Question How can I transfer my windows to a new M2 SSD I added?

[Heislegend]

I just built a new PC. I put my old SSD into the new one and can boot from it. I would like to clean install windows on the new SSD without buying a new copy. How can I do this?

 

[Lafong]

You could do it by cloning or imaging, maybe with Macrium.

But, you may eventually have problems regardless because you have a new motherboard. Simply moving the old system to a new SSD would not solve that possible problem.

It's up to you to determine how much faith you want to put in an old system on a new motherboard. If you are highly confident or adventurous, go ahead and clone or image.

 

[Gam3r01]

You really should look into a fresh install.
Cloning a drive is a viable option when the drive is the only thing you changed.
With a new motherboard too, you are going to want to reinstall. Even though windows is "working" right now, there is no guarantee it will keep functioning properly, if it even is now. Many background processes tend to run into some issues at some point with a system transferred OS.

 

[Heislegend]

You really should look into a fresh install.
Cloning a drive is a viable option when the drive is the only thing you changed.
With a new motherboard too, you are going to want to reinstall. Even though windows is "working" right now, there is no guarantee it will keep functioning properly, if it even is now. Many background processes tend to run into some issues at some point with a system transferred OS.

I actually would prefer a clean install. I probably didn't describe it well. How would I go about doing a clean install but using my same product key?

 

[USAFRet]

I actually would prefer a clean install. I probably didn't describe it well. How would I go about doing a clean install but using my same product key?

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[JeffreyP55]

I actually would prefer a clean install. I probably didn't describe it well. How would I go about doing a clean install but using my same product key?

It would be one thing if you just swapped CPU's or changed peripherals. Different motherboards require different driver which could cause issues.
Save yourself a lot of grief and do a fresh install.