I think those people likely had multiple accounts and were simply not logging in with the correct credentials.

 

[karenjoly]

I was logged in to my one account and the account clearly showed the computer I had upgraded. I was asked to show proof of my win 7 purchase and failing that , I had to purchase new product key , no transfer to new board.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You should have contacted another support agent. This is common with Microshaft due to poor training and a lack of adequate comprehension beyond the scripted chart they follow because their lack of English language skills limits their ability to be useful in that role.

Agent one results in

call back later or chat later then agent two,

 

[Colif]

1st lvl support don't know its policy now, its a Microsoft web site that says you can move licences to new hardware -

When installing Windows 10, the digital license associates itself with your device's hardware. So, if you make significant changes, such as replacing your motherboard, Windows will no longer find a license that matches your computer.

Here’s how to prepare Windows 10 for activation before you make any significant hardware changes. If you didn't prepare before the hardware change, we also provide the steps to help you reactivate Windows 10.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change -

so tell them to ask their boss.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Or ask to speak with level II support. Or hang up and call back, new chat, whichever, because I've seen at least FIVE members of this site experience that exact problem and then get a completely different result on the second contact with support. Regardless, it works, you don't need to purchase a new operating system license just because you change hardware. That is an irrefutable fact. Even most OEM licenses that have been upgraded to Windows 10, have the same digital entitlement, unlike in the past where OEM licenses became invalid after you changed hardware on 7 or 8.1 in some cases.

 

[erini]

Thanks for all the feedback about this...and the humorous commentary. After the very first response, I tried the Fresh Start and that worked with no problem. No product key or entitlement/license number of any kind was needed...even though I had already changed out the motherboard months ago.

Nothing was different though, as far as the initial problem of the lag, so I then did a clean install with all the help of the additional comments here and some additional research. I just made sure my machine was tied to my Microsoft account (and therefore my digital license/entitlement) and everything went smoothly. This still did nothing though to fix the lag, so I'm now looking for the next thing to try.

This has been the most absolutely frustrating thing to deal with, since I've upgraded every component and have a decent system but I'm still not able to experience gameplay without serious lag. So many other gamers that I know have systems with older parts than I have but still get way better performance. Any suggestions at this point?
My specs are:
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti FTW 8gb graphics card
Corsair Vengeance LPX 4x8GB DDR4 DRAM 2400MHz C16
EVGA Supernova 750 P2, 80+ Platinum 750W
Ryzen 5 2600
MSI Motherboard B350M BAZOOKA

I'll also post a new thread since this newer question is not just related to Windows 10. Thanks again!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.

If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.


First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.

Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.

IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.

The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.

If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.

Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU​