[SOLVED] Go To Activation Enter Same Key, can I ??

[Smudger444]

Ive been helping my neighbours with there PC's for many years, and a good friend gave me his old faulty Win 7 PC , I used his old licence on his new PC, all is good..

Now I have rebuilt this old PC to use as a spare to help others, and I've used second hand parts on its existing motherboard.

Then I loaded Win 10 Pro, with a freshly purchased key on this Old Pc. Next its HDD started to fail, so I changed it for another 2nd hand HDD.

I reloaded Win 10 on this replacement HDD, from a memory stick Ive used on other PCs, I dont remember being asked for the Activation code, it was the early hours of the morning, But it seems, my reinstall has activated it self. jolly good, but I dont know which licence Microsoft have used.??

Please can someone help, As I dont understand how, Microsoft know what my Activation key was, after I reloaded the replacement HDD,. or,
Can I re-enter my Win 10 key without causing any hassle or damage, to check I havent got the wrong key already loaded.?? I dont wish to cause my friend any agrevation.

 

[wpgwpg]

When you loaded Win 10 the first time, MS saved the activation info on its servers. When you reinstalled, it would've activated automatically via the info on the MS server. That info is associated with your motherboard.

 

[Colif]

you don't need that code again, as above said, MS have a record of your licence key + details of PC + potentially an email address on their activation servers, so PC would have checked these servers after the install, seen the PC was registered and reactivater install.

Next time you reinstall it, just click "I don't have a key" and win 10 will skip the licence screen and check servers like it did, It works this way as everyone who used the free upgrade path from 7 or 8 never had an install key for 10, so the servers remember which PC has a valid updated key saving the user from finding an old 7 key they might not have handy.

 

[Smudger444]

When you loaded Win 10 the first time, MS saved the activation info on its servers. When you reinstalled, it would've activated automatically via the info on the MS server. That info is associated with your motherboard.

Thank you, I understand now, and I won't worry, brilliant.

 

[Smudger444]

you don't need that code again, as above said, MS have a record of your licence key + details of PC + potentially an email address on their activation servers, so PC would have checked these servers after the install, seen the PC was registered and reactivater install.

Next time you reinstall it, just click "I don't have a key" and win 10 will skip the licence screen and check servers like it did, It works this way as everyone who used the free upgrade path from 7 or 8 never had an install key for 10, so the servers remember which PC has a valid updated key saving the user from finding an old 7 key they might not have handy.

Thank you, no more worries, I didnt want my friend to think I was taking his upgraded Windows 7 licence.
Thank you for responding.